Strong Preaching (Acts 4:33)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/4/2017 11:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus:  “Strong Preaching”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 4:33

            Message of the verses:  “33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.”

            When we look at the great power that was being used to tell of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ we find that it comes through the filling of the Holy Spirit as we saw in our last SD.  What the Sanhedrin had told them not to do they were doing because they were listening to God and not to man, and in this case man was blaspheming God by telling them not to talk about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

            We have spoken about the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the major emphasis of the apostolic preaching, as this is the key proof of our salvation.  Jesus did not die as a martyr, but as the substitute for our sins which was proven when He was raised from the dead, and this is the message that needs to be brought out in that time as well as in our time.  The Jewish authorities did not want this truth to get out for they were the ones who caused Jesus to be crucified and so this would make them out to be what they were and that was frauds and liars.  John MacArthur writes “Such an uncompromising attitude stands in stark contrast to the church’s practice today.  In the name of ‘contextualization’ (a more palatable term for worldliness), the gospel message is striped of anything deemed offensive.  But unbelievers must be offended at the point of their sin, or they will never come to Christ.  In Romans 9:33, Paul applied to Jesus Christ the words of Isaiah (cf. Isa. 8:14; 28:16): ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.’  Peter also quotes Isaiah and adds that those who stumble do so ‘because they are disobedient to the word’ (1 Peter 2:8).  Unbelievers’ very existence is an affront to God; certainly we must risk affronting them to let them know that.”

            Now it was because of the faithful Holy Spirit filled preaching that the apostles were doing that “abundant grace was upon them all.”  “Grace” (favor) “can be understood in two ways.  First, as in 2:47, it can refer to the approval of the people.  Although the leaders opposed them, the common people had not yet turned against them.  On the contrary, they were impressed by the believers’ love and unity.  Second, and more important, that early church had God’s favor.  A fellowship characterized by loving unity and evangelistic zeal receives God’s blessings.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘The Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod?’”     10/4/2017 11:43 AM