Acts 23:1-5

Christians who speak badly about our President and our elected officials…it is not Biblical! 

Use the power of your vote not your mouth!

Pray for all those in power that is the Way of the truth. In their peace lies ours. We are so blessed in the United States and we all take it for granted. It so sad when so much of the world lives in true poverty and injustice.

Whitewash is a thin paint used to make something dirty look clean. Ananias deserved this rebuke. The fact that Ananias had someone else “do his dirty work” did not absolve him from the ordering of the act.

Note that Paul did not defend his behavior, but rather repented of it.

Acts 23:1-5

23 Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” ² And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?”

⁴ And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?”

⁵ Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”

²⁸ “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. 

Exodus 22:28

²⁰ Do not curse the king, even in your thought; Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; For a bird of the air may carry your voice, And a bird in flight may tell the matter. 

Ecclesiastes 10:20

¹⁰ and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. ^gThey are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, 

2 Peter 2:10

Jonah 2

When we have reached the bottom of ourselves…God is there. 

Salvation comes with giving our life back to the One who made it and knew us from the moment of our inception. 

inception |inˈsepSHən|

noun [ in sing. ]

the establishment or starting point of an institution or activity.

ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin inceptio(n-), from incipere ‘begin.’

When we finally realize we can never be good enough to earn it nor bad enough to remove ourself from His love, when we finally, fully, and completely come to the realization that it is not about us at all …it is about Him and His righteousness… then wisdom has reached us and salvation is ours to accept. 

In Christ, in unity with the Holy Spirit, through the Father’s plan of salvation from the beginning of time….we can be saved.

In the Bible, the sea is described as a part of God’s creation that brings Him joy, but it also appears as a symbol for hostile forces which the Lord nevertheless holds in His firm control. Jonah reaffirms his faith in the Lord and renews his commitment to Him. Jonah declares that he will keep his promise, a pledge both to sacrifice and to acknowledge God’s help.

It is the Lord who delivers His people. God acts on behalf of His creation and the redeemed community to insure a relationship with them.

Jonah 2

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. ² And he said:

“I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,

And He answered me.

“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

And You heard my voice….

⁶ I went down to the moorings of the mountains;

The earth with its bars closed behind me forever;

Yet You have brought up my life from the pit,

O Lord, my God.

⁷ “When my soul fainted within me,

I remembered the Lord;

And my prayer went up to You,

Into Your holy temple.

⁸ “Those who regard worthless idols

Forsake their own Mercy.

⁹ But I will sacrifice to You

With the voice of thanksgiving;

I will pay what I have vowed.

Salvation is of the Lord.”

¹ In my distress I cried to the Lord, And He heard me. 

Psalm 120:1

⁵⁵ I called on Your name, O Lord, From the lowest pit. 

Lamentations 3:55

³⁸ and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name: 

2 Chronicles 6:38

¹ Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. 

Psalm 69:1

⁵⁴ The waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!” 

Lamentations 3:54

²⁸ He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit, And his life shall see the light. 

Job 33:28

Harmony

It is God’s plan for all of His creation to live in harmony. Those who seek otherwise are going against the teachings of Jesus the Christ. Ultimately those who accept the salvation that He provided will live in the peace and harmony He always intended for man to live in.

Our desire to live in harmony is an outward expression of our heartfelt, inward faith in God. Out of our heart the Holy Spirit speaks.

Harmony: Vengeance versus Blessing

Comparing the passages of 2 Sam 3:1–4:12 and 1 Pet 3:8–22 teaches us that all Scripture can be used for instruction: Some passages provide wisdom on how to become more like Christ, while others are best regarded as “things not to do.”

Peter’s first letter tells us, “be harmonious, sympathetic, showing mutual affection, compassionate, humble, not repaying evil for evil or insult for insult, but [instead] blessing others, because for this reason you were called, so that you could inherit a blessing” (1 Pet 3:8–9). We can find the same lesson, told a different way, in 2 Sam 3:1–4:12. The violence of the war between David and Saul’s houses vividly portrays how acts of vengeance rob us of harmony and blessing.

Some passages in the Bible are beautiful, while others are barbaric. Both teach us we’re not meant to live in vengeance, like the houses of David and Saul. While we realize these individuals often acted against God’s will, we should still recognize their love for God (when it’s present) and their desire to follow Him (when it appears authentic) and live in those ways. Jesus is the only leader in the Bible we can look to as a supreme example of righteousness. Every other person in the Bible is flawed in their humanity, but that gives us hope: God can use us, like He used them—despite their mistakes.

If we could live up to Peter’s ideals of living in harmony and showing sympathy to others, the world would certainly be a better place, but we can’t do so without depending on God. In the midst of chaos, or when we give in to ego, it’s hard to live the way we should, even when we are people of faith. But when we learn to follow God in being compassionate, humble, and a blessing to people, we create opportunity for Him to bring harmony and sympathy. If David and Saul’s men had put vengeance aside to seek God, their story would certainly have been less barbaric and far more beautiful.

Belial or Beliar only occurs once in the New Testament (2 Cor 6:15). Paul asks, “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial (Βελιάρ, Beliar)? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?”

604 ἀποκαταλλάσσω [apokatallasso /ap·ok·at·al·las·so/] v. From 575 and 2644; TDNT 1:258; TDNTA 40; GK 639; Three occurrences; AV translates as “reconcile” three times. 1 to reconcile completely. 2 to reconcile back again, bring back a former state of harmony

1514 εἰρηνεύω [eireneuo /i·rane·yoo·o/] v. From 1515; TDNT 2:417; TDNTA 207; GK 1644; Four occurrences; AV translates as “have peace” once, “live peaceably” once, “live in peace” once, and “be at peace” once. 1 to make peace. 2 to cultivate or keep peace, harmony. 3 to be at peace, live in peace.

In To the Ephesians, Ignatius emphasizes the importance of assembling for worship. He notes, “May each one of you also become a choir so that in the harmony of your unity, taking the keynote from God in unity … And so it behooves you to be inseparable and unified so as to participate in God at all times” (IV). He goes on to tell the Ephesians that those who forsake assembling for worship demonstrate pride and therefore pronounce judgment on themselves. As his rationale, he cites Luke 12:42 and Matt 24:45, “God opposes the proud.” Furthermore, Ignatius noted that gathering together for worship is a spiritual weapon powerful enough to overthrow the powers of Satan

Acts 24:23-24

 God  places people in our life to help us, protect us and to reveal the truth and show us the way. Their entry provides us the freedom and the means to fulfill God’s will for our lives. 

Felix missed his chance at forgiveness and redemption in his encounter with Paul. 

We must not let our past stop us from our future life in Christ.

How did Felix know about the Christian faith? His wife Drusilla was Jewish. She was the great-granddaughter of Herod the Great, who had tried to kill the baby Jesus. She was the great-niece of the Herod who killed John the Baptist. Her father was the man who had the apostle James put to death. Also, Felix was well acquainted with Christianity from having governed Judea and Samaria for six years.

Felix had taken Drusilla from her former husband, the king of Emesa in Syria. She was Felix’s third wife. His first wife was the granddaughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. His second wife was a princess whom he also divorced. When Paul talked about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix must have been reminded of his immoral life. He refused to talk any more about the Way because of the guilt he felt.

Acts 24:23-24

²² But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the Way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case.” So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.²⁴ And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

¹⁶ So when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. 

Acts 23:16

³ And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care. 

Acts 27:3

¹⁶ Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him. 

Acts 28:16

¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 

John 3:15

⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 

Romans 10:9

Jeremiah 39:15-18

T.R.U.S.T. GOD. Truly, completely trust God who has the power to save you mentally, physically, spiritually for eternity. There is nothing to big | there is nothing to small | place it all into the hands of Him who loves and cares for you!

truly |ˈtro͞olē|

adverb

1 in a truthful way

2 to the fullest degree

3 in fact or without doubt

4 archaic loyally or faithfully

completely |kəmˈplētlē|

adverb

totally; utterly

Ebed-Melech, who had carefully rescued Jeremiah from the muddy cistern in the prison court, was promised safety and deliverance by the Lord because of his assistance to Jeremiah and because he had put his trust in God.

Jeremiah 39:15-18

¹⁵ Meanwhile the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying, ¹⁶ “Go and speak to Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring My words upon this city for adversity and not for good, and they shall be performed in that day before you. 

¹⁷ But I will deliver you in that day,” says the Lord, “and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. ¹⁸ For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me,” says the Lord.’ ”

²⁰ And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them, for they cried out to God in the battle. He heeded their prayer, because they put their trust in Him. 

1 Chronicles 5:20

⁴⁰ And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him. 

Psalm 37:40

⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. 

Jeremiah 17:7

Nahum 3:8

If God against you it does not matter who is for you! When our trust is in ourselves, whether personally, nationally or worldly, it is a precarious road whose end is failure.

The destruction of the city of Thebes near the Nile River in 663 b.c. was going to be a template for the destruction of Nineveh. No Amon is the Hebrew name for Thebes, derived from the Egyptian name meaning “City of [the god] Amon.” The argument seems to suggest that before its destruction, no one would have even dreamed of the fall of Thebes. But the destruction had happened—not long before the writing of the Book of Nahum. The city of Thebes was rebuilt only to be destroyed later during the Roman period (29 b.c.). Nineveh, however, would never be rebuilt.

Nahum 3:8

⁸ Are you better than No Amon

That was situated by the River,

That had the waters around her,

Whose rampart was the sea,

Whose wall was the sea?

²Go over to Calneh and see; And from there go to Hamath the great; Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory? 

Amos 6:2

²⁵ The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will bring punishment on Amon of No, and Pharaoh and Egypt, with their gods and their kings—Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 

Jeremiah 46:25

¹⁴I will make Pathros desolate, Set fire to Zoan, And execute judgments in No. ¹⁵I will pour My fury on Sin, the strength of Egypt; I will cut off the multitude of No, ¹⁶And set a fire in Egypt; Sin shall have great pain, No shall be split open, And Noph shall be in distress daily. 

Ezekiel 30:14–16

1st Corinthians 15:50-58

Everything that you do | every thing… big or small | do it for the Lord and your heavenly Father who loves all of His creation will reward you. 

Eternal life is given to all.. how we spend that eternity is up to us.

Choose  Jesus  and the salvation that is His right to give.

The living will receive a body that is not subject to death. Satan’s apparent victories in the Garden of Eden and at the Cross were reversed by Jesus’ death and resurrection. From the vantage point of Jesus’ victorious return, Death and Hades (the grave) have no power over Christians, because Jesus has already conquered both. We participate in His victory.

1st Corinthians 15:50-58

⁵⁰ Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵ “O  Death, where is your sting?

O Hades, where is your victory?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

⁵ Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

John 3:5

²¹ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. 

Philippians 3:21

²⁵ Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 

John 5:25

¹⁴“I will ransom them from the ⁹power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes. 

Hosea 13:14

¹⁴ Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 

Hebrews 2:14

⁴ And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” 

Revelation 21:4

Luke 11:42-44

We need to be active doers of good in all situations. 

Jesus gave us a new command to follow that would fulfill all the Commandments in the Old and the New Testament: to love God above all and others as much as you do yourself.

God hates hypocrisy. Give help to all who ask and care for those who are unable to care for themselves. Your love shows God’s love to the world and that you are a true follower of Christ. 

What we do and say in private speaks volumes of our true beliefs.

The Pharisees worried about tithing ten percent, even down to the smallest herbs, which were tithed according to the dictates of tradition, not the Law of Moses. However, they neglected two basic things that the prophets also had warned about: love and justice.

This is Jesus’ stronger condemnation. The Pharisees, the paragons of purity, were in fact the height of uncleanness.

Luke 11:42-44

⁴² “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 

Matthew 23:23

⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? 

Micah 6:8

³⁸ Then He said to them in His teaching,  “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 

Mark 12:38-39

⁹For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue. 

Psalm 5:9

1 Corinthians 15:9-11

Regardless of our past God can and does use anyone who invites Him to come into their life. The Holy Spirit will convict us of our sins but their is healing in His wings. Helping others by sharing our past hurts and failures can be someone’s future healing and victory in Christ.

 It is always about His righteousness and not about ours and those who have been forgiven much…they love much!

Even though Paul got a late start and did not have the discipleship training that the other apostles did, he traveled further, established more churches, and wrote more Scripture than all of them. But Paul attributed his success to the grace of God. 

Paul did not care who got credit for the Corinthians’ faith. He cared only that the Corinthians believed.

1 Corinthians 15:9-11

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. ¹¹ Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

⁸ To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 

Ephesians 3:8

¹⁵ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 

1 Timothy 1:15

²⁰ for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. 

Matthew 10:20

¹³ for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. 

Philippians 2:13

John 8:14-18

We are living in the age of God’s grace….judgement has been put on hold. It has been and still is being delayed by God’s love for man and His mercy toward them. 

God wants no one to perish but all to have the opportunity to choose the salvation He has offered us. He loves His creation so much that He willingly laid down His life for all of us. He wants to have a real relationship with you but He will not force it on you… but He will woo you. 

Listen to that still, small voice and let Him in!

The religious leaders formed conclusions based on human standards and an imperfect, external, and superficial examination. Jesus did not judge according to human standards or outward appearances.

John 8:14-18

¹⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. ¹⁶ And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. ¹⁷ It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸ I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 

1 Samuel 16:7

¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 

John 3:17

⁹ If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 

1 John 5:9

Ezekiel 16:60-63

When you have known God since childhood but live in blissful ignorance of your own sins, considering yourself more righteous than others, you are setting yourself up for lessons to be learned. Because of His great love for all of His children He will not let you remain ignorant and arrogant. 

I have learned the hard way never to say “I would never do what they did”! 

He will let you know that He alone is righteous and when He brings you down out of His love for you you will be humbled and never again even entertain the thought that you are better than anyone!

Only through the righteousness of  Jesus Christ  do we live and breathe….it has nothing to do with ours.

Thank you Father that You care enough to not let me die in my ignorance…I love You!

God’s people would be ashamed by the contrast between their faithlessness and God’s faithfulness and the fact that they were being exalted over those who were less sinful—Sodom and Samaria. The people of these other sinful nations would also inherit land, but only by God’s grace, because no such covenant was made with them. Further, God would provide atonement through the New Covenant, which pointed ultimately to the Cross of Christ.

Ezekiel 16:60-63

⁶⁰ “Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. ⁶¹ Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your older and your younger sisters; for I will give them to you for daughters, but not because of My covenant with you. ⁶² And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, ⁶³ that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord God.’ ”

⁴⁵And for their sake He remembered His covenant, And relented according to the multitude of His mercies. 

Psalm 106:45

⁴⁰ And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. 

Jeremiah 32:40

¹⁹“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; 

Hosea 2:19

²⁶ but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 

Galatians 4:26

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 

Romans 3:19

⁶ being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 

Philippians 1:6

John 8:31-32

God’s unconditional love comes into this world anew with each baby born. This agape love covers a multitude of sins, mans, with His own blood. He washed away the sins of the world in the blood of Jesus the Christ, all man | all God. 

unconditional |ˌənkənˈdiSHənl, -ˈdiSHnəl|

adjective

not subject to any conditions: unconditional surrender.

Only you have the power to refuse God’s love for you.

The decision is yours to make!

In the love that we have for the Triune Godhead and for His creation we manifest Him physically to the world…we literally become His hands and His feet. 

Spread the Good News!!

John 8:31-32

³¹ Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

John 1:14

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 

John 14:6

¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 

Romans 6:14

²⁵ But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 

James 1:25

¹⁷ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 

John 17:17