Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
The things that make us smile, reveal the kind of hearts that we have. If we laugh at dirty jokes, then it means that our hearts have some dirty corners. We have a choice about the kinds of things that we enjoy. And as Proverbs 13:20 says, “He that walketh with...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
In Jesus’s parable of the soils, the seed of the Word was scattered across the top of various conditions of dirt. Some of the seed fell on hard and stony ground where it either couldn’t germinate or if it did there wasn’t enough nourishment to let it grow. And then...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
We are going to finish our study of Acts 13 by expanding our thoughts from last Sunday night. The idea for this outline came from a message by Spurgeon, but his theme went in a different direction. Spurgeon was far more bold and daring than I am. I can’t tell you if...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
Thus far in this first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas have traveled from Antioch to Seleucia, Syria, From whence they sailed to Salamis on the Island of Cyprus. We have no idea how long it took them to evangelize Cyprus, but eventually they made it from the...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
“Congenital talipes equinovarus” is the medical term for something commonly known as “club foot.” In about 1 out every 1,000 lives births, a baby comes into this world with one or both feet pointed down and curling in. About two-thirds of these...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
Let’s say that you’ve been having a certain pain for several weeks and that it has been intensifying. So you break down and agree to go to the doctor. He makes a quick evaluation and determines that you have an incurable and fatal disease. There are no known cures for...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
I don’t think that when Paul went to Lystra it was with the intention of becoming known as a faith-healer. He and Barnabas were on a mission to spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is about salvation through Christ, not making the world easier or...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
As king of the reunited country of Israel, Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great was feeling his oats. He had stretched forth his hand to please the Jewish leadership and vexed the church of Christ. He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword, and...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
As Joshua led Israel across the Jordan river there were 12 men chosen for a special two-tiered task. While the river bed was dry, they were to find 12 large rocks to stack into a pile in the middle of the river. Then they were to find another 12 rocks that they were...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
The only comment that Jamieson, Fausset and Brown makes on Paul’ return into Lystra after his stoning is very terse: It said: “Noble intrepidity.” To be INTREPID is to be RESOLUTELY COURAGEOUS, to be FEARLESS. Besides the fact that Paul probably had no...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
I hope that you forgive me, but I have a cartoon-like image of Israel during her 40 years in the wilderness. The nation had sinned against God by not believing and following His direction to claim the Promised Land. So the Lord added the promise that the entire adult...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
As I said this morning, I don’t know how Paul and Barnabas knew that it was time to bring this missionary journey to a close. Perhaps the Lord came to one of them in a dream. Maybe God sent an angel with detailed instructions. Or perhaps during prayer the Holy Spirit...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
There is no way of knowing for sure how long this First Missionary Journey took. I don’t know why they say it, but a lot of scholars declare that Acts 12 ended in about 44 AD. And then most of them say that Acts 15 took place in the year 51, although I read where one...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
I need to correct a mistake that I made last Wednesday. I said THAT would be our last message from Acts 14. But, here in verse 27 we find a vein of ore too rich not to be mined for a few minutes more. Paul and Barnabas had returned to their home church in Antioch,...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
The message tonight is called: “The Galatian Problem.” I’m not sure that this is the most appropriate time to tackle this subject, but if we don’t do it now, I’m not sure that we’ll find a better time. Actually, this message shouldn’t be “The...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
I don’t think that Satan will ever destroy Calvary Independent Baptist Church. It’s not because we have the promise of God any more than did the churches at Ephesus or Antioch. And it’s not because we are a better church than any of those of which we read in the...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
Elijah, the Tishbite, was going through a very interesting period in his life and service for the Lord. He had been commissioned to announce to the King of Israel that there was a 3½ year famine coming. That famine fell on the land like a prairie wild-fire. But the...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
“Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known; Join in a song with sweet accord, join in a song with sweet accord And thus surround the throne, and thus surround the throne. We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion; We’re marching...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
Generally speaking, people take their religion seriously. No one likes to be told that they are heretics, anti-social or stupid. But even in the pluralism of the 21st century, When we are brainwashed to think that every idea is as true as any other conflicting idea,...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
There is an infamous cult of quasi-Christians living in the hills of West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Every once in a while they pull out their stash of rattlesnakes and play with them in their church services. They pet them, they carry them, they even hold them...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
Is there anyone here tonight who understands all the REFERENCES TO JAMES in the New Testament? If there is, I will gladly sit down and let you lead us in a good Bible study. Anyone? I’m not sure that anyone can dogmatically answer all the questions that I have about...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
Our church, like many other churches, has something that we call our “Statement of Faith.” It outlines most of the things that we believe. It would be much simpler, and yet correct, to say that we believe the Bible from cover to cover. We even believe the...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
This is our eighth message from Acts 15. The primary theme of the chapter is the council at Jerusalem, And the subject of that theme was the salvation of the Gentiles. We’ve looked at the Peter’s relationship to that meeting and also James’ and Paul’s. We made a quick...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
This evening we review the theological aspect to James’ comments: He said: Peter said, Paul said, Amos said, God did and God knows. Peter described the salvation of the Gentiles to whom God had sent him. “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
The first half of Acts 15 deals with the question of the salvation of the Gentiles. What is it that people who are raised in heathenism and idolatry must do in order to be delivered from their sins and received as sons by the most holy God? This is an extremely...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
For a couple of weeks, I have called the meeting described in this chapter “The Council in Jerusalem.” But I’ve done so with some degree of hesitancy. Having been raised in a Protestant church, the word “council” raises images within me that it...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
Several years ago a preacher came to me with a grave warning about another pastor. I was told that this third person was a terrible heretic, a trouble-maker, and a potential a church wrecker. It was recommended that I have nothing to with the man. One of the things...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
I need to correct one of my unthought-out comments uttered a time or two over the last couple of weeks: I referred to Silas or Judas reading the letter that their church had sent to Antioch. Even though these two verses are filled with half a dozen confusing pronouns,...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
If we had a quiz this morning on the geography of the United States, I wonder how well we would do? If I asked you to name the capitals of the fifty states, how well you would do? If I asked you to visualize the location of the state of Rhode Island, would you get it...
Jan 21, 2015 | Acts
When medical students are learning their trade, they use two primary methods: First they study how things ought to be; They study text books about health and anatomy, and they examine systems that are working properly. But then they go on to also study disease and...
