to the dust. But the One, whom God raised again, did not see decay. Therefore, brothers, let it be known to you, that through this man Jesus is proclaimed to you forgiveness of sins! God justifies and clears everyone from all things. To all those who believe and put their trust in this man, from which you could not be justified and cleared by the Law of Moses."
I ended my sermon with a warning from our holy Scriptures, "Watch out then and beware so that this word found in the Prophets may not happen to you. 'You Mockers! Look and marvel and perish! For in your own time, I am doing a work among you that you simply will not believe, even if someone explains it to you!'"
When the Jews left the meeting place, the Gentiles invited Barnabas and I to tell them more about these matters the following Sabbath. Many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed us after the meeting. We spoke a word of encouragement to them, persuading them to continue in the grace of God and hold fast to the love and kindness of God.
When the next Sabbath day came, almost the whole city gathered together to hear the message about the Messiah. But when the Jews who had not believed saw the multitudes and crowds of people, they were filled with jealously and spoke up against what I was preaching and insulted me before all the people. Then Barnabas and I answered boldly and courageously, and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should have first been spoken to you, the Jews. But since you are rejecting it and are judging yourselves unworthy of everlasting life. We are turning to the Gentiles."
From that day on I preached to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. For this is what God had ordered me to do saying, "I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be a deliverer to them, bringing salvation to the ends of the earth." When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and honoured the message about the Lord Jesus Christ. Many believed and came to trust in Jesus Christ, as their Saviour. They were now appointed unto eternal life.
The message of the Lord concerning salvation through Jesus Christ was spread throughout that whole region. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the God-fearing women of high social standing, and all the leading men of that city. They organised and arranged persecutions against us, and expelled us out of their coasts. We refused to allow earthly things to attach themselves to us, so we shook off the dust against them, and journeyed to the city of Iconium. We, His disciples were all filled with overwhelming joy, and we were full of the Holy Spirit.
Cassius could not believe that we rejoiced and were filled with overwhelming joy after being persecuted. As a protector of Rome he would have fought back, defending his rights. He would not have turned the other cheek like we did.
I am Paul, the little one. I am the least of all the apostles.
Amen - so be it.
Love for the Jews. #11
When we arrived at Iconium the capital city in the Province of Lycaonia, Barnabas and I once again went into the synagogue of the Jews. We spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed and came to trust on the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet in Iconium the same thing happened as it did at Perga in the Province of Pamphylia. The unbelieving Jews who would not be persuaded by our teachings stirred up the Gentiles. They poisoned their minds against us. My heart became heavy about my fellow countryman, the Jews. They had disqualified themselves by deeming themselves to be unworthy of receiving eternal life.
I encouraged men everywhere not to deem themselves unworthy, especially when eating and drinking at the Lord's Table. Whosoever shall eat the bread, and drink the cup of the Lord, unworthily, eats and drinks judgement upon himself, because they have not discerned or recognized the Lord's body correctly. They will be guilty of desecrating the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. So let a person examine himself first, that he deems himself worthy of receiving eternal life. Then he may eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. My fellow Jews had deemed themselves unworthy to receive the free gift of salvation and were therefore disqualified of eating and drinking at the Lord's Table.
I received this insight by divine revelation from the Lord. How on the night that the Lord Jesus was betrayed He took bread. When he had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." When the supper was ended, He also took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new testament in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." The Lord's Table is where we remember what Christ, the Messiah did for us upon the cross. It is not a place for us to remember what sins we committed and which laws we have broken. For every time we eat the bread and drink the cup, we signify and proclaim the Lord's death, till He comes again. Its not about us and what we have done, its all about Him and what He did for us on the cross.
The cup of blessing, of the wine at the Lord's Table upon which we ask God's blessing, does it not mean that in drinking it, we participate in and share a fellowship in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, does it not mean that in eating it, we participate in and share a fellowship in the body of Christ? For we being many are One loaf of bread, and therefore one body. For we are all partakers of that One bread, Christ. We all share a fellowship in what the His blood and broken body accomplished for us upon the cross when He died. His blood has washed and cleansed us from all our sins, atoning for them with His blood upon the cross. His broken body was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. By the stripes upon His back we are healed.
I was sick when I first preached the Good News in the Province of Galatia. They did not mistreat me nor despise and reject me, even though my condition tempted them to do so. I was taken in and cared for as though I were an angel sent from God. I was received as if they were receiving Jesus Christ Himself. I stood in faith believing for the healing of my body. I bore on my body the scars that show I belong to Christ.
What Jesus had accomplished for us through His body and His blood upon the cross has qualified us. Making us worthy to receive eternal life. He died for all humanity, making all of us worthy to receive the free gift of salvation. God's free gift is never to be compared to the trespasses of our sin, not at all. One must focus on the grace given at the Lord's Table and not on their sins and transgressions. This is how to eat and drink worthily.
As one man's trespasses led to condemnation and judgement for all men. So one Man's act of righteousness leads to aquittal and right standing with God, to receive eternal life. For by one man's disobedience, Adam many were made sinners, so also by the obedience of One, Jesus Christ shall many be made righteous and deemed worthy. For if by one man's trespass death reigned because of that one man, Adam. How much more shall those which receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness. Shall they not reign as kings in life by that One man, Jesus Christ. Therefore as sin has reigned leading unto death, even so grace must now reign leading to newness of life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Barnabas and I stayed on in the city of Iconium for a long time, speaking freely with a fearless boldness in the Lord. For God had not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a spirit of power, love and self control in our minds. We continued to bear testimony to the word of His grace, performing with our hands signs and wonders. But the residents of the city continued to be divided into two parties. Some siding with the Jews, and some with us, the apostles. There was an attempt from both the unbelieving Jews and the Gentiles, together with their rulers, to mistreat and abuse Barnabas and I. They even wanted to stone us. We became aware of their evil schemes and fled together, escaping to Lystra and Derbe, cities of the Province of Lycaonia in the region of Asia Minor. There we preached the Gospel, the glad tidings of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. We spoke freely and boldly in all the neighbouring districts and regions.
There was a man living in the city of Lystra who couldn't use his feet. He had never walked, as he was a cripple from birth. This man listened to me speaking and looking at him, I saw that he had faith to be healed. In a loud voice I proclaimed to him, "Stand up on your feet." He jumped up and began to
walked. When the people saw what I had done, they lifted up their voices, and began to shout in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in the form of men." They began calling Barnabas, Zeus while they called me, Hermes, the god of heralds or speech because I was the chief speaker. The Greeks called him Hermes while the Romans called him Mercury. Zeus was the Sky-god whom they believed to control the weather. They believed that Zeus was the ruler over all other gods, the god of gods and that he also ruled over all men. He was known as Zeus to the Greeks and Jupiter to the Romans.
I had to convince these people that Barnabas and I were not gods. Things quickly spiralled out of control. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, intending to offer a sacrifice to us with the people. When Barnabas and I, heard this we tore our clothes and ran into the crowd, shouting, "Men! Why are you doing this? We're just men, human like you! We are announcing Good News to you, turn from these worthless things to the