lighthouse2014

Prophecies about the imprisonment of Paul if he goes to Jerusalem are not in conflict with the Lords leading. Those present thought Paul should not go there. But Paul was going to follow the Lord at all cost. Paul actively encourages prophecy in the church because it edifies the members in the word of God. Today many Christians despise prophecy because they believe that it was only for the early church. They feel today the Holy Spirit does not use these prophecies to further the church.

Christians worship on the first day of the week because, it was the first day of the week, Sunday, that the Lord rose from the dead. Also, because the gospel moves out of the Jewish setting into a Greek setting. it is called "the Lords Day" for he rose on Sunday, the Lords day. Christians at every meeting broke bread in remembrance of the Lords suffering, death. By doing this they share in his suffering and victory over death. This breaking of bread is most important to Christians because it helps us to keep fresh in our mind what the Lord has done for us.

Praise and worship have much to do with our faith, praise is the language of our faith in the Lord. In praise and worship our hearts are giving thanksgiving for all the Lord has done for us and the blessing to come forth in the future. Praise and worship keeps our mind off the impending struggles we are facing daily, it keeps us in touch with the Lord and he fights our battles for us Praise the Lord all day long.

Anger and forgiveness gives Satan the opportunity to damage us because as long as we hold these feelings against others he is keeping us from being useful for the Lord. We should be compassionate and forgive one another. Remaining in this state Satan has spiritually crippled us. For me, the most difficult person to forgive would be the person that rapped my wife. This is more damaging to me because Satan has kept this incident in the back of my mind for decades, it keeps me in a bondage that is hard to over come. Evan if I forgive him the thought is still there. For the other person, I pray he has repented of his dealings a long time ago.

The chief tools that Satan uses to keep people under his control are: temptations by gratifying the cravings of the flesh , addictions being physical and mental, totally searing the conscience to sin, but most of all complete blindness to the truth of the gospel. Sharing and preaching of the gospel are a threat to Satan because it brings the truth and repentance to people, totally releasing them from his control. It is most difficult to share your faith and preach the the gospel to the outside world because most have never been to church, they are comfortable living their lives under their own control in the sinful world. Most do not want to even hear of the gospel and they are blind to the truth.

Usurped authority means to seize and hold in possession by force or without right. Satan grabbed this authority when he deceived Adam and Eva in the garden. Adam and Eve were to be care takers of the garden but instead disobeyed God and gave into Satan's lies instead. Legitimate authority means to have authority given legally to the one which it belongs. The heavens, earth and man were created by the Lord, it was his creation. Satan has usurped authority over the earth, because of his deception of Adam and Eve. Satan was defeated at the cross because Christ shed his blood and died on the cross and rose again on the third day. His blood has been the sacrifice for our sins. Faith in what Christ has done redeems us from the penalty of our sins. Though Satan has been defeated at the cross he still roams about like a lion to see whom he may devour, it is necessary that we put on the amour of Christ to wield off his attacks on us.

It appears that most of Paul's overwhelming pressure was attributed to spiritual warfare, where ever he went Satan was sure to follow and put as many road blocks as possible to hinder the gospel. Paul was always being pursued by non-believers, and accusing him of disrupting the activity of every day life. Paul request intercessory from fellow believers, having them pray that the Lord would help him in his mission to preach the gospel. Our intercessory pray always helps those who are in need of help for struggles they may be facing or for physical healing.

Many contemporary churches of today expect to evangelize without signs and wonders because they believe these gifts that were provided by the individuals faith and the Holy Spirit were only needed in the early church growth and do not need them today. Many churches do not want to be accused of fake miracles or performing magic to in non-believers. We identify people in our congregation who have one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as deep faith believers, some have become evangelist. Our congregation has no problem with the gifts of healing, prophecy and miracles. However, it is with great caution that these individuals are truly using these gifts and not counterfeits. That they are of a humble spirit, lead by the Lord and are prayer warriors. These are just a few characteristics the gifted ones will display in their ministries.

Jews and Greeks in the surrounding areas of Asia heard the gospel not from just one apostle but from the believers who were discipled and sent out to other cities or towns to proclaim the gospel. Also those who were dispersed because of Christian persecution introduced the gospel to those in their new areas of settlement. Because of the persecution of Christians in area of Asia most all fled to the surrounding cities and areas of the Roman empire. Most non-believing Jews and Greeks would accuse the apostles and believers of disrupting the culture and business in their cities, thus these non-believers incited riots in order to get the local government to kick them out of the area. It is necessary to evangelize in our local cities because most know nothing of the word of God. The younger generation usually end up in gangs where they are abused sexually or physically.

The primary difference between Paul's ministry approach and that of Apollos is that Apollos was a trained Greek speaker, Paul is a bible teacher and debater. He is not trained in the Greek fashion. Paul addresses the Corinthians issue by declaring that his teachings were demonstrations of the power of the Holy Spirit. I do not recognize any divisions over style in preaching in my area. If there were divisions among Christians in the area over a style of preaching it would be wise to inform those that no one is greater than another, it is by their gifts given by the Holy Spirit that they declare the gospel.

During the first century of the early church there was no place Christians to congregate except in believers houses. Most were converts from from the Jewish synagogues and the God fearer's. Also, early Christians were persecuted for their belief and meeting in secrecy was important. The bi-vocational ministry was a good way for those believers to earn a living and not placing their support on the church. It also gave them time to become familiar with the culture and share their faith to non-believers. The advantages of house church models is that it gave the participants time to share things Christ has done for them and have others pry for their need. It was also a get opportunity for the non-believers to come to the saving grace of Christ. House churches most likely had it's disadvantages because there was no pastor to lead them in the teachings of the gospel. Some were afraid of being discovered of being Christians and thus they would be persecuted for their belief.

Paul declares first that Jesus resurrection to be one of the foundational elements of the gospel. Christ 's resurrection is foundational to our faith because with out it we are still lost in our sins and our faith is futile. As believers when we die we go directly into the the presence of the Lord. When Christ comes those believers in the graves will rise first, then we who are alive will be changed in the twinkling of an eye from a mortal body to an immortal body and meet the Lord in the air.

Paul demonstrating to his fellow brother's and sister's in Christ that it is better to work and earn your keep than to depend on others for his well being. By working they can help others that are in need and can not work. It is better to give than to receive. If one does not work than he should not eat. Christians today believe that a full time pastor should be paid by the church rather than being a tentmaker type pastor. Thus he can be available to serve the church and the community. A bi-vocational can be better in his community because he is out and working among them and come to trust him. Also, he is not dependent upon the church for his support. As stated above, Paul has given his fellow believers the example of doing work and being able to give to the needy. He also states if one does not work he should not eat, he is to earn his keep.

God may not be with unbelievers, but he has given them plenty of evidence that he is the creator of all things. He is patient with them should they come to repentance and change their minds and turn to him. As above God has given plenty of evidence of his being. The Holy Spirit will convict their conscience of right from wrong, it will be up to them wither they ignore their conscience or turn to God. God shows forbearance for sins of non-believers and some Christians will be judgemental of them, perhaps they have forgotten what they were before they came to know the Lord. We should be humble with non-believers and act accordingly. We should find common ground with them and explain to them what Christ has done for all of us, being we are all sinners. Faith in Christ is necessary for salvation, for there is no other name in Heaven or earth by which we are to be saved.

Paul presents the Substitutionary Atonement as the reason for Christ's suffering that Jesus died in our place, his bearing our sins that were not his own. Christ demonstrated his love for us by suffering and dying for our sins before we even knew him. This is good news for us is because we can not atone for our sins against him, so God provided a way for us by sending his own son to suffer, die resurrect for our sins. Accepting his sacrifice for our sins we are justified and made holy before God. To help us in our struggle's against our sin full nature, the Lord has provided his Holy Spirit to dwell within those who chose by faith to accept what Christ has done for us.

It may be hard to preach a crucified Messiah to the Jews because they were expecting a Messiah who was going to reestablish the Jewish kingdom again as the Davidic kingdom was. They thought he would defeat the Roman empire and bring all of the tribes back home from the four corners of the world. We are sometimes temped to tell others to follow Jesus while side stepping the gospel, we may believe that they find the gospels foolishness as referring to the resurrection of the Lord. We must be very honest about the gospels when witnessing to others, how else can they believe in Christ and his grace that brings us to repentance and sanctification?

We always rejoice in the Lord because he provides everything for us, we should not be anxious about anything. We place everything into his hands. Our natural response to stress to worry our hearts out, but praising the Lord and having faith in him relieves the stress. Of course, let us not forget when we are under stress we should do our best to pray for his help. Whether in good times or bad, rejoicing and thanking God for all he has supplied us with increases our faith in him and allows him to work in our lives. The hardest circumstance in which I find it difficult to praise God is no doubt in financial difficulties, regardless of the meticulous work I put into it. Be it stressful as it is, paying tithes is top priority.

Timothy needed to be circumcised so that he would not be rejected by the Jews in synagogues. Paul becomes all things to all people so that he witness to them in their type of culture which he was in. If they were poor, he was poor, if they were Greeks he was a Greek, he humbled himself to be become as they were, this allowed him to relate to their circumstances. In serving Jesus we humble ourselves as he was humble to all he met. Should we demand our rights while witnessing for Jesus, I think not. The Lord will lead us in our paths and it is upon him we depend.

Because Israel has rejected their Messiah, we the Gentiles have temporarily taken their place because of our faith in Jesus Christ. However, God has not forgotten Israel, they will one day return to the Lord and except Christ as their savior. Believing Gentiles and those believing Jews are one in the Lord, both believe what Christ has done for us. Believing Protestants and believing Catholics are one in the Lord, however not everyone in these denominations are not saved. They cling to legalism and church doctrines to get them to the heavenly Kingdom.

I believe that everyone is predestined to be with the Lord, but few accept the Lords calling. Many refuse the call and decide to live in the world of sin. Those accepting his calling are given his free gift of grace and salvation. This belief in predestination is not to be taken lightly, we are not to become lazy because of this condition. We are to work for the Kingdom of the Lord and share our belief with those of the world to bring them into the salvation of the Lord. God does not need to bring this salvation to the world, but because he loves us he offers us his grace and salvation. We were created in his image, thus to give him praise and glory, for he first loved us before we knew him.

Grace is a free gift from God, a pardon from the sins we have committed because of our faith in Jesus Christ and what he has suffered and done for us. Legalism and works can never save us from the damnation of hell. Grace is a free gift from God, not on our good works and church legalisms. Through faith in the works of what Christ has done for us we are given unmerited grace from God, this faith has rescued us, salvation from damnation.

Definition of grace is: through faith, a free gift from God having nothing to do with our works. Legalism which is a doctrine of some churches that we should believe, in their laws and ordinances to achieve Gods salvation and works by which we do our very best to please God. These beliefs and works are incompatible with Gods free grace which he bestows upon us by simple faith. Faith plays an important part in our faith because with it we believe that God had provided his only son for the redemption of our sins. For the Lord is the author and finisher of our faith.

The essential demand of the Judaizers was that the gentiles needed to be circumcised as Moses demanded. The Judaizers demand for circumcision contradicted the idea of salvation by grace because Christ had died for our sins, died was buried and rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. Accepting what Christ has done for us, we are by grace forgiven of our sins. The Judaizers were preaching a different gospel, which was partially believing what Christ had accomplished and bring in the Mosaic Law which required being circumcised. Exccessive legalism in our Christian churches puts an unnecessary yoke upon us. Demands that require us to believe or perform certain man made rules, could actually keep us from coming Christ and placing obstacles in our belief.

Continuing or abiding in the faith is very important to a Christen because, if not we would drift back into the very pagan life style we had before we were saved by our Lord. Jesus parable of the Sower teaches us that His word must fall on furtil ground in our hearts where his word can take deep root and flourish, keeping strong in the faith. If not the cares of this world will over come his word and we will forget all we have heard and never flourish. New believers need instruction and disciplining or they will never grow in the faith and may even lose it. Evangelism is only complete when the new believer can stand on his own when he has learned the word of God and His purpose for the grace and salvation he has provided. We should not try to push more knowledge on them than they can understand at anyone time. Sanctification is a life long process.

Paul's gospel presentation of the gospel to the pagans is different from those of the synagogues because pagans have no conception of the true God and know nothing of the scriptures. Whereas, Jews, in the synagogues know scriptures and only need to be lead through prophecies to show that Jesus had fulfilled all these scriptures. Paul finds a common ground, or examples, by which he can lead pagans to the truth of Christ and his accomplishment on the cross. They would never understand scripture which they would have no conception of. To contextualize the gospel in my area I would need to bring examples of the culture, economics and beliefs of the people.