Doug Sutherland is teaching Acts 4:1-12. The video below is the introduction to the study. For the complete study click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2. by Jim Wise Just a few weeks earlier Jesus prepared his disciples with the warning that they would not be popular with some of those very people who opposed Jesus' teaching. Acts 4 describes the disciples' first taste of many fulfillments of that prophesy. In verses 1-4, Peter and those who are with him are confronted by the captain of the temple, who is the official second only to the high priest, and by the Sadducees. They are annoyed by the teaching that the lame beggar was healed by the faith that is through Jesus who was resurrected from the dead. This is the same combination of adversaries of Jesus who refused to see him as the long prophesied Christ and crucified him and those who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. Both are interested in crushing this upstart movement of faith in Jesus that threatens their position and power over the people. The message of Christ crucified was offensive to them. Then as today, the gospel message of the cross and the salvation and freedom that comes through faith in Jesus is powerful. Those who recognize their need for a savior accept it as did the 5000 in Jerusalem who had believed in Jesus by chapter 4 of Acts. For those who do not want to change and want to preserve their old way of life, the gospel is disturbing and something to be quashed. The power of the gospel message has not changed but those who receive it have. |
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February 2014
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