Dead Men Talking

Acts 2:38-39:

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

#1, Repent.

#2, Be baptized.

#3, Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

This is God’s formula for born-again — the most glorious relationship a human can experience. First, one must believe upon the Lord Jesus and repent of his sins. II Timothy 2:19 expands:

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Secondly, one must be baptized in water by Christ’s example of full immersion. Jesus Christ, in order to fulfill all righteousness, was baptized in the river Jordan by John the Baptist. Thirdly, the promise of the Holy Ghost is given, which was initially received by the church on the day of Pentecost, a Jewish feast day similar to Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Acts 2:1-4:

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The promise of the Holy Ghost was not just for the beginning of the church, as the doctrine of dispensationalism asserts, but is surely for and direly needed today. Again, Acts 2:39:

For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

There is much confusion in the world’s denominations concerning the baptism of the Holy Ghost, but the Scriptures are very clear. At the end of this feature, we will list the Holy Ghost series on GodSaidManSaid. 

Have you been born again? What are you waiting for? Today is your day of salvation. Today, all your sin and shame can be washed away. Today, your life can be filled with light and truth. Come on in. Click onto "Further With Jesus" for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Hebrews 11:13-16:

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

GOD SAID, Hebrews 11:32-40 and 12:1-2:

11:32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

11:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

11:34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

11:36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

11:38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

MAN SAID: There is not one stitch of evidence that Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, ever lived. The idea of his virgin birth, miraculous ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection is beyond any reasonable thought. 

Now THE RECORD. This is GodSaidManSaid feature article #543 that once again proves the glorious accuracy of the Word of God. All these features are archived in text and streaming audio on this site. Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one. We’re glad you’ve come. May the face of our God shine upon you with Light and Truth.

In the Garden of Eden, Eve, the mother of all living, in an act of unbelief and disobedience, rejected the word of her creator, embracing the teaching of Satan, and her husband followed her pernicious ways. At that juncture, the Devil, who they chose to follow, became the leader of carnal man. Satan became the god of this world — the little "g"-od. II Corinthians 4:3-4:

3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

We were sold by our parents unto sin, therefore one of the names of the Lord Jesus Christ is "Redeemer" — one who purchases back. Satan is also known as "the prince of the power of the air." Ephesians 2:2:

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

The whole world under the Devil’s leadership is damned and doomed. Just as the body will reject an alien organ, such as a transplanted heart or kidney, the carnal world body rejects righteousness. We see the second demonstration of this phenomenon when Cain, Adam and Eve’s firstborn, killed his brother Abel, because of Abel’s righteousness. The rejection of righteousness, which is truth, will continue until Satan and the wicked are destroyed. Cain is the world’s spirit. 

Once one is redeemed (Jesus describes it as born-again), the believer begins a pilgrimage in his quest for eternal life and the very city of God wherein dwells righteousness. God calls us pilgrims and strangers, demonstrating that we are no longer of this world. Jesus said in John 15:19:

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Those searching for proof of Christ need look no further than the testimony of the lives of the Apostles, and of course to Jesus Christ himself. Jesus demonstrated His love for his Father, obeying His will even unto the cross. Jesus saw the future. Jesus saw the millions of redeemed souls rejoicing before the throne of God and so much more. These motivations of love carried Him to the cross and beyond, even to the very right hand of God. Hebrews 12:2:

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus was and is rejected by the carnal world. 

The proof of the life of Christ, his ministry of redemption, and his crucifixion and resurrection were preached by the Apostles who were eyewitnesses of these events. Their testimony was sealed by their deaths. The following excerpts are from McDowell and Wilson’s book, Evidence for the Historical Jesus:

First, as we have already seen, when the apostles wrote or spoke, they did so as eyewitnesses of the events they described. The main content of these eyewitness testimonies concerned the resurrection. The apostles were witnesses of the resurrected life of Jesus:

Luke 24:48, John 15:27, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:24,32, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, Acts 5:32, Acts 10:39, Acts 10:41, Acts 13:31, Acts 22:15, Acts 23:11, Acts 26:16, 1 Corinthians 15:4-9, 1 Corinthians 15:15, 1 John 1:2

Second, the apostles themselves had to be convinced that Jesus was raised from the dead. At first they hadn’t believed. They went and hid (Mark 14:50). They didn’t hesitate to express their doubts. Only after ample and convincing evidence did they believe. There was Thomas, who said he wouldn’t believe that Jesus was raised from the dead until he had put his finger in the nail prints. Thomas later died a martyr’s death for Jesus. Was he deceived? He bet his life he wasn’t.

I can trust the apostles’ testimonies because, of those twelve men, eleven died martyrs’ deaths on the basis of two things: (1) the resurrection of Jesus; and (2) their belief in him as the Son of God. Reliable tradition shows they were tortured and flogged, and then finally faced death by some of the crudest methods then known:

1. Peter—crucified

2. Andrew—crucified

3. Matthew—the sword

4. John—natural

5. James, son of Alphaeus—crucified

6. Philip—crucified

7. Simon—crucified

8. Thaddaeus—killed by arrows

9. James, brother of Jesus—stoned

10. Thomas—spear thrust

11. Bartholomew—crucified

12. James, son of Zebedee—the sword  [End of quote]

They tried to kill the Apostle John by casting him into boiling oil, but he survived to be exiled to the Isle of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation. John died a natural death. The Apostle Paul was beheaded by Nero. These men lived and gave their lives because of the truth of Christ Jesus. They could see the future. The world rejected them even as righteous Abel. Satan leads the carnal world, but this situation is getting ready to change. Prepare to meet your God. 

GOD SAID, Hebrews 11:13-16:

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

GOD SAID, Hebrews 11:32-40 and 12:1-2:

11:32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

11:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

11:34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

11:36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

11:38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

MAN SAID: There is not one stitch of evidence that Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, ever lived. The idea of his virgin birth, miraculous ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection is beyond any reasonable thought.

Now you have THE RECORD. 



Related articles: 
Holy Ghost (Part One) — 10/12/2006
Holy Ghost (Part Two) — 10/19/2006
Holy Ghost (Part Three) — 10/26/2006
Holy Ghost (Part Four) — 11/2/2006
Holy Ghost (Part Five) — 11/9/2006
Scientists Study Speaking In Tongues — 12/21/2006
Baptism With Holy Ghost Update — 12/28/2006



References:

Authorized King James Version

McDowell, J., and B. Wilson, Evidence for the Historical Jesus, Harvest House Publishers, 1993, pp113-114

 

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