What is to be said of Saul’s Damascus Road Companions?

Introduction: The length of a papyrus roll was limited by considerations of convenience of handling it; the normal Greek literary roll seldom exceeded 35 feet in length. Ancient authors therefore would divide a long literary work into several “books,” each of which would be accommodated in one roll. The two longest books in the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, would have filled an ordinary roll of 31 or 32 feet in length. Doubtless, this is one of the reasons why Luke and Acts were issued in two volumes.* (Metzger and Ehrman, p. 12)
With this limited space in mind why did the Holy Spirit inspire Luke to include the conversion of Saul three times in his writing of the Book of Acts? Why in each account does Luke or Paul tell it a little differently?
We cannot assume that Paul’s companions were never converted. However, we cannot by scripture say that they were converted. What can be said about these that were present at the event that changed the life of the Apostle that became the greatest writer of the New Testament in whom God entrusted the revelation of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus. He revealed to Paul the understanding of how the church should be managed, how the Holy Spirit and His gifts should be recognized within the church, and so much more. And yet nothing is reported about the only ones that were present for the main event. The Damascus Road Conversion of Saul of Tarsus must be included in the top five major events of the New Testament (1. The Virgin birth; 2. The Resurrection of Jesus; 3. The Advent of Pentecost; 4. The Conversion of Saul; 5. The Revelation of Jesus recorded by John). Consider with me the companions of Saul on the road to Damascus.

i. Acts 9:7 His companions heard the sound
a. Conversion does not take place by association
1. They were all in opposition to “The Way”
2. They traveled with the same mission
3. They were companions
4. ONLY Saul was converted that day
b. Hearing is not believing
1. It is true one must first hear about Jesus to have faith in Him (Romans 10:14)
2. But many hear without believing
Acts 25:22 King Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man for myself.”
Acts 26:28 then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”

ii. Acts 22:9 His companions saw the light but did not understand the voice
a. Seeing is not Believing; Hank was not saved because he saw the light.
1. Hank Williams sang “I Saw The Light”
To see the light only clarifies the right path
2. Having eyes they cannot see
b. One can hear and see without understanding and without obeying.
1. They may not have understood because the voice spoke in Aramaic
We have to speak the language the unconverted can understand
2. They did not understand because God was not speaking to them.
Though God’s will is that all should be saved, He saves them one at a time in His time.

iii. Acts 26:14 They all fell to the ground and Saul heard a voice speaking to him
a. The manifest presence of God
1. You may fall down, run around, shout, cry, dance or handle snakes but you are not saved for having experienced the manifest presence of God.
2. His presence alone does not heal or save us, nor does his presence purify or sanctify us
Is. 6:1-8 Isaiah recognizes his impurity while in God’s presence. It was only when the seraph placed the hot coal on his mouth that he became pure. The work is God’s work not ours.
Acts 8:9-24 In the middle of revival when God’s presence is manifested many are save, healed and baptized in the Holy Ghost. Yet Simon the sorcerer, who was a baptized believer, was found to be full of bitterness and captive still to sin. Revival does not save.
b. Saul heard, and obeyed the voice that spoke to him
1. He Heard the Word of the Lord
Acts: 22:8 “Who are you Lord?”
Acts 22:10 “What shall I do?”
2. He Obeyed the Word of the Lord
Acts 9:8-9 Saul got up, was led into Damascus and waited for instructions
Acts 26:19 I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven
Acts 26:20 Saul preached to Jews and Gentiles immediately

Conclusion: Conversion and subsequent salvation by grace through faith begins with an adequate knowledge of Jesus and his life on earth. This will be followed by genuine repentance of the sinner who has been drawn by and convinced by the Holy Spirit to openly embrace with full heart and soul the entire work of Christ on and off the cross. Then proof of that repentance is requisite for those who have the opportunity to live and demonstrate the change that has occurred within. None of the above responses of conversion is used to describe the companions of Saul by Luke. Taking in mind that in his first book that bears his name, Luke declared that he had carefully investigated everything to write an orderly account so that there should be certainty of the things that have been taught. He left out no important details.
The companions of Saul are much like the thousands that sought after Jesus for miracles and loaves and fishes. They are like those who upon hearing the hard sayings of Christ refused to believe and deserted him in the end. They are like many who hear the truth today and refuse the drawing of the Holy Spirit. They simply cannot understand what is being said over the clamor of their own ambitions and personal lusts and desires. The companions of Saul are lost to Biblical history and perhaps eternally lost in relationship with God. Let us who are soul-winners be careful to give adequate testimony of Jesus. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to do the task of convicting and convincing so that there is no manipulation. Let us require proof and public evidence of true conversion as we disciple the new convert in the steps of real Christianity.

1. Metzger, Bruce M. and Bart D. Ehrman. The Text of the New Testament: Its
Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration. 4th ed. Oxford UP, 2005.

Please Keep the “X” in Xmas

To understand the English language and where and how some our words originated will help us communicate the Gospel even better. To show one’s self ignorant and unlearned will often hinder the propagation of the Truth. One such bit of misinformation is resounded every year about this time. Well meaning Christ believers get out the word that they are offended by those who would secularize the word and meaning of ‘Christmas’ by taking ‘Christ’ out of their Christmas and replacing it with an ‘X’. Please don’t show your lack of your ignorance of the English language with these sort of statements.

The word Christ comes from the Greek meaning ‘savior’. In English we tack on the term ‘mas’ to indicate ‘the masses’. So our word Christmas actually means “Savior of the Masses”. Now don’t say that you only speak English and don’t care about the origin of words. You accept that Christ doesn’t mean Jesus but Savior. Jesus became the “Christ” or the Savior. He saves the masses, that is, the entire world. If you accept that the Greek word Christ means Savior then you must also accept that the Greek translation for Jesus Christ XP is from the first two Greek letters of ‘CHRISTOS’.

The X means Christ it doesn’t mean that one has dropped Him from the word Christmas nor from the season. Please keep the X in Christmas. He is the reason for the season.

Who shall separate us from God’s Love?

Romans 5:6-8 (English Standard Version)
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In this morning’s internet devotion that I listened to on the computer I heard that beloved reading of Romans chapter 8 verses 35-39. Having finished his reading the host made this statement: ”Once we trust Christ as Savior, the guarantee of God’s love is ours forever.” While this is true what about the sinner? Is not God’s love for him guaranteed forever also? If one takes this kind of liberty with the scripture the next step is a natural and logical one. “Once we are saved then our salvation is guaranteed forever.” These are both erroneous conclusions in and of themselves and steps away from the true meaning of these verses written to the Romans. One should never mistake God’s perfect love and mercies for His divine execution justice and punishment.
The whole counsel of God’s word teaches us that we should not feel insecure in our salvation for it was purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ and is a free gift of God that cannot be earned or merited in any manner. There are natural steps that the one who has come into this salvation will take because or as a result of placing his or her faith in God for soul-salvation. Some of these natural steps or reactions include: repentance, holy living, and perseverance among many others. When these actions do not follow one’s initial receiving of God’s gift there must be a reexamination on the part of the donee for there is no question that the donor imparted His free gift upon sincere request.
Now here is where the giant step away from the scripture is taken. The mistake is made by those who will speak of God’s perfect gift of salvation as though it is the same as His divine attribute of perfect love for all. Salvation flows from this His love. But His free gift of salvation is demonstrated in the lives of men while His love may not produce godly results in the lives of man. His love has no requirements. His love demands no reaction or natural production of fruit as when a seed is planted. When a seed is planted (His Word) it will produce what it has in it. His love does not have to be planted nor received by the soil (the heart of man). His love may or may not produce some sort of godly fruit. His love is his love no matter the reaction, reception, production or lack of product in the heart of man. His salvation, on the other hand, will produce repentance, holy living, and perseverance. If it doesn’t it was really not planted in good soil or the cares of life choked it out or it had no depth and was seared by the hot sun of the enemy of our soul before it produced. I will need to be replanted and tended to. One however, cannot escape the love of God. Vile sinners who despise and reject His love or saints who demonstrate this agape love with all the selflessness possible are on the same plain before the inescapable non-judgmental love of God. Man nor woman, boy nor girl, sinner nor saint no one can do anything good enough to deserve or merit God’s love. Neither can His creation do anything so bad to escape God’s love. He is love and therefore loves the sinner just like he loves the saint. Romans 8:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
To deny that love is foolish but to redact the term love and substitute the word salvation is dangerous. There are definite evidential proofs and fruit of one’s salvation however; the proof that God loves the sinner and the saint will not show its presence in the same manner in either. The sinner who sins is loved by God should then we all sin because God loves us? Is it “once we are saved” then we become inseparable with God’s love? No, God’s love for his creation is always constant. The object of his love doesn’t change. He loves all of mankind. Which brings us to the next attribute of his divine character that is confused by those who have taken the liberty to exchange their knowledge of the love of good for his free gift of salvation, that being the perfect justice of God.
God’s justice is like His love, perfect. None of God’s divinty can be seperated from His character and attributes, that is the manner in which He must always respond. The word “justice” in Spanish is “justicia” it is often translated into English as “justice” but is often translated in the Bible as “righteousness”. God’s perfect righteousness is the same as His justice and the same as His love, divine. God will in the end reward and punish with perfect and divine justice. There will be no favors to the almost saved or to those who denied the free gift of salvation. There will be those who heard the message received it with joy but did not produce the correct fruit for lack of root depth, poor soil conditions, or weeds that choked it out. Many excuses will be given for the empty results and lack of production in respect to the good seed that will always produce of its kind. No excuse will be accepted; either one is saved and produces fruit of that salvation (i.e. repentance, holy living, and perseverance, etc…) or one is judged as an unknown member of creation and is condemned to eternal punishment. This is an indication and true sign of God’s perfect love. He perfectly loves the sinner and perfectly hates his sin. He perfectly judges the unsaved and perfectly rewards the saved. The saved will have demonstrated their salvation by their fruit. The sinner will have demonstrated their lost condition by their fruit.
Salvation, if not accompanied by proof of Godly attributes (not perfect people but people who are maturing daily in Godliness) has either been lost or never was completed in the soul of any particular candidate. God will always judge sin with the consequences thereof. When the saint sins he too suffers the results of his sin. If the saint continues to sin and willfully plans to sin more and more his sin will eventually condemn his once saved soul. This is a result of God’s perfect judgment and love. That backslidden saint has not escaped the love of God he has willfully deserted God’s gift and has walked away from his salvation. God still loves him with the same degree of love that He has always loved him. But it is plane that God’s justice has to punish sin. God’s justice expects sanctified living from sanctified people. There comes a moment when the once saved realize that they are no longer producing the fruit of Godliness and that they must go and do their first works over or they will suffer the consequences of every sinner, God’s judgment.
Rev. 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place, unless you repent.
2 Peter 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.
Rev. 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
With repentance comes fruit that will prove that act of contrition. With turning back to God there will be evidence of a changed life. If you once demonstrated your conversion by your way of living you will be justly reward however if you now practice and continue in sin and do not repent of that sin you have backslidden and have fallen away from the rewards of that free gift of salvation and into the hands of God’s justice and judgment or consequences of your sinful manner.
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is no question concerning God’s immutable and inescapable love for all. I cannot by my appropriation of His free gift of salvation earn or ever receive any more or any less of this divine attribute from Him. Neither can the sinner by his ungodly behavior and lack of salvation’s evidence receive any less of God’s love. In the same manner, in His divine love there exists His divine justice that absolutely demands a change in how we respond to sin. Though we cannot escape God’s love when we sin we cannot escape the consequences of our sins. If we continue to sin will eventually leave the safety and protection of our secure position (2 Peter 3:17) and return to our first condition of sinfulness. We then will need to repent and allow the Holy Spirit to begin to produce the Godliness in us once more. Have I crucified Christ anew by pleading for his mercy and submitting to the effects of his free gift a second or third time? No I have simply thrown myself on his boundless love and mercy for his forgiveness and appropriated his free gift by faith once more.

HOW SHALL THEY PREACH EXCEPT THEY BE SENT?

Ro 10:15 and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!

The sending process of Assemblies of God World Missions test of faith and endurance in these days of recession,  economic cutbacks, and chuches down-sizing their budgets and staff.  I believe in the idea of missionary candidates and veterans visiting all the churches that will host them.  It makes room for personal accountablilty, inter-personal relationships and for the personal spiritual discernment needed in these days of false and deceptive ministries.  However, I have fallen into the trap of using my experience of itenerate fundraising and preaching to eisegete the scripture noted above.  I even posted it on my Face Book page and got quite a  few “amen”.  One must be so careful not to take his/her experience and find a Bible verse or even worse a portion of a verse to use as bumper sticker theology to bolster his/her cause.  Please bear with me as I correct my understanding of this portion of scripture that I have used as a hammer to pound home my request that churches must SEND A/G missionaries lest the darkened world lose any hope of the light of the Gospel being shown to it. 

This rhetorical question is not a plea for the church’s prayer and financial support.  This is not Paul’s request for organizational authority to go or to preach.  He is not seeking his credentials or appointment from the mission board in Jerusalem or Antioch.  Paul is drawing from his rich understanding of Old Testament history and from his new understanding of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in the beginning steps of the New Testament age. 

His queston might be better understood if stated: In what way will there be preacher of this Gospel if they are not first commisioned by God? The “how” doesn’t refer to the manner that they should preach or the wherewithal they should use to go somewhere to preach. The “how” speaks to the fact that there would be no true preachers if they are not first sent by God.

The divine commisdion/sending with authority by and from God is the obvious and uncalled for answer to Paul’s rhetoric.  History had taught the Jews that a prophet, a teacher, a rabbi, must be properly annointed with a true message from God and then sent or commissioned by God to tell forth, to prophsy in His name/authority. Paul had learned that only the person who sends a message can designate who should carry that message.  Matthew Poole using a word not accepted by today’s modern spellcheck that helped me understand this sending of the preacher.  He says that the preacher must either be sent “immediately” [without mediation; directly] by God or Christ, as the prophets and the apostles were or “mediately” [ with mediation; indirectly] by such as have authority from Christ to seperate and ordain.

Paul’s question is now:  How can they preach without this orderly mission or ordination? Then Poole carries it one step further, “…how can they do it duly and profitably, or in the name and by the authority of Christ? For otherwise there were , and still are, those that run before they are sent, Jeremiah 23:21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.”.

The greatest need is not money to supply the preacher to go. The greatest need is not for moving mesages that will coerce the local church to give so the preacher can be sent. The greatest need is still the cry of the Lord of the harvest for laborers  who will respond to the request of the harvestmaster’s heartfelt plea that the harvest not be lost.  He has always called yet few have heeded His calling.  Excuses have been offered by preachers great and small, Jeremiah 1:7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Nevertheless God sends them with His message and authority.

They shall preach because they are empowerd by God with a message from God.  The message of the called and sent ones of the New Testament church age is the “Evangelio” the “Gospel” the “Good News”.  It is hope and salvation from God to man. Who can withhold this good news? Who is sent to peach it? Every believer has recieved the Great Commision of Christ to go, make disciples, baptize, and teach them.  They shall preach because they have been sent.

The rhetorical is answered in the obedience of any one who has recieved the Gospel and will then accept the commission with all the authority that is given with it to go and express the message of God’s love.  The rhetorical is answered in God’s desire to bring the message of salvation through a preacher that He will send.

What a Weekend From God

  We are forever grateful that we learned to trust God as children and now that we are both in our fifties we can say that God has been faithful to us for more than a half a century. Our parents taught us that God will answer our prayers and give to us the things we need when we need them. When I was a little boy I would ask my daddy to pray for me when I was sick and he would. I believed in his prayers and God always made me feel better and even healed me instantly on occasion. Karen grew up in French Corner Baptist Church where she heard her parents pray for the needs of their family and community and saw how God heard and answered prayer. Well, this weekend that began on Karen’s birthday 10-08-10 and ended on 10/10/10 was one filled with answered prayer.
First we got a call about 11:30 on Saturday morning from a lady intersted in looking at our house we have “for sale by owner”. She came by with her son and looked around and asked could she come back that afternoon with her husband. They returned about 2:30 with a an offer and a deposit. We arrived upon an agreeable sale price with some conditions and for all practicle purposes sold our house. We put one small sign in our yard and many hours of prayer in the ears of God and it sold in less than 72 hours. There are tons of houses on the market in our neighborhood and surrounding area that have not sold. But God sold ours in less than 72 hours.
We did not travel far from home this on Sunday AM. Pastor Jim and Ruth Ragsdale of New Destiny A/G in north Monroe had us preach and even share in Communion with his church. The worship was great and the crowd was like a sponge and absorbed everything we said. There were so many questions by those interested in our mission work when the service was concluded. They gave us a generous offering and took us to lunch at the Picadilly in Monroe. What a treat to be with Jim and Ruth, they have been like flesh and blood family to us over the last six years.
Then tonight we went to the Assembly in West Monroe where Shane and Pam Warren were hosting Rev. Perry Stone for a one night meeting. The atmosphere was thick with God’s presence. Music and worship leader Brad Jackson led us to the very edge of the throneroom of God. Then Brother Stone brought a powerful message of how the Holy Spirit is bringing the old and the new of the church together in these last days. It’s hard for many to make the transition but he emphasized how it must happen for “new wine” just can’t stay in “old wine skins”. The alters were filled with over a hundred seekers who pressed in for some time on their faces before God. Then Pastor Shane sent a staff member to find Karen and I and asked us to join him and Pam for some food and fellowship with Perry Stone. What a blessing to visit with these great young servants of God. We shared what God is doing for us. They shared our enthusiasm for what God is doing through us. Then Pastor Shane assured me that The Assembly in West Monroe would partner with us in our financial load by committing to us monthly.
Like I said this was a weekend from God. We are going to raise all the support we need in the time that God has alloted for that. We are going to inspire others to do great thing for God as we travel this year. We serve a great God who has a great plan for those who will expect greatness from Him.

Discovering God “Firsthand”

The thought provoking way that my friend Pastor Lou Bartet presented the topic of “Prayer” last Wednesday night at church and the Richard Exley quote of the day, “For me the essence of prayer is fellowship, communication, intimacy — the pure pleasure of God’s presence.” opened a window of thought to me. 

Since the second generation from Adam  when “… men began to call upon the name of the LORD.”, and only had the oral traditions and their own fellowship, communication, and intimacy with God in personal and perhaps corporate prayer, God has been revealling himself to his creation.  It seems logical that these ancients felt the need to make requests of God but I’m sure in their alone time with God they discovered the character, attributes and ways of God firsthand.  It was not by reading the Psalms of David or the Proverbs of Solomon for they were not yet written.  Abram’s contemporary was Job and neither of these men had written explanations, Bible commentaries, or how to books about God.  They only had their firsthand relationships with Him.  They learned who and how He is and then shared with everyone in superlatives what they had learned while in the pure pleasure of His presence.

Though God wants us to read, study and feast on the riches of His Word as He inspired others to write it.  He desires even more that we go to the same places that the Bible authors and patriarchs of the faith went.  Image what it would be like to spend time “in prayer” (in the pure pleasure of God’s presence) and come away with the same inspired words of the prophets, psalmists, and disciples of the Lord.  Prayer is much more than a list of petitions and requests.  God reveals himself to us in prayer.

I love what David Wilkerson recently published about “How to hear the voice of God?” He says one must have:

An unshakeable confidence that God is wanting to speak to you. You have to be fully persuaded and convinced of this. Indeed, he is a speaking God—and he wants you to know his voice so you can do his will. What God tells you will never go beyond the boundaries of Scripture.

Quality time and quietness. You need to be willing to shut yourself in with God and let all other voices hush away. True, God speaks to us all day long. But whenever he has wanted to build something into my life, his voice has come only after I had shut out every other voice but his.

Asking in faith. We do not obtain anything from God (including hearing his voice) unless we truly believe that he is able to convey his mind to us—to enable us to understand his perfect will.

I will finish using this verse for my discussion:  1John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.    John the last of the twelve, the beloved of Jesus and the author of the last written words of Holy scriptures and fittingly called “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” was convinced that not only did God want to reveal Himself firsthand to every beleiver but that He had also given us ample understanding that we might know Him.

Goals and Needs for the Bardwells

We believe that we should set goals and strive to reach them. For the months of itineration we have set these goals for our missionary ministry during last trimester of 2010:

1. Schedule 28 Sunday services.
2. Encourage 28 pastors
3. Pray with at least 28 people who will respond to a missionary call
4. Raise 25% in monthly commitments
5. Send in $10,000 toward our cash budget.
6. Move into 2011 with our winter and spring calendar booked with missionary meetings.

Some of the things we need to help us with our new ministry are:

1. A second vehicle for Karen during itineration
2. The quick sale of our house in West Monroe.
3. An inexpensive rent house in the Monroe/ West Monroe area while we itinerate.
4. 100 Slightly used hard-side suitcases for sending meds overseas.

Please pray with us as we reach for the prize that is set before us. Help us if you can with the supply of these needs.