Acts 4

God Talk

Acts 4:10-12

As a humanist I create my own meaning, and for me this is centred on my relationships with others and making a positive contribution. I have a deep respect for many spiritual traditions. I don’t think people need to follow a certain way to find peace and understanding. [I believe] all religions are expressions of the one truth. (April 7 2018)

BBC News. 2018. 21st Century Spirituality BBC News. (use)

"I want to live in a world where all people will be accepted – for their beliefs, their faith, their sexual orientation, their gender identity and everything else – without exception."

Hunt, R. (CEO of Stonewall UK), 2018. The pope says God made gay people just as we should be – here’s why his comments matter. The Guardian. (use)

That man did not have the gift of faith, he wasn't a believer, but he had his children baptized. He had a good heart," Francis said. "God is the one who says who goes to heaven," the pope explained. The next step in answering Emanuele's question, he said, would be to think about what God is like and, especially, what kind of heart God has. "What do you think? A father's heart. God has a dad's heart. And with a dad who was not a believer, but who baptized his children and gave them that bravura, do you think God would be able to leave him far from himself?" "Does God abandon his children?" the pope asked. "Does God abandon his children when they are good?" (Pope Francis)

Wooden, C., 2018. 'Is my dad in heaven?' little boy asks pope. National Catholic Reporter. (use)

Acts 4:10

[Peter speaking] then you should all know, and all the people of Israel should know, that this man stands here before you completely well through the power of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth — whom you crucified and whom God raised from death. (use)

John 3:2

One night he went to Jesus and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent by God. No one could perform the miracles you are doing unless God were with him." (use)

Your eternal destiny is determined by the truth. Your relationship to the truth will determine where you will spend all eternity. Your relationship to the truth will determine whether you are in heaven or in hell forever.

Lawson, S., 2018. The Moment of Truth: Its Reality. (use)

Acts 2:23

In accordance with his own plan God had already decided that Jesus would be handed over to you; and you killed him by letting sinful men crucify him. (use)

"As we face the cross, then, we can say to ourselves both, "I did it, my sins sent him there," and "He did it, his love took him there."

Stott, J. 2012. The Cross of Christ. SPCK. (use)

Psalm 51:4-5

I have sinned against you — only against you — and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. (use)

He [Jesus] didn’t sacrifice his life for himself, or anything he could get out of it, He did it for others, for the other, for the good and well being of others. That’s love.

Curry, M., 2018. (use)

Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (use)

The purpose of the incarnation was redemption. God came in the flesh to take sin away, not to accomplish something for Himself. The Cross is the central event in time and eternity, and the answer to all the problems of both.

Chambers, O., 2017. My Utmost for His Highest. (use)

Acts 4:11

Jesus is the one of whom the scripture says: The stone that you the builders despised turned out to be the most important of all. (use)

Psalm 118:22

The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all. (use)

...Jesus is history. Three years of power and promises are decomposing in a borrowed grave. Search the crucifixion sky for one ray of hope, and you won’t find it. Such is the view of the disciples, the opinion of the friends, and the outlook of the enemies. But God is not surprised. His plan is right on schedule. Even in—especially in—death, Christ is still the king, the king over his own crucifixion. [M. Lucado] [pg.18]

Graham, B., Lucado, M., Lotz, A.G., Omartian, S., 2007. Blessings of the cross. J. Countryman. (use)

Isaiah 55:8

My thoughts, says the Lord, are not like yours, and my ways are different from yours. (use)

Tis mystery all! Th'Immortal dies! Who can explore His strange design?

Wesley, C., 1738. And Can It Be, That I Should Gain? (use)

An Aside about God - Love Glory Holy

1 John 4:8

Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. (use)

Isaiah 43:7

They [Israel] are my own people, and I created them to bring me glory. (use)

Habakkuk 1:13

But how can you stand these treacherous, evil men? Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong. So why are you silent while they destroy people who are more righteous than they are? (use)

Isaiah 6:3

They were calling out to each other: "Holy, holy, holy! The LORD Almighty is holy! His glory fills the world." (use)

Acts 4:12

Salvation is to be found through him alone; in all the world there is no one else whom God has given who can save us. (use)

Romans 1:18-20

Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. So those people have no excuse at all! God punishes them, because what can be known about God is plain to them, for God himself made it plain. God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known. (use)

John 14:6

Jesus answered him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me. (use)

Instead, the most offensive claim in Christianity is that God is the Creator, Owner, and Judge of every person on the planet. Every one of us stands before him guilty of sin, and the only way to be reconciled with him is through faith in Jesus, the crucified Saviour and risen King. [Pg.16]

Platt, D., 2017. Counter Culture: Following Christ in an Anti-christian Age. (use)

Exodus 20:3

Worship no god but me. (use)

Buddhism and Atheism deny the existence of God. Hindus and Sikhs believe there are many gods. Whilst Christianity and Islam both have their roots in the Jewish scriptures, Muslims say you have to work your way into heaven through good works whilst Christianity says you can never be put right with God through your own efforts, forgiveness must be received as a free gift. Christians claim that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament and the ultimate revelation of God in human form whilst the Jews deny that and still await their Messiah who’ll fulfil the Biblical prophecies. These contradictions are not peripheral, they lie at the foundations of each of the belief systems and are irreconcilable with each other.

Do all faiths lead to God? Student Life. (use)

Deuteronomy 12:30-32

Do not worship the LORD your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the LORD hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars. "Do everything that I have commanded you; do not add anything to it or take anything from it. After the LORD destroys those nations, make sure that you don't follow their religious practices, because that would be fatal. Don't try to find out how they worship their gods, so that you can worship in the same way. (use)

The Bible has some fierce things to say about alternative religions when they militate against the will, and the people, of God. One might fairly conclude, in fact, that the primary lesson of the entire Old Testament, learned by the people of God only after suffering centuries of oppression, famine, and finally exile, is that "religion" is a bad thing unless it centers on the one, true God.

Stackhouse Jr, J.G., 2017. Just Who Are These ‘People of Faith’ Anyway?. ChristianityToday. (use)

1 Kings 18:40

Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to the River Kishon and killed them. (use)

1 Timothy 2:5

For there is one God, and there is one who brings God and human beings together, the man Christ Jesus, (use)

John 3:16

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. (use)

The cross stands high above the opinions of men and to that cross all opinions must come at last for judgment.

Tozer, A.W., 2006. The Radical Cross: Living the Passion of Christ. Wingspread, Camp Hill, PA. (use)

Jude 1:22-23

Show mercy towards those who have doubts; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and to others show mercy mixed with fear, but hate their very clothes, stained by their sinful lusts. (use)

Acts 4:21

So the Council warned them even more strongly and then set them free. They saw that it was impossible to punish them, because the people were all praising God for what had happened. (use)

1 John 4:8-10

Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven. And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him. (use)