Author: BTP

“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).

During a recent trip that we made, we had the opportunity of sitting in a number of airports, watching the people walk by. Quite a few wore T-shirts with slogans printed on either the front or back of them. Some of these read, “I’m NOT sorry,” “Born for greatness,” or “I need my space.” All of these slogans conveyed a message that the person wanted to communicate about himself or herself.

But then, on one occasion, we had arranged to meet a Christian young man whom we had not met before. When he approached us in the lobby of the hotel, his T-shirt had a Bible verse across the front. We knew instantly that he was the person we were supposed to meet. His “slogan” did not give a message about himself, but rather about his Savior—the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we are baptized, we put on the name of Christ. In our everyday lives, do we give others a message about Christ, either by what we wear, or how we act?

“For in truth against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou hadst anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the nations, and peoples of Israel, have been gathered together in this city to do whatever Thy hand and Thy counsel had determined before should come to pass” (Acts 4:27-28 JND).

All the world was against the Lord Jesus, for this world did not want Him. He was the light of the world, and that light reminded man that he was a sinner before God. Man crucified God’s Son, and must bear the responsibility for it.

On the other hand, God was behind the scenes, working out His will, and what man did to the Lord Jesus only accomplished God’s purposes. This does not in any way relieve man of his responsibility for rejecting the Lord Jesus, but we know that His death, blood-shedding, and resurrection were all necessary, if any of us were to be saved. At the time that man did his very worst, the love and grace of God shone out the brightest!

“And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:1-2).

“And he [Abraham] said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:31).

If you read the account of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, you will see that Lazarus was a believer, and the rich man was not. Later on, the Spirit of God records a conversation between the rich man in hell, and Abraham, who, with Lazarus, was with the Lord. The rich man pleaded with Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth, to speak to his five brothers, and to warn them about going into a lost eternity. Abraham tells him that if they would not pay attention to the Scriptures, they would not believe, even though someone rose from the dead.

Our first verse (from Acts 4) today proves this. The Jewish leaders rejected the Lord Jesus before He died, but even when the proofs of His resurrection were so clear, they still would not believe. Even an outstanding miracle of healing (Acts 3) did not convince them. Only a work of the Spirit of God can bring lost souls to repentance.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Almost forty years ago I was visiting India with a Christian friend of mine, and in a restaurant we met a man from Switzerland who was interested in some false religious teaching that is contrary to the Bible. When I quoted today’s verse to him, he replied that this was arrogant and proud of me, to say that there was only one way to be saved. I reminded him that it was not I who was saying it, but that it was God’s Word. He promptly said that he did not believe it, and that in his opinion there were many ways to be saved.

However, God’s Word stands, whether men believe it or not. God honors His beloved Son, and it is only through Him that you and I can be saved. Every false religion is based on works—what we should do in order to please God. But God tells us that as lost sinners, we cannot do anything to please Him. We must first of all come to Christ, repent of our sins, and then receive forgiveness and a new life in Christ. Only then can we do those things that please God.

“It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus” (Luke 1:3).

“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all things that Jesus began both to do and teach” (Acts 1:1).

We do not know who Theophilus was, but his name means “lover of God,” or “loved by God.” He was evidently really interested in knowing all about the Lord Jesus, and Luke undertook to write, first of all, the gospel of Luke, and then later the book of Acts. They were written for this man Theophilus, but God saw fit to include both books in His Word. The word treatise simply means an article or paper written about a particular subject.

Luke was a Gentile, and also a medical doctor, and it is interesting that he was the only Gentile whom the Lord used to help write the Bible. The book of Luke tells about the Lord Jesus during His time on this earth, while the Acts tells us what He did after He had risen and ascended back to heaven, and had sent down the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts does not teach us doctrine, but it tells us a great deal of how the Lord worked, first of all to form the church, and then how things were done in the early days of the church.

“HE satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness” (Psalm 107:9).

There are many verses that we could quote to show us what will really satisfy our hearts, but today’s verse will do. It tells us that only the Lord can satisfy the longing soul, and fill the hungry soul with goodness. The key words here are “satisfy,” and “fill.” Our hearts are so big that only the Lord Himself can fill them, and He wants to do this for us. But in order for this to happen, we must be willing to come to Him as lost sinners, and accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior. Many are not willing to do that, but rather insist on trying to fill their hearts with the things of this world.

I remember pointing this out to two students with whom I went to university. One of them replied, “You may be right about the things of this world not being able to satisfy us, but I would sure like to try!” I lost track of him, and do not know where he is now. But he probably did what he said he would do—tried to find something in this world to fill his heart. How much better it is to believe God’s Word, and recognize that only Christ can fill our hearts.

“The eyes of man are never satisfied” (Proverbs 27:20).

When we are young, it is natural for us to think, ‘If I only had this or that, I would be perfectly happy!’ Yet perhaps you have already found out that this is not true. Perhaps you have had your heart set on getting something, and you finally managed to get it. But then, after a while, you got bored with it, and wanted something else. Or perhaps you saw someone else with the same thing as you have, but perhaps a better one or a newer model. Then you were not satisfied with the one you had.

All this only shows us what Solomon found out long ago—that our hearts are made so that nothing in this world satisfies us.

Animals are not like that: they are satisfied if they have the basic necessities of life. But man was made for eternity, and nothing down here can satisfy his heart. Tomorrow we will see what will really satisfy our hearts.

“He [Peter] saith unto Him [the Lord Jesus], Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My lambs…Feed My sheep” (John 21:15-16).

Rather than going fishing in order to earn his living, the Lord Jesus told Peter to feed His lambs, and to feed His sheep. Peter would spend the rest of his life doing this, and it was far better than going fishing. Yes, it is good for us to work and to support ourselves in this world, and the Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians that “if any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). We are not to be lazy Christians. However, to do the Lord’s work (if He has called us to it) is very important, and if we do the Lord’s work in His way, He will see to that we are looked after financially. He is a good Master to work for!

As far as we know, Peter never went back to fishing again, but rather used his time and energy to see souls saved, and to encourage believers. He had learned that when the Lord calls us to serve Him, we are not to turn back.

“It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33).

The Pharisees, who did not like the Lord Jesus, had warned Him that if He stayed around in Jerusalem, Herod would kill Him. The Lord Jesus did not die at Herod’s hands, but He told those Pharisees that a prophet could not perish out of Jerusalem. What did He mean?

The answer is rather solemn. All the prophets who had perished, all through the Old Testament, had generally been killed in or around Jerusalem—the very place where God’s temple was, and where people were supposed to be able to learn about the true God. The place had become so corrupted that the prophets God sent to warn His people were killed there. Finally, the Lord Jesus Himself would be taken outside that same city of Jerusalem, and crucified. This was the end of man’s testing; he had failed every test God could give him. But then God began to act in grace towards this world, and we can be saved now, not through our own efforts, but through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

“There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of His disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee” (John 21:2-3).

When the incident related in these two verses took place, the Lord Jesus had already risen from the dead, and been seen by His eleven disciples. We have already noticed that Peter was a natural leader, and when he decided to go fishing, the six others who were with him wanted to go too. If you read on in the chapter, you will see that they did not catch anything until the Lord told them what to do.

You will remember that the Lord Jesus had called Peter to give up fishing, in order to do something more important—to catch men. See if you can find the verse where the Lord Jesus says this to Peter.

Peter should not have gone back to fishing, but because he was a leader, others followed him. This is a good lesson for us to remember. We all influence one another, and especially those who are natural leaders. Let us be careful not to lead others in a wrong way. On Monday we will see what the Lord said to Peter the next day about what he should be doing.