Title: The Sign You Can’t Afford To Miss

Text: Acts 2:1-13

FCF: We often struggle neglecting our great salvation

Prop: Because God must reveal truth to natural man, we (who have seen the truth) must continue to believe the gospel.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 2.

After all the buildup, after all the promises, after all the anticipation, after all the waiting… today – the church begins. Today we see God change the world. Today we see the 3rd person of the Godhead assume His glorious role in the salvation and preservation of His people.

Strange and miraculous deeds await us today. Things no eye has seen or ear has heard ever before. Signs and wonders are ours to behold. Let’s not waste time.

I am in Acts 2. I will begin reading in verse 1. I am reading again from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible on page 1230 or in whatever version you prefer.

Transition:

Much to get to today in an already long service – so lets get to it.

I.) God has sealed the message of Jesus Christ through mighty signs, so we must continue to believe the gospel. (1-4)

a. [Slide 2] 1 - Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

i. Pentecost was also known as the festival of weeks which was to be celebrated 7 weeks after Passover.

ii. It was a festival to celebrate the end of the harvest and the giving of the law at Mt Sinai.

iii. Jesus promised them that the Spirit would baptize them in a few days. From His ascension we know it was no more than 10 days and probably closer to a week that they waited for the promise to be fulfilled.

iv. Who is all here? Is this all the apostles or is this the whole 120-member assembly?

v. The last referent would be to the 12 apostles. But that reference is in the greater context of the 120-member gathered assembly.

b. [Slide 3] 2-3 - Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. 2:3 And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them.

i. There is significant overlap in the scriptures concerning wind and the Spirit. Indeed, breathe, wind, and the Spirit are interchangeable terms.

ii. Jesus when speaking to Nicodemus, compared the new birth to the wind. Specifically, how it cannot be controlled or captured but can only be seen as it blows the way it wishes to go.

iii. God breathed the breath of life into Adam in Genesis 2 and Jesus breathed on His disciples and commanded them to receive the Spirit in John 20.

iv. So we shouldn’t be surprised at wind joining the moving of the Spirit here. But what exactly is going on?

v. It is here that I need to issue an apology and correction.

1. [Slide 4] In my sermon on Acts 1:1-11 a couple of weeks ago I made a fairly strong case for the baptism with the Spirit being an empowering of the Spirit and not an indwelling. My arguments were as follows.

a. First, When Jesus makes this promise to the Apostles, He seems to lump both the baptism with the Spirit and the power from the Spirit coming upon them into the same event.

b. Second, in Joel 2, a passage Peter references later, it refers to a future pouring out of the Spirit when men and women will prophesy and receive visions. Peter says that at Pentecost, this was fulfilled.

c. Third, In John 20:22 the evening of Jesus’ resurrection, He visits his disciples and in the midst of conversing with them he breathes on them and says “Receive the Holy Spirit”. This seems to indicate that the Spirit was already given to them by Christ after His resurrection.

d. Based on these arguments I concluded… wrongly… that the baptism with the Spirit in Acts 1 and 2 was an empowering and not an indwelling since they were already indwelled with the Spirit.

2. [Slide 5] Today I am going to argue with myself and make a correction to what I previously stated. Before I do that though – you might be wondering a few things.

a. Why does this matter?

i. Although you may not see the importance of getting this right – it actually connects quite readily to our current culture and the state of Christendom for many reasons.

ii. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time to delve into those right now.

iii. Depending on how you see the Baptism with, in, or by the Holy Spirit it can affect your view of sanctification and twist your view of what is the normal experience of every believer when they are genuinely converted.

iv. This has implications both toward the Pentecostal movement generally and even the higher life or Keswick theology on sanctification and a second work of grace.

v. If you have no idea what I am talking about – don’t worry about it for now. Maybe join us on Wednesday and we can discuss it further.

vi. For now, just realize that getting this teaching right is important for us.

b. How did you mess this up so bad?

i. Well, there are several reasons/excuses I could make.

ii. But in short, I am human and I did not fully consider the broader teaching of scripture when forming my conclusions.

c. Can I ever trust anything else you say?

i. My feelings on this are two-fold.

ii. First, I hope that you would see my eagerness to correct myself as endearing to your trust, to know that I will strive always to give you the best interpretation of scripture that I can – even if that means humbling myself like this to beat up my own arguments.

iii. But second, I desire that you would test me as you would any other preacher. Should you find something you disagree with– be ready and willing to be proven wrong. But I will do the same. And may God keep us humble as we seek His truth.

d. How did the Lord reveal this to you?

i. Unfortunately, it was not the scriptures that called this to my attention.

ii. Rather it was the questions of another Elder.

iii. In a way that was humble, meek, and seeking answers, I was approached by another Elder to consider the possibility that I was wrong.

iv. Upon investigating further, it became apparent that he was right.

v. This proves out the strength of a plurality of qualified Elders leading the church.

vi. My friends if this church was single pastor led – you would be the poorer for it. But instead, you are led by 6 godly men who strive to deliver to you the truth of the Word. I hope you realize how blessed you are to have the church you do.

3. No more stalling! Why was I wrong?

a. [Slide 6] Let’s start with John 20:22. If we can defeat my alter ego’s interpretation of this text, it will go a long way to defeating him completely.

i. In John 20, Jesus appears to His disciples the evening of His resurrection day. Looking at the entire context, it is clear that Jesus has the future in mind.

ii. First, he tells them that just as the Father sent Him, He is sending them. However, in the book of Acts, Jesus tells them to wait until they receive the Spirit before leaving to do the mission.

iii. Second, after He says this is when he breathes on them and commands them to receive the Spirit.

iv. Could it be that just like the first statement that he was sending them out at a future time, so also the second statement is a sign of the future indwelling of the Spirit? Indeed, as we saw here in Acts 2 – a sound of a wind or breath comes first and then the Spirit.

v. In this text we also find out that Thomas was not among the others. Jesus appears again when he is present and Thomas believes. However, Thomas is not breathed on and told to receive the Spirit. Did Thomas miss out on being indwelled? Certainly not. Another peg in seeing Jesus’ actions as a prophetic sign of a future event.

vi. Finally, Jesus in the book of John, in chapter 16, said that “Unless I go away, the advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you.” Although we could say that Jesus’ death was His “going away” in another text in John 7, John reveals that the Spirit had not yet come because Christ had not yet been glorified. Therefore, how can Christ give the Holy Spirit before He had ascended? Answer? He cannot.

b. [Slide 7] In Joel 2 a reference is made to the pouring out of the Spirit where people prophesy and receive visions. And in Acts Jesus clearly combines the baptism with the Spirit and the power they will receive when He comes upon them at Pentecost. So how are these not the same?

i. The simple explanation is that they occur at the same time but are not the same thing.

ii. The church was baptized by the Spirit, meaning they were indwelled by Him, and as a sign that this was so, they were also filled with the Spirit (which is what Acts 2 focuses on).

iii. Thus Joel 2 is correct and Jesus does set these two items next to one another because they go together at Pentecost but that doesn’t mean they are the same.

4. After this brief aside we can see all the clearer what is happening in Acts 2.

vi. [Slide 8] What we see here is the Holy Spirit inaugurate a new era. A new Covenant. A new step in Judaism. God has come to dwell in us in the form of His Spirit.

vii. Notice they do not experience the movement of wind but rather the sound of it. Can you imagine how fear inducing and bewildering it would be to hear the sound of rushing wind and feel no wind?

viii. Furthermore, we note that the sound of this wind came from heaven. Above them a sound of rushing wind. How confused do you think they were?

ix. Not only that but they were in a house. They were not outside – but inside. The entire house was filled with the sound of the rushing wind that they could not feel.

x. Verse 3 is incredibly difficult to understand from a grammatical perspective. The word for division or separation is used here in reference to the tongues of fire. But it is unclear as to whether the tongues appeared to look like fire, spread like fire, divided themselves up or began as a larger whole and divided to each apostle.

xi. What is happening here? Well, let’s keep reading and see if we get some clarity.

c. [Slide 9] 4 - All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

i. Here is part 2. They were baptized with the Sprit and now they are filled with the Spirit. So what are these tongues of fire? They seem to be a visible sign of the Holy Spirit’s filling. Much like Jesus when coming up from his baptism received the power of the Spirit by something that descended from heaven like a dove – so here the apostles receive the Holy Sprit’s power by these tongues of fire.

ii. We see here that the apostles when receiving this gift spoke in real languages. Not the languages of angels and not unintelligible languages, and not one mysterious language that everyone heard in their own native tongue. Rather they spoke in real languages. For what purpose and in what manner we will get to later.

iii. For now, it is enough to see that the Spirit of God had given His apostles power to take the gospel far and wide. And this was accomplished by supernatural power to speak other languages.

iv. This gift of tongues then was a visible sign of the inward truth that they had been filled and empowered by the Spirit to accomplish the mission of God. And that filling and that empowering was itself a sign that they had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

d. [Slide 10] Passage Truth: So, Luke shows us the fulfillment of the promises of Jesus that in the coming days they would be baptized with the Spirit and receive power when He came upon them. In the events of the Day of Pentecost, these promises were fulfilled. All of this serves as an abundant sign and seal of the Lordship of Jesus Christ the authentication of the gospel.

e. Passage Application: So, what is Theophilus to do with this account? Since Luke wrote this to strengthen his faith in what he had heard, Theophilus must observe these miraculous signs and believe and keep believing what He had received as the truth. That Jesus is the Messiah who was crucified for sinners, was raised, and is coming again. Theophilus must place all his hope squarely on Christ.

f. [Slide 11] Broader Biblical Truth: Do the scriptures reveal other times where God has confirmed His message to us through signs and seals? Indeed, in all the times where God is moving and guiding His people we see an abundance of miraculous signs to authenticate His will. Beginning with Noah then to Abraham, Moses, then to the Judges, then to David and to Elijah and Elisha, then the prophets, God has continually performed many signs and wonders to prove to all who would hear who He is and what His will is for them.

g. Broader Biblical Application: So CBC, we cannot afford to miss these signs. Although we have not seen with our eyes, nor heard with our ears the signs of the message of the apostles, we have been shown the truth and we have been set free by it. So we cannot afford to neglect so great a sign as God has provided. We must not forget what God has done both in our lives and in the lives of all those He loves. We must believe and continue to believe the report of His apostles, that He is the Messiah of God, who died for sinners, to free them from sin and save them to life and life abundant. If the Son has set you free – Columbus – You are free indeed. May we hold fast to this no matter the cost. He is our Redeemer.

Transition:

[Slide 12(blank)] We might think that such a great and powerful sign would immediately motivates those who are able to see and hear it to believe and continue to believe. But even such a powerful sign is not sufficient in and of itself to overcome the unbelief of man. Let me show you what I mean.

II.) Mere signs and words are unable to pierce through man’s unbelief, so we must continue to believe the gospel. (5-13)

a. [Slide 13] 5 - Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem.

i. Now let’s think for a moment here. Why would there have been devout Jews from every nation in Jerusalem at this time?

ii. Exactly! It is Pentecost. Of course a mandatory religious festival would have drawn devout Jews from every nation.

iii. Now Luke says they were here from every nation under heaven. Does this mean that there were Jews from China and India here too?

iv. There is something really cool happening here on this particular Pentecost that you need to see. But unfortunately, it takes a little time to set it up. For now, let me caution us against a global understanding of what Luke is saying. No, he is not saying Jews from China were here. He has something far more… biblical in mind when he says from every nation under heaven.

v. The final thing we must note in this verse is that these folks were residing or living in Jerusalem. Now why might they be living there? Certainly, they would be visiting because of Pentecost but why would they be living there?

vi. Some archeological evidence suggests that Jews in their “retirement” would move back to Jerusalem to finish their life in God’s holy city. This is certainly true – but why would they need the disciples to speak in their native language if they were living in Jerusalem? Certainly, if they were living in Jerusalem permanently, we might expect them to speak Hebrew or at least Aramaic. Perhaps Luke has something else in mind…

vii. If they were truly devout Jews, they would have been there for Passover which was a mere 49 days earlier. And if they are from every nation under heaven, they certainly would not have left for home after Passover. To do so would be to need to turn around and head back to Jerusalem immediately.

viii. The same people who would hear the apostles preach on this day – were in Jerusalem and had no doubt heard of Jesus – the supposed Messiah being killed, supposedly raised, and now ascended to heaven. Perhaps some welcomed him into Jerusalem laying down palm branches. Perhaps some were in the crowd yelling “crucify Him.” Now they stand watching this marvel and wondering at what it could mean.

ix. Truly God’s timing and providence is worthy of praise.

b. [Slide 14] 6-8 - When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 2:7 Completely baffled, they said, “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 2:8 And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language?

i. The sound of the rushing wind was not heard by simply those in the house.

ii. Indeed, many in the streets heard the roar.

iii. Filling in the gaps a bit, we see the disciples of Christ come out into the streets or perhaps standing on the roof or on balconies speaking.

iv. We don’t yet know what they are saying – but what we do know is that they are speaking various languages.

v. Because of this, the people in the streets were greatly confused. They were bewildered. Why?

vi. They knew these people were from Galilee. Galilee was not the center for culture and education. Galilee was rural and kinda hickish.

vii. The crowd does not remark on the tongues of fire. This seems to indicate that this visible aspect of the sign had dissipated – much like the Spirit’s presence on Jesus like a dove did not remain with Him. So also the sign of the tongues of fire did not stay on the disciples.

viii. The crowd recognizing them as Galileans does not mean that only the 12 were in view. Certainly, many of the 120-member church were from Galilee.

ix. Luke’s account continues as it expands on what we have already seen.

c. [Slide 15] 9-11 - Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, 2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 2:11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!”

i. Here we see a grouping of nations listed.

ii. [Slide 16] For your edification I have put on the slides behind us the identity of each of these nations on a map.

iii. As we can see the vast majority of the Roman empire is covered by this list.

iv. There are 15 nations mentioned here. Certainly, this is not every nation under heaven. Or is it?

v. [Slide 17] This next map is the map of the division of the nations after the flood in Genesis 10. It represents the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth - Noah’s sons – as they eventually dispersed after the tower of babel. There were 5 nations of Shem, 4 nations of Ham, and 7 nations of Japheth. 16 nations in total.

vi. What do you notice about these nations and the nations represented at Pentecost?

vii. [Slide 16] To aid you lets go back to the first slide.

viii. [Slide 17]And now back to the next.

ix. [Slide 16] The first one again…

x. [Slide 17] And last time on the second one.

xi. What is happening here? It is the opposite of the event at the tower of Babel.

1. The nations gathered after the flood to attempt to ascend to heaven and take the throne of God. God confounded their language and scattered them.

2. Now, at Pentecost, God the Son has ascended and taken His throne, He has gathered them again for the feast of Weeks, and every man hears in their own language.

xii. [Slide 18] And what do they hear?

xiii. They are hearing the apostles speak about God’s great deeds.

xiv. Luke’s description here is difficult to draw many details from. Of what specific great deeds are the church speaking?

xv. Is it perhaps too much of a leap to suggest that they were praising the Lord for His mightiest deed? The salvation of His people? They are hearing about what God has done through Christ.

d. [Slide 19] 12-13 - All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 2:13 But others jeered at the speakers, saying, “They are drunk on new wine!” [1]

i. Everyone was confused. Everyone was astounded.

ii. Nothing like this has happened before this… and I’d say that we really don’t see anything like this happen since.

iii. The Lord gathered the nations and gave them the gospel of Christ in a language they could understand.

iv. And He did this… miraculously. It is obviously HIS power doing this. And it is not for personal or individual benefit but so the gospel could go forth.

v. Nevertheless, an important point that we must see.

vi. Despite all the wonderous signs, despite the rushing sound, despite them hearing non-educated men speak in their languages, despite the powerful testimony of the works of God, despite the wonder and amazement by everyone there…

vii. General praises of God’s mighty works and praising Him for the coming of the Messiah and the salvation of their souls was only enough to produce wonder and uncertainty at best…

viii. And scoffing at worst.

ix. “They are just drunk on new wine.” They said. So great were the praises and the cacophony of the voices that the only reasonable explanation by the most cynical was that they were men who were drunk.

e. [Slide 20] Passage Truth: So, Luke builds on the first point he made. He shows this grand sign and seal that the message of the disciples was from God Himself. Miraculous and wonderous things, even for a brief time undoing the curse of the tower of Babel, things never before seen are happening on this day at Pentecost. Nevertheless, the raw sign in and of itself, even accompanied by the message of the gospel, is not enough to convince any. Many simply wondered in bewilderment… and some even jeered.

f. Passage Application: Theophilus then must be careful not to allow himself to be swept away with doubt or cynicism. Instead, he must continue to believe and trust what he was taught and cling to it with all he is. For it is not simply a collection of wonderful and miraculous praises, but it is God’s truth that has been supernaturally revealed to Him. He must hold fast to what He has believed.

g. [Slide 21] Broader Biblical Truth: Do we see this truth taught in the rest of scripture? My friends it is on every page. Israel notoriously continued to fall into their rebellion despite God showing them various signs and giving them various prophets warning them of their judgment should they fail to listen. In the New Testament we see in II Corinthians 2 that natural man is unable to understand the truth of God because it is spiritual truth that must be revealed spiritually. But natural man is spiritually dead. What does this mean? It means that mere signs and wonders, mere words of the great and mighty deeds of God, mere preaching of the gospel cannot and will not ever pierce through the heart of natural man unless… unless the Spirit of God moves among them.

h. Broader Biblical Application: So, CBC, what does this mean for us? We who have been shown God’s truth. We who have had ears to hear. We who have had eyes to see. It means we should hold fast to what we have been shown. If we have seen the truth of the Word of God, if we have received Christ and His atonement for us. If we have been granted the ability to turn from our sin. If we have been granted faith to believe in Christ – then we must hold fast to this truth. For it is not something natural. It is not something common. It is not something that even signs and wonders could have revealed to us. It is only truth that God’s Spirit could have shown us.

Conclusion:

So what have we learned today CBC and how then shall we live?

[Slide 22] Luke has demonstrated two significant truths to us. That God has sealed the truth of the gospel by many wonderous sings, but sealed signs are not enough to overcome the unbelief of natural man. To combine these two truths we see quite clearly that if natural man is ever to know and believe the gospel it must be a work of God to enable him to do so.

[Slide 23] What are we to do with this? How should we live with this truth? Quite simply, if you have eyes to see, if you have ears to hear, if you have been brought out of darkness and been shown a great light, if you have been convinced that Christ is Lord and came to save sinners like you from sin and give you life in Him to live and follow Him, to love and adore Him, to make Him your prize, your pursuit, and your highest aim – If this is you… Then hold fast to your faith. It is no mere man conjured belief. Rather it is God given faith. Exercise your human responsibility and cling tightly to Christ! For your faith has been granted by a loving God who desired you to come, who called you unto Himself, so that you may be with Him forever. But remember Judas. Do not abandon it. Hold fast.

In light of these truths and the application to hold fast to Christ, I have several inferences for you to consider.

1.) [Slide 24] Witnessing

a. You can’t win them

i. No matter how hard you witness, no matter how convincing you are, no matter how good you are at tearing down arguments to leave only Christ as the answer, no matter how appealing you make Jesus… You cannot convince men to believe on Christ. Why?

ii. They are simply unable to do so on their own.

iii. This of course, does not mean that we witness half-heartedly or flippantly.

iv. But it does provide to us much needed humility. The salvation of the soul of man is not dependent on us. We are certainly tools in the use of the master – but we are not the means… we are simply the method.

v. But even if we could convince the heart of men that Jesus was the answer… do not forget…

b. [Slide 25] This is Spiritual warfare

i. Not only is mankind naturally unable to understand the truth of God…

ii. But natural man is in bondage. They are enslaved to sin. They are children of Satan. They are in his family. They are under his dominion.

iii. And Satan will not let one of his own go easily. Do you think your tongue is sharper than the forked tongue of the old serpent? Do you think you are more cunning than that sly snake? Do you think the strength of your arguments are any match for the power of the dragon?

iv. My friends make no mistake – if you went toe to toe with the devil for the soul of a man – you would lose. Even if you were armed with the gospel of Christ – you would lose.

v. If God is on your side – none can stand against you. But if it is you alone – you haven’t any hope at all.

vi. This naturally leads us to my last observation within this inference.

c. [Slide 26] Prayer is step 1, 2, 3 and 4.

i. No man can truly and effectively witness to any other without the power of the Spirit of God going with him.

ii. Therefore, we must first be in prayer for those to whom we give the gospel.

iii. Praying while we are witnessing to them.

iv. Praying while they contemplate our responses.

v. Praying when we part with them.

vi. Praying the rest of our lives for their souls.

vii. Praying that the seeds we cast take root and bear fruit.

viii. We plant, we water… But God alone produces the increase.

ix. If witnessing does not begin and end with prayer… then it is not witnessing… it is wasted breath.

2.) [Slide 27] Gospel focused living. Given the application to hold fast to the truth and given the preciousness of the gift of faith given to us by God Himself… we must be absolutely dependent on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not as a check box and a bus pass to heaven – but as the very means by which we survive a world where we are still not dwelling in His presence.

a. Feast on the atonement quarterly – If the Lord’s Supper has not been a priority to you, I’d encourage you to forsake all other engagements no matter how important they may seem to you and instead put priority on feasting with us at the atonement meal. Not only does the Lord offer up Himself spiritually to us to be sustained on what He has done through visible signs… but we also experience the community and fellowship of His body expressing their need and dependence on Him. Mark the next Lord’s Suppers on your calendars and forsake all else to come. The last two Lord’s Suppers of the year are on September 10th and November 19th. Do not miss your chance to feast with us.

b. [Slide 28] Feast on the atonement weekly – If the weekly assembling of the body of Christ has not been a priority to you, I’d encourage you to revaluate what you have deemed more important than gathering and fellowshipping with the body of Christ. What takes priority over worshipping the Lord? What has stood in the way of your feasting on the word of God with His people? I won’t play the part of the Holy Spirit to you – but you must really think long and hard at what counts as valid reasons to forsake the assembling of the body of Christ. Be where God’s people are any time you are able to be there. Come alone. Come with your family. Be among God’s people whenever possible, especially on the day we have set aside to worship the Lord together. Put this glimpse of heaven above all other lesser priorities you may have.

c. [Slide 29] Feast on the atonement daily – There is no replacement for the daily consumption of the Word of God. The reason the book is a living books is because it is designed to be lived on. Just as your body cannot survive on a quarterly or weekly meal, so also your soul cannot survive on the weekly feasting on the word of God. I see the messages I prepare as a large meal designed to give you plenty of leftovers. But leftovers won’t keep forever. And they will only last you at most a day or two. You must feed yourselves on the atonement of Jesus Christ. It must be always present in your souls that you are a great sinner but that the Lord has done a great and might saving of your wretched heart. If you are not daily feasting on these gospel truths – you will be prone to wander.

d. [Slide 30] Feast on the atonement without ceasing – In difficult times, when trials engulf, when enemies surround, when pain is present, when fears are strong – even a daily reminder of the atonement of Christ will not be sufficient. As those who run marathons consume large amounts of carbohydrates and weight lifters consume large amounts of calories so also those who are being tested and tried must consume large portions of the gospel of Christ. For the hope of Christ is sometimes all that will sustain you through all you face.

3.) [Slide 31] My final inference from the text today is that we should not aim for heaven. Instead, we should aim for Christ

a. Two lessons from the table talks this week communicate the true cost of being a disciple of Christ.

b. It is so costly to follow Christ. It is as if we are building a great watchtower. It is a great benefit but also a great expense. Shall we begin building if we have not considered how costly it may be?

c. It is like going to war with a rival King who doubles the size of your army. Can we achieve victory? We must send peace delegations right away or we will lose it all.

d. Indeed, our love for Christ ought to be so deep that it exceeds all other loves so far… that they seem like hatreds by comparison.

e. Do you love Christ in this way? Is He your only pursuit? Or are you distracted by other things?

[Slide 32 (blank)] My friends, our natural state is a state that God must break through in order to show us the truth. Signs and wonders to our eyes and ears won’t get through when we are blind and deaf. He must give us sight first in order to show us truth. So, if He has given you sight and shown you truth… What does that communicate about the preciousness of the truth He has given? Believe friend… and keep believing.

[1] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005), Ac 2:1–13.