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And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. The judgments which followed rejection of His striving against sin (Isa 63:10-11) had their effect. As a token of this, Satan, as the prince of this world, is mentioned as already condemned. While God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. This revelation is inseparable from the Gospel. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. There is one body and one Spiritjust as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call one Lord, one faith, one baptism, For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. The Scriptures bear constant witness to the inability of man. While Isaiah 59:19 is not as clear a reference, it infers a similar ministry of the Holy Spirit. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. Paul referred to his impending death as "departure". If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that, God had sworn to him with an oath to seat, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that, He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did. Human governments, ordained of God, are a means to divine ends. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 2 John 1:8 Verse Concepts It is possible that many only understand vaguely that God through Christ cares for their unrighteousness without realizing all the wonders of justification. So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. Common grace also falls far short of the Christians experience of illumination. and there they continued to preach the gospel. 5:23 ). When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 4 There is one body and one . Common grace must be sharply distinguished from any work of God which is efficacious in bringing the unsaved to salvation. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. Christ said the Holy Spirit would convict the world "Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged" (John 16:11). So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. The doctrine of the work of the Holy Spirit in revealing the Gospel to the world is most important not only in its relation to the plan of God but also in carrying out effectively the preaching of the Gospel. Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. And to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. In humiliation His judgment was taken away;Who will relate His generation?For His life is removed from the earth. The eunuch answered Philip and said, Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. P For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. Again he said unto me . But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea. Departure means "The act of going away; a moving from or leaving a place". What prevents me from being baptized? [And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.] And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. That person thinks they are foolish and cannot understand them, because they can only be judged to be true by the Spirit. Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The ministry of the Holy Spirit to the unsaved follows three specific lines, then. I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. They are foolishness to such people, you see, and they cant understand them because they need to be discerned spiritually. Ephesians 2:8-9 serves as a wonderful summary of this dynamic, stating, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. In it all the Holy Spirit is working, striving to bring men to the knowledge of Christ. While it is not in the purpose of God to deal finally with the world while the Church is in the world, the sovereignty of God overrules the wickedness of men and the power of Satan to make possible the accomplishment of His purpose to call out a people to His name. For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean. (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.) And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. Proverbs 20:27 - The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. You have made known to me the ways of life;You will make me full of gladness with Your presence. Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. The work of the Holy Spirit in revealing the Gospel to the unsaved is rather a sovereign operation of God, not conditioned upon the receptivity of man. Section 2. In the fall, man did not lose his moral determination. The view partakes of all the errors of false mysticism, going far beyond the relation of false mysticism to the Christian, and attributes even to the unsaved the power to receive special revelation and understand it. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. In Luke chapter twelve, it is recorded that Jesus said he came, not to bring peace on earth, but division; even in one's own household, two against three and three against two. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. For a beastly man perceiveth not those things that be of the Spirit of God; for it is folly to him, and he may not understand, for it is examined ghostly [for it is examined. Some were saying, What would this idle babbler wish to say? Others, He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. Young's Literal Translation Water! V From preceding discussion it is evident that common grace falls far short of efficacious grace. Even his aversion to the good and inclination to the evil, while springing from his fallen nature, has its origin in his utter inability to appreciate the Person of God and the inherent loveliness of righteousness. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, Look! For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. Common grace in its broader sense may have the effect of restraining sin, and it is often regarded as including this aspect. It is designed to articulate the preaching of the Gospel and the plan of God to give a universal call to faith in Christ. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. What Does the Bible Say About the Prince of Darkness? These three parts constitute the man. In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:He was led as a sheep to slaughter;And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,So He does not open His mouth. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:The Lord said to my Lord,Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet. Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christthis Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? Peter said to them, Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. He does not grasp God's Word, he misunderstands and misconstrues it. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Man in himself is utterly unable to understand the truth of God. I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 12 Bible Verses about Ministering To The Unsaved. These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.. In the case of Balaam, God even used a donkey to communicate truth (Numbers 22). But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. In this post we will unveil the esoteric meaning. Certainly, the Holy Spirit can use the words of an unbeliever as part of His work of convicting an individual of his sin and need of salvation. When properly paired with the Spirit, the soul, or mind, of a person can grasp and understand spiritual truth. A popular view of this passage is that human government is this restraining force. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses. Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead., Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, We shall hear you again concerning this.. As the Apostle says, he sees all the business about sin, grace and salvation to be just so much foolishness that only "weak" people get involved with. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Common grace is related almost entirely to revelation on the one subject of salvation with a view to providing an intelligent basis for faith. But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men. Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. He cannot understand them because he does not have the Holy Spirit to help him understand. Two unsaved men may understand the Gospel equally, and yet one never comes to the point of saving faith while the other trusts in Christ and is saved. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, Look! Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Apart from this work of the Holy Spirit, God would continue to be unrevealed to a lost race; the death of Christ would be inapplicable to men; and the purpose of God to save the elect would be impossible of fulfillment. Denney, Findlay, Alford, Moffatt, hold that this refers to law and order, especially as embodied in the Roman Empire. But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. Parallel verses in 1 John 4:2-3 say the same. Verse Concepts. Abstain from every form of evil. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. I encourage us all to stay focused and sober in our assessment of current events, prophecy, and the realities of the present time and to pray without ceasing as we serve the Lord and hold the line. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. This took discernment. The unsaved need to know that sin was judged in the cross, and for those who trust in Christ there is deliverance from judgment upon sin and deliverance from condemnation. L Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? But test everything; hold fast what is good. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. The work of the Holy Spirit in relation to the unsaved world is most important for a number of reasons. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. By the husband; rather, in the brother. I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. R Also, the prince of Persia (Daniel 10:13) is a reference to an evil spiritual entity . And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Proverbs 18:14 Verse Concepts The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, But as for a broken spirit who can bear it? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean., (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.). The sun will be turned into darknessAnd the moon into blood,Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. The character of this work of restraining sin varies slightly in different ages, however. The doctrines of providence and of the sovereignty of God demand that the power of God be effective not only in the saved but also in the unsaved world. The indwelling Holy Spirit opens to the yielded Christian the storehouses of truth in the Word of God. Satan stands already convicted, doomed, and waiting the execution of the sentence. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. Verse 14. The person who does not have the Spirit does not receive the blessings of the Spirit of God. Ed, Issue 46, Winter 2023. The Holy Spirit presses upon the heart of the unsaved the fact of Gods judgment. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people. The Scriptures do not enlarge upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit in restraining sin. A devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Second, the unsaved must understand the righteousness of God as belonging to the Person of God and as made available for the sinner through Christ. 12:8 ). The will of man, however, in itself has no power to transcend its natural ability as found after the fall any more than it had power to transcend its natural ability before the fall.