Acts 13:41 Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish: For I work a work in your days, a work in which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
At the end of chapter 13, we see Barnabas, and Saul being expelled (again) from the city in which they are preaching, move onto Iconium (another city in Greece). Upon arrival they went into the synagogue and preached. Here there were gathered together, Jews and Greeks and the multitude believed on the things that they spoke. There were also some non-believing Jews whom turned some of the Gentiles against the teachings of the Apostles.
After preaching a long time in the city and performing miracles, signs and wonders the multitude was divided, those who did not believe sought to kill them (stone them). The Apostles knew of this plot and fled from this city and came unto Lystra and Derbe (cities of Lycaonia) there they preached the gospel.
Acts 14:8 And there sat a certain man of Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mothers womb, who had never walked. Furthermore it goes on to say that this man heard Paul preach and had great faith in the words that he spoke. Paul commanded this man to rise up and walk. [11] And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the speech of the Lycaonia, The Gods have come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas Jupiter, and Paul Mercurius.
Now, these people of Lycaonia, their priests were ready to make sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul. At this point Barnabas, and Paul rent (tore) their clothes and ran in amongst the people, crying out [15] and saying, Sirs, why do you do these things. We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven and the earth and the sea and all things that are therein.(they were speaking of Jesus).
Let's stop here for a moment and point out a few key factors. Acts 14:15 Paul and Barnabas are preaching that they (Lycaonians) should turn from their vanities. i.e. false/Multiple Gods, Plural Gods, anything other than the living God. (Jesus). It goes onto say that he, the living God, the God that they are preaching (Jesus) created all things. Htttteaven, earth, sea, and all that is therein. This in turn, is why these Apostles baptized in Jesus name and not in the titles of Father, Son, Holy Ghost. These are in fact titles. Very powerful titles taken on by the living God. What Is His Name? The First and The Last, The Alpha and The Omega, What Is His Name? The Bright and Morning Star, The Prince of Peace, The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. WHAT IS HIS NAME!
JESUS. When you baptize in Jesus name, you get all of these titles and much more. This is why Isaiah 9:6 calls Jesus the Mighty God. That's why Isaiah calls Jesus the Everlasting Father ( There's a few more titles for you to add to your list). You see, the last thing that Jesus said before ascending into heaven, and he's been gone for just about 2,000 years now was this.
Matt 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, ALL power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. [19] Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the NAME of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost [20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: At this point I would also like to flip over to Isaiah 9:6, as these scriptures go hand in hand. Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
This is a prophecy being foretold, this unborn prophesied child is of course Jesus, and the government shall be on his shoulder. This doesn't mean that congress is going to be sitting on his shoulder, it does however signify the same thing that is stated in Matt 28:18. All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. It's a statement of power, In the very same way that it is stated that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. He, Jesus is God, and he is NOT seated at the geographical right hand of anyone. The right hand signifies power. (How would he be seated at the right hand of an omni-present spirit, he's everywhere, and has nothing that you can even Identify with or look at). This is a Hebrew idiom that you will see used in the bible many times in many different places. David said the Lord is at my right arm I shall not be moved. Obviously King David didn't mean that God was an appendage growing out of the right side of his body, or that there was a physical being to his right, it does however signify power.
O.K. so here we have Jesus, ready to ascend into heaven for just about 2,000 years as of now. The guy knows exactly how long he's going to be gone and you can bet your bottom dollar that if this is the last thing that comes out of his mouth before his ascension it's of the utmost importance, he means what he's about to say. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Not 33.333% of it, not 1/2 of it, ALL OF IT, All Power. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but ALL (A-L-L) means 100% right, O.K. (How did this power get there) It got there by the prophecy of the Word. As he and his word are inseparable. He goes on to say, Go ye therefore (what does he mean therefore? Therefore because I'm the one with all of the power) and teach all nations, baptizing them in the "NAME" of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
Teaching them what? The Gospel, as it started on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Ghost. According to Isaiah 9:6 Jesus is not only the Son but also THE EVERLASTING FATHER, and anyone who knows anything about God knows the Holy Ghost is that which Counsels us (Counsellor). The Holy Ghost = counselor/comforter. So it's not only safe to conclude, rather through the prophecy of the word it is FACT that the one with all the power, the one with the government on his shoulder, is THE NAME of these titles Father, Son, Holy Ghost, = JESUS. This is why Isaiah calls him, The Mighty God. This is in fact the name in which we are to Baptize, Jesus. If you fail to do so, and you baptize in the titles rather than the name you are in complete opposition, and being utterly disobedient to the command Jesus has given in Matt 28:19 As I have mentioned in an earlier entry Jesus never meant for us to repeat the command that he gave, as much as he did to obey it. This is the whole criteria for salvation, you must identify with the gospel, or with what it was that God came to do while he was here in the flesh. You must identify with his death, burial, and resurrection. OBEDIENCE to the word!
There are a lot of other things that I would like to touch on in regard to these versus, that however would steer us in a different direction, I'm trying to stay with baptism here. So when you baptize in Jesus name you get the titles of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Furthermore what did the Apostles do in regard to this command. As you can see from our previous entries they have not once baptized in anything other than Jesus name. This brings me to the focal point of this entry Acts 13:18 And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people that they had not done sacrifices unto them. Let's break this verse down [18] and with these sayings. Talking about deterring these people from doing sacrifices to them. "scarce restrained they" i.e. it was a close call. You wouldn't be far off if you were to conclude that the sacrificial blades were sharpened, drawn and at the throats of the animals waiting to be sacrificed. The wood was kindling on the altar. Furthermore these people didn't care, they wanted to make sacrifices to them and that's what they intended to do. It didn't matter if it was right or wrong, at that point these people had made the decision to do so and that was what they were going to do. Sound familiar.
Tradition has people in the church world doing the same exact thing today (at the behest of tradition we sacrifice truth). Most people couldn't care less about the truth, or what truth is for that matter, they've set their mind to whatever it is, and that's all that matter's. Getting the job done, or whatever it is that my mind has set out to do. Well in the very heading of this blog there is a paragraph of commentary that reads something like this. "Truth by definition is exclusive, so you either have the truth, or you do not have the truth in which case you have a lie". You see truth does not share a platform with anything it is just that "EXCLUSIVE" (and in this case all encompassing). The sad truth (no pun intended) is this. In most cases when someone is wholeheartedly sincere they will almost always believe that they have the truth. I ask you, is it possible for someone to be sincerely wrong, is it possible that this wholeheartedly sincere person was duped into believing a lie? OF COURSE IT IS, it's called deception. If you believe in a God or a Devil then you know that the latter is deeply rooted and the epitome of such, why then, is it almost impossible for us to realize that we have been led to believe a lie? In a word, Pride. I'll give you a hint, the enemy is deeply rooted in every facet of our daily lives, that's who he is, that's what he does. Here are a few examples, think about this.
The Catholic church (they're the worst, but it's not just them)
- lighting candles for the dead.
- praying for the dead.
- praying to beads.
- confessing their sins to men, as if men (who by the way sin themselves) were capable of forgiving sins.
- Forbidding their clergy to marry.
- Baptizing new born children (WHAT)!
- Praying to , or through saints, angels, Mary, etc, etc, etc.
Here's the bottom line, some 220 years after Christ, Tertulian a Roman apologist was the first to introduce the idea of a Trinity/triune God into Christianity . 105 years later,which is to say roughly 325 A.D at least 200 years after Christs original Apostles were dead and buried, there were a group of men at an event known today as the Council of Nicea. These high profile , corrupt individuals including Constantine could not do away with Christianity ( This was not their purpose at this council ), so to pervert and distort it and its teachings in such a way was in effect, as good (some would say better) as doing away with it in it's entirety. This is where the Catholic church was born. Not as Christ had intended, not as the Apostles taught, rather how Constantine and the hierarchy of the first Pope and bishops would have established it. Complete, utter apostasy. This is not a joke, Subtly at first, as time progresses and 4th, 5th, 6th generation church leaders/apostles die off, the Catholic church's plot of utter world domination becomes a reality, (the dark ages). As I've mentioned they couldn't do away with this Christian movement, so they mingled , and mixed it with every platonic idea, pagan tradition that they could dream up and it starts with a plural God i.e. Trinity.
The above mentioned is an extremely vague description of a seemingly endless number of historical figures and events that shroud early Christianity. Ultimately the early Catholic church
The Apostles never taught such heresy in fact, they warned us against such things. If you belong to a religion that adheres to a plural God/Trinity, Then You Are Born of the Catholic Church my friend. There's no way around it, there's no ifs, ands or buts. If you adhere to the Trinity view you are, or your religion was born out of the Catholic church. Here's your proof. Ask your Pastor, or Reverend, or the leader of your church how they baptize. Ask them what the correct formula for baptism is, furthermore ask them why we are baptized, or if it is even necessary. I can almost guarantee you the answer you're going to get, if you aren't Apostolic is this.
- They'll tell you the correct formula is titles (Father, Son, Holy Ghost). Citing Matt 28:19 as a biblical reference for said claim. I covered the significants of Matt 28:18,19 earlier in this entry (remember Christ meant for us to obey, not merely repeat his spoken words).
- They'll say that it is an outward profession of your faith, that it's just something good to do, it shows that you are growing as a Christian.
- They will tell you that it is not necessary, that it has nothing to do with salvation.
