Embark on a soul-stirring quest with us as we tackle the age-old riddles of suffering, salvation, and the grace that guides us through the storms of life. Our latest episode is a heartfelt exploration of the everlasting impact of biblical figures Paul and Peter, whose stories of redemption and transformation resonate with our own struggles and spiritual awakenings. We apologize for our brief hiatus, yet sometimes, the divine clock ticks at unexpected moments, setting the stage for a timely discussion about the very essence of our beliefs.
This podcast stitches together the fabric of Peter's journey from deep-seated prejudice to a profound realization of inclusivity, sparked by his rooftop vision and its subsequent dismantling of barriers between Jews and Gentiles. We then shift gears to Paul, examining his bold stance against the idolatry that pervaded Athens, contrasting the murky waters of pagan worship with the crystal-clear gospel. Engage with these narrative threads, and you might just find echoes of your personal odyssey in the tapestry of their lives, as we seek to understand God's mysterious ways and how we can live as true emissaries of a higher purpose.
Embark on a soul-stirring quest with us as we tackle the age-old riddles of suffering, salvation, and the grace that guides us through the storms of life. Our latest episode is a heartfelt exploration of the everlasting impact of biblical figures Paul and Peter, whose stories of redemption and transformation resonate with our own struggles and spiritual awakenings. We apologize for our brief hiatus, yet sometimes, the divine clock ticks at unexpected moments, setting the stage for a timely discussion about the very essence of our beliefs.
This podcast stitches together the fabric of Peter's journey from deep-seated prejudice to a profound realization of inclusivity, sparked by his rooftop vision and its subsequent dismantling of barriers between Jews and Gentiles. We then shift gears to Paul, examining his bold stance against the idolatry that pervaded Athens, contrasting the murky waters of pagan worship with the crystal-clear gospel. Engage with these narrative threads, and you might just find echoes of your personal odyssey in the tapestry of their lives, as we seek to understand God's mysterious ways and how we can live as true emissaries of a higher purpose.
Speaker 1:
Hello everybody and welcome to today's episode of Walk With Me. I am your host, jj. So good to have each and every one of you here with us today. First of all, I'd like to apologize for being a little bit late today for the posting. We had a bit of an emergency, but you know what God is good. God is always going to work it out. Whatever His will is concerned, he is always going to work it out. Whatever his will is concerned, he is always going to work it out. Just be patient and it will come to pass.
Speaker 1:
Thank you all, each and every one of you who are liking and sharing and being a part of this community. Just walk with me, proud. Just walk with me, march as it is, towards salvation. That's where we're going. We're trying to make it to heaven and that should be our main goal. Yes, you should live your life as well as you can and as fruitful and everything as you can, but your first priority, our first priority, should be where we will spend eternity. So thank each and every one of you for listening and joining and liking and sharing, and thank you for all the donations that you've sent, um, I've gotten some privately. Thank you all, thank you, thank you, um, thank you all for just taking a moment. Just taking a moment to listen to this podcast. You guys can listen to any other podcast.
Speaker 1:
There's so many podcasts and videos going on and, yes, I keep talking about how we are going to go video very soon. That has been pushed back to an unspecified date. Probably, be Lord willing, around June or July. We should be able to go live video. So we are talking about, oh, before we get into that, before we get into that, we have some questions that we will handle on our next episode and if you have questions or comments or anything like that, feel free to share them with us.
Speaker 1:
Walkwithmebiblestudy at gmailcom. Walkwithmebiblestudy all one word at gmailcom. If you want your name to be addressed, put your name in the subject line. Your name in the subject line. If your name is not in the subject line, I'm going to assume that you want to be anonymous, because a lot of people are very private about their walk with God and to some extent, I think that is correct. You should kind of be private. But if you want me to address you directly with your using your name on the podcast, just put your name in the subject line Shout out to my sponsors, true Bars, lyricists helping us out with the sound equipment and the programming, and also thank you all to Exquisite Creations, tumblr and some other stuff she's going to be making very soon. Thank you all, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I cannot thank you enough. I cannot thank God enough for you.
Speaker 1:
So today we'll get right into it. Today we are talking about remember last week we were talking about Paul, and Paul's origins was actually in Stephen's persecution, which is, if you really look at some of the patterns about how things work, you start seeing like someone will go through something really bad and it will lead to someone else's salvation and someone else's redemption. So let me just say this aside, because a lot of us sometimes wonder why God is allowing us to go through some things, why God is allowing those family members to die, why is God allowing certain bad quote-unquote bad things to happen? I get this question a lot. Why does God allow bad things to happen? Well, we call them bad, but it may be a plan for someone else to be saved. That person that the quote-unquote bad thing could have happened to May have been saved and this thing that happened Could have generated someone else's salvation or led us to the spirit of God. See, no man comes to God except the spirit of God, and that's very true.
Speaker 1:
And if we're looking at someone Say, for example, I have a co-worker and I'm not living for God, but this other co-worker, where he's a Christian, he's a pastor or something like that, and every little bad thing that goes on, he's got four other words coming out of his mouth, then he's not really much a good witness. All of the words coming out of his mouth, then he's not really much a good witness. But if I'm looking for God and I'm looking for a representative of God, because that's what we are, we are ambassadors of Jesus, we are ambassadors of God to the world. So if I'm looking for, you know, the right representation of God, because your spirit will tell you and I see somebody, he's going through things on his job or something lands on his foot the wrong way and you know something comes out that I don't expect like, oh well, praise the Lord, so that'll get your attention. That'll be curious business sometimes I've seen this happen to a lot of people, where they start taking you inside and they'll start asking you hey, man, you're different from those other Christians I've run into. Why are you different? And that allows you the opportunity to even set up Bible studies. So I'm a little off you here. So I'm a little off the skew here, but remember, paul's persecution created I'm sorry, stephen's persecution created Paul's redemption.
Speaker 1:
But today we are going to talk about Peter. Now, we all know Peter. Peter was that rough and tumble guy who couldn't be told anything, who lost his faith on the water. But all of us, and you know, when Jesus said, you know, we don't have time for being betrayed as that hand, peter said no, that's not how it's going to work and I'm going to take a sword and cut off somebody's ear. This is Peter. This is Peter who, lord, I'll never deny you and then denied him three times before the rooster, or denied him before the rooster. And this is Peter. Peter will now. This is also the same Peter that stood up on the day of Pentecost because Jesus had given him the keys to the kingdom of heaven, which is another, entirely different line of thinking, because you think that somebody can't be saved because of who they are right now, but God has a different plan for them.
Speaker 1:
You might be listening to this podcast, thinking you can't be saved because of all the things that you've done, all the roads that you've gone down. But you're listening to this podcast and I'm telling you now that God can save each and every one of you. God can save me, but it's got to be to our choice. We have to make the choice we want to live in. So that's just how that is. That's me on the soapbox. Let me get off of that.
Speaker 1:
But remember, now we're going to talk about Peter. Today, and Peter even being having the keys to the kingdom of heaven, peter had a little bit of a racist mission. See, peter didn't believe that the Gentiles were the same. So we're going to talk about Peter's conversion from racism into the will of balance. Alright, so we're going to start in Acts, chapter 10. And this is going to be where Peter starts on his road. So, oh, yes, by the way, we talk about scriptures and rules here. Is this your first or second time? It's a rule If we talk about a scripture, it is very important that you read the verse above, the verse below, but preferably the whole chapter, because context is key.
Speaker 1:
So now we're talking about Peter. So Acts, chapter 10, verse 6. He lives with one, simon and Tanner, which is not Simon Peter. We'll talk about a different Simon, whose house is by the seaside, and he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do In Acts 11, 13-14. And he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house which stood and said to him Send men to Joplin and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter. Remember he had Simon the Tanner and he had Simon, whose surname is Peter. Remember, you got Simon the Tanner and you have Simon Peter. Peter speaks. He shall tell you words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. So he's going to preach to you and that preaching is going to save you, because you are going to that here. All right, so let's go.
Speaker 1:
So now Peter is up on the rooftop and Peter's having an issue Acts 10, 34-35. Then Peter Opens his mouth and said of truth, I perceive that God is no respect to a person, but that every nation that fears him and works in righteousness Is accepted with him. Now, how did Peter get there? Peter, remember there's a lot of extra-biblical studies which I don't generally tend to quote a lot, but a lot of them would suggest that Peter firmly believed that when he was stuck in the upper room and he said to your children, even those that are far off, he was only talking to the Jews and because it was Jews that was there in chapter 2, he was really trying to say that he wanted just to preach to the Jews. And Paul said no, we're going to preach to Jews and Gentiles and everyone else. Everyone else is going to be Christian. And the reason why of extra-Jewish ministry, god took Peter through some changes and there was and I'm going to just kind of skim over the, just going to take the time, skim over the setting here because Peter now is sitting on the roof, peter's praying, and he's sitting on the roof praying and he's hungry.
Speaker 1:
And then God brings down this blanket with four corners held up. So think of it like if you've ever seen, like the old pictures, the cartoon pictures, with the hobo, with the stick and the handkerchief, and it's tied up. It's tied up, just like that. The four corners are up so you can't see what's in it. So he lays it down and the first thing Peter sees is all these animals that traditionally Jews are not supposed to eat. But the voice comes and says arise, peter, slay and eat. Peter says no, no, my lord. So right there. You know Peter knows he's talking to God. So no, no, my Lord, no kind of unclean need to ever touch these lips and never shall it happen. And God said which I have called clean, don't call common. And he did it three times. This entire conversation happened three times, almost verbatim, exactly like that. So now Peter gets the idea of what God is trying to say.
Speaker 1:
Remember Peter's heart. Everybody else gets a message upon the first time, or maybe they get it and they chew on it a little bit. You know, like you go to that certain preacher's church and they tell you something and you go home and you chew on it a little while and then you kind of figure it out Now, peter Harhead. So Peter's got to be told stuff multiple times and this was one of them. So now Acts 40, I'm sorry, 10 and 43. To him, him give all the prophets witness those that through his name, whosoever believeth in him Shall receive remission of sins. And while Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all of them which heard the word and listened closely. And they of the circumcision, which were Jews, were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. Until now, only Jews had been getting the Holy Ghost. Okay, then answer Well, wait a minute. So wait a minute.
Speaker 1:
Now, if they got the Holy Ghost, how did they know that they got the Holy Ghost? Verse 46. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. If you're not, okay, I know we've talked about this, but it just bears repeating Because a lot of people are saying a lot of different things. How do you know you have the Holy Ghost? Because you're speaking in tongues and magnifying God. And again, we're not talking about hookah, my side tie, my tie, get a piece of pie, put it in the Hyundai. We're not talking about that. We're talking about actual speaking in tongues. And once you've seen it the first time, once you've experienced it, you instantly know when somebody is faking it. And that's just out of the book of JJ. So once you've experienced it, and once you do experience it, and you felt it and you felt the spirit moving, you can tell when anybody else is making it. Alright, so let's move on.
Speaker 1:
So they heard the speaker talking to God. Then answered Peter, verse 47, and any man forbid water that these should not be baptized which hath received the Holy Ghost as well as we. Verse 48, and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. And yes, the name, the name singular of the Lord singular is Jesus Christ, because Peter said in Acts, chapter 2, you have to be baptized in the name of the Lord, of Jesus Christ. That's what he said in Acts 2 and 38. So he's still going to be baptized in the exact same way, the same way that Jesus told them on the mountain Baptized in the name singular of the Father and the name of the Son and the name of the Holy Spirit, which is all one name, not the names, the name Just thought I'd hit that we still have to deal with these. So now we're talking about how Peter the name Just thought I'd hit that we still have to deal with these doctors.
Speaker 1:
So now we're talking about how Peter is astonished and this actually expands Peter's ministry into a whole new flat altitude. It opens up A lot of things. Now Paul is already going around and he's talking to All the Gentiles and stuff like that, and this is where the real Gentile Slash Jewish church began. It was all supposed to be the Gentiles and the Jews In the same church. You know that doesn't sit right with me, but this is all supposed to be the Gentiles and the Jews in the same church. I know that doesn't sit right with some people, but this is my Bible. Here I don't want to sound crass, but it doesn't really matter what you or I think.
Speaker 1:
Jesus wants one body, not a finger over here or not a foot in a different zip code. You want one body Together, jews and Gentiles, all Jews and all Gentiles. One body. Now remember, we're talking about how Peter Is now deciding, or now having the revelation that he can talk to Gentiles, he can preach to Gentiles, but Paul has already been doing it. Acts 9 and 15. The Lord said to him Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel to hear my name before the Gentiles. This is Paul and the kings and the children of Israel. So again, god wants the children of Israel and the Jews and the world, the Gentiles, to be in the same scripture and this is what Peter and Paul were most doing.
Speaker 1:
And again, peter had a little issue in the beginning, until that set of scripture we just read Then. Now Peter understood exactly why everything sort of came together, with the sheep, with the unclean animals on it. All of these things came together for one message Preach the gospel to every preacher. Exactly what Jesus said on the side of that mountain. Peter still didn't get it there. Remember we talked about how Peter was heartless. This is it. This is the embodiment of Peter being heartless. But that's okay though. That's okay why is that okay? Because God will continue to tell you something even if you don't get it the first time, because God loves you.
Speaker 1:
Now, there's a difference between not getting something the first time and somebody else sent me this question a few weeks back. There's a difference between not getting a message the first time. Otherwise you would only have church once a year. You could say everything you have to say in one church service and there would be no sense. But there's a difference between not getting something the first time and actually rejecting. Yes, you can actually reject the word of God, and that's quite different from not hearing it or not understanding it the first time.
Speaker 1:
And I mean think about when we go to, not hearing it or not understanding it the first time. And I mean think about when we go to. I don't know when we were in school, just because the teacher wrote an algebraic expression on the board does not mean you got it the first time. Some people have to take a whole class over and over again to get it right. That doesn't mean that you know you're rejecting it. It just means you didn't learn it. And Peter had that issue and some of us have that issue. I have that issue sometimes.
Speaker 1:
Sometimes God tells me to do something and I'll give him and her about it. Give him and her about it. God will tell me again. Give him and her about it, and then you know what. And then God will tell me why he told me to do that. Or sometimes God will tell you after, after you've done it, and then you'll see why you should have done it. So let's get back to the lesson.
Speaker 1:
So now we're talking about the Gospels of the Gentiles, with Peter and Paul. Now Paul is speaking on Mars Hill. Now he was really appalled at the idolatry he found in Athens. And what he found in Athens was a lot of temples, a lot of idols, statues, pagans Remember. Now we're talking about Athens' Greeks. The Greeks were known for a lot of their temples and their gods and things of that nature and their legends and the things that they worship.
Speaker 1:
But here's the problem. Exodus 24 and 5 says Thou should not make them to be any graven image. You should not be making statues out of stone or any likeness thereof, anything that is in heaven above or in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, you should not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord, I God is a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. God literally takes the idea of a false God or a raven image that you worship.
Speaker 1:
Anything that you worship above can be literally taken as hate, and that might kind of shock a lot of people, because there are some things that we worship that we don't even know that we're worshiping. But God literally takes it as hate Because you hate him, so that you have to worship one and the word worship is a different God, and Jesus actually said it. No man can serve two masters, but you must hate one and love the other. So, yeah, hate is not an anti-biblical concept. It's what you hate that you should be concerned about. So, yeah, you're not supposed to do that, but Paul found a lot of that in Athens. Berea wasn't that bad Thessalonica was, though, but it was not as bad as Athens. So he even had conversations called on you know, some of the philosophers you know what they call them philosophers over in Athens, and he even preached to the Athenians who were worshippers of these other religious systems, about that also, with the dedication to these unknown gods, he said in Acts, chapter 17 and 22,.
Speaker 1:
Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said you, men of the past, I perceive that in all things, you are too superstitious, and we're going to cut it right there, because I don't want to open a new subject. I did get a question about this a couple months ago, and I knew we were going to get here. However, we have to be very careful of superstitions that we bring into our Christian life, and we're going to probably address that next week, because it is literally the superstition is literally a kind of a superstition of your relationship with God. Superstition is superstition. I think that might be next week's Bible, but we have to be very careful with that, and Paul has to deal with that. We will talk more about that, about the superstition that they were dealing with back in Athens, but the main subject that we have today is that Peter and Paul already wanted to go and preach, do exactly what Jesus said they wanted to go and preach the word of God to everybody.
Speaker 1:
After his conversion, his enlightenment, after his development, after watching the persecution of the church, he wanted the church to grow more. And Peter was very kind of reserved. He said, oh no, this is going to be to the Jews only. And then all of a sudden, well, because the Gentiles were clean, they had Gentiles for this, gentiles for that. But then God showed him that the reason why he died on the cross was not to separate anybody by how they were born, who they were born or what color their skin. Where they were born would be more appropriate. He wanted to bring everybody into the same fullness of the God. But whoever wanted to everybody into the same fullness of the gospel, but whoever wanted to and you have to have to fall again into this new nation, this new Christian nation that Jesus called his Christian kingdom. That's what Jesus usually referred to it as.
Speaker 1:
And this God had to have a conversation with Peter. Hey, peter, if I've cleansed these people, if they've gotten baptized in my name, don't call them unclean, and, just like you if you've gotten baptized in Jesus' name. You're no longer unclean, you've been cleansed. You're no longer uncouth, you've been cleansed.
Speaker 1:
Now that doesn't mean Just because you took a shower today, you walked out. You can't come back. I'm not saying come back, but this is what the repentance is. The baptism is so that your sins can be remitted. You have to give, and, yes, you've got to. We're going to talk about the financial holdings. Yes, there is no such thing as no sin. For the good of the day, live your life above sin. But you still have a way to ask for forgiveness, and so if you have any questions on that, feel free to email me or welcome to me at BibleStudy at emailcom. Questions, comments. Love you all. Thank you all so much for coming and joining us today on today's walk. We may have to extend this to an hour. I love you all so much. God bless you all. See you on the next one. Bye-bye.