Search the Scriptures Daily Program #0406d Transcript follows:
Gary :
If you have a question for Dave and Tom to respond to in a future “Contending for the Faith,” stay tuned, we will have our contact information at the end of the program. You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Now, our final segment:
UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURES
We resume our excursion through the Book of Acts. Here again are Dave and Tom.
Tom:
This is our Understanding the Scripture segment, and we’re in the Book of Acts, we’re in Acts 10:34 , “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” Verse 36: “The word which God sent unto the children of Israel , preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (He is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea , and began from Galilee , after baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. And we were witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.” So Peter is declaring to these Gentiles who Jesus is and what he has accomplished for them as well as for the Jews.
Dave:
Exactly, and who better to say it than Peter. I mean, he was an eyewitness of all of this, and in his epistle of 2 Peter 1 he explains that he knows he is going to die, and he wants a record to be left after his death, a permanent record here on this earth so the people would know what really happened, and this is what the New Testament is about. And so, here Cornelius, he is a God fearing man, he fears the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and he is praying to him, doesn’t really know him, and an angel appears to him and tells him, “Go send to Joppa to the house of Simon the tanner, and there is a man there named Simon Peter, you tell him to come here and he’ll tell you what you need to hear. He will explain, you know, what is the desire of your heart, the thirst in your heart, he will explain that,” and that’s how Peter got there. I don’t know how much they knew about this, they probably knew a lot of this. I mean—this what Jesus did. The miracles and so forth, and healings and raising people from the dead, and then that he was crucified, that word spread everywhere. So Peter is just elaborating on that, was explaining, well, why didn’t he appear to everybody? Tom, I think at this point it was beyond appearing to everybody. He had done so much in Israel in the presence of multitudes of people, thousands of people; they had seen him feed five thousand that would be men plus women and children, with a few loaves and fishes. They had seen him raise people from the dead, they had seen him heal and so forth, and they did not believe. The scriptures say, “Though he did so many miracles among them, yet they believed not on him.”
Tom:
And they kept asking for more, Dave. Well, what other sign can you show us? An evil and wicked generation.
Dave:
Yes. So Jesus is not going to come and appear to everybody and say, “Look guys, here it is,” because when, you remember, in John 11, when he raised Lazarus from the dead, and there are all these witnesses. The man has been in the grave four days, and his sisters are afraid that even open the stone on the tomb—
Tom:
It stinketh.
Dave:
And out he comes at Christ’s command. They knew this, multitudes went to the Pharisees, and said look, this man has just raised Lazarus from the dead, he was dead for four days, and so forth. What did the Pharisees want to do? They are going to kill Lazarus along with Jesus. So, Jesus is not going to do what he said to the disciples, “Don’t cast your pearls before swine.” He’s not going to appear to everybody. They are not going to believe and they to kill him again, but he did appear to his own, and we have an eyewitness record of what went on in the Book of Acts. And of course, there is no other explanation for the transformation in the disciples. These were cowards, they fled. Suddenly, now they are as bold as lions, and they don’t care—you want to kill us? God ahead, we are telling you what we know.
Tom:
Dave let me interject this verse 41. This is not an apparition, and again—details, the Scripture gives us so many details. “Who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.”
Dave:
Right. And he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is He which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick (that is, the living) and dead. To Him give all the prophets witness. He says He is ordained, the prophets have foretold this. “All the prophets give witness to Him that through his name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.” So, Tom, I never read these scriptures without being reminded of Paul in Acts 17, when we get there, he goes into the synagogue. He opens the scriptures, he opens the Torah, the Tanakh before the Jewish people, and he says look what your own prophets said about the Messiah. You can’t deny it was all fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, He’s the Messiah. This is the way we should preach the gospel today. Or in 1 Corinthians 15, I’ve mentioned it often, but it needs to be emphasized over and over. Paul says, “This is the gospel that I preached unto you. How that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day.” No, that is not what he said. This is what most people think is the gospel. He says, “How that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures—that he was buried and rose again the third day, according to the scriptures.” And if Jesus did not fulfill what the prophets said, he’s not the Messiah and we don’t follow him. So, in Romans 1 Paul says, “I am an apostle separated unto the gospel of God.” Well, how do you know it is the gospel of God? “Which he promised before by his prophets and the Holy Scriptures.” And Peter here is saying the same thing: “Look, guys, we knew him, we saw him crucified, we saw him rise from the dead, we ate and drank with him for forty days, and talked with him, and so forth.” But in 2 Peter 1 he says, “We have a greater testimony, that is the prophecies, and all of this was in fulfillment of what the prophets said.” So that’s what we go back to, over and over and over, prophecies about Israel . Of course Israel is important because Jesus is a Jew and he comes from a genealogy, we’ve got a record of this. He can’t just step off of a UFO and say, “Here I am, I’m the Messiah.” So Tom, we go back to the scriptures, and the Bible is so fantastic it thrills me every time I read it.
Tom:
Well Dave, not only did Peter do this with these Gentiles, but Paul, I mean, the name of our ministry, The Berean Call, who were these Bereans? Well, they were Jews in the synagogue in the city of Berea , and they were commended because—what was Paul doing? He was teaching them that Jesus, from the scriptures, teaching them that Jesus was the Messiah that he had fulfilled all of these prophecies and these Bereans searched the scriptures daily to see if what Paul was saying was true.
Dave:
Amen, and that’s what we need to do, Tom. We need that attitude more than ever before. We need it in our churches. We need to teach our youth in Sunday schools, or youth meetings, or whatever. I just heard of a church right here that you know very well in our little town of Bend. They used to have AWANA once a week. They have abandoned AWANA as several other churches in Bend have because, this is what they said, “…too much Bible, we want more fun for the kids. How are you going to attract them if you don’t give them a lot of fun, you know, and too much Bible, that’s going to chase them away.” What a tragedy!
Tom:
Dave, I grieve so much, you know, I have 5 children, the youngest is in high school, but I think if the Lord tarries, and we have another generation, it just breaks my heart as to—you know, I know “…where evil abounds great with more bounds…” but still we are seeing things done by the Church, in the name of Christ, in the name of reaching people with the gospel, but basically we are shooting ourselves in the foot. We are undermining, we’re going to have a generation that’s so superficial, won’t be able to discern, won’t have the basis for discernment, it’s sad. But anyway I cry out Maranatha, come Lord, come quickly.
Dave:
It is actually what the Bible says. This is the apostasy that we are in that the Bible foretold. It’s tragic, Tom. We are going to do everything we can to oppose it and to bring the truth and to get people to search the scriptures daily.
Gary :
Dave and Tom will resume their discussion on the topic of salvation next week; we hope you can join us. This is Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Would you like to expand your knowledge of God’s Word? We offer a wide variety of items that you will greatly assist you, from books and tracts to audio and video recordings, CD-ROM, our internet website and much more. For a complete list of materials, or to get a copy of today’s broadcast write to us at POB 7019, Bend , Oregon 97708 . Call us at our toll free order number: 877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org . If you would like a copy of this broadcast, ask for Program #0406, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. Get a pen or pencil ready; we’ll repeat our contact information in just a moment. Next week we’ll continue our series of programs based on Dave Hunt’s latest book, Judgment Day , and, “Does Islam offer salvation?” In Religion in the News, “Christian desperate housewives?” We’ll take a look at that story and address the question: “Will the real Antichrist please stand up?” We hope you can tune in. If you have questions or comments about this program we urge you to contact our offices. Search the Scriptures Daily Radio Ministry is made possible by God’s grace, your prayers, and your financial support. I’m Gary Carmichael, and for Dave, Tom and everyone here at The Berean Call, I would like to thank you for joining us and invite you to tune in again next week. Until then, if you desire to know God’s truth, search the scriptures daily. For more information about The Berean Call, write to us at POB 7019, Bend , Oregon 97708 . Call us toll free at our order #877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org .
