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Gary:
If you have a question for Dave and Tom to respond to in a future Contending for the Faith, stay with us, we’ll 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: This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment, we are in the Book of Acts chapter 20, and Dave, we’re going to pick up with 28, but we did have a question about verse 26, which maybe we can cover very quickly: Verse 26, “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.” Now the question that came about from some of our staff members who are listening, Well wait a minute! Didn’t Paul have the blood of those he persecuted? How can he say that he’s pure of the blood of all men?
Dave:
Well, number one, he had been forgiven from that or whatever part he had had in their martyrdom. But what he is referring to, going to verse 27, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” So, on the one hand, he is not pure from the blood of every person, obviously in the world, or whoever lived or ever will live, but those to whom he has the opportunity to present the truth of God. So he says, I have held back nothing from anyone. Wherever I preach I give them the whole counsel of God. I don’t try to soften the message to make it more palatable to people, I just give it to you. So, I think that’s what he’s saying, that he has been true to the Lord, and we said it in our last segment, Tom, anyone ends up in hell, it’s not because Paul didn’t tell them the truth. Now that doesn’t mean that he’s going out there and trying to grab everybody that’s walking by, so we have to use some common sense in this. I think of this often when I’m preaching, I’m speaking to a group, I’ve got to be honest with them. I can’t just give them a “positive” message that’s going to leave their blood on my hands when they say, Well, that’s what Dave said, he didn’t warn us about that. So I think that’s what Paul is talking about. It doesn’t mean that he prayed for everybody, that that’s why he’s pure from the blood of all men, as we dealt with that already, but he’s been faithful.
Tom:
Dave, coming off of this verse 27, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” then he lays it out: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.”
Dave:
Well, Tom, that, of course, emphasizes what he said, Look, I’m pure of the blood of all men. What about you? You had better take heed to yourselves and to the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers. You’re going to have to feed them. You’re supposed to feed this flock, you’re supposed to give them the truth.
Tom:
Protect them by God’s Word.
Dave:
Right, and don’t compromise, don’t hold anything back so that you will be popular. Tom, that’s a problem today. How is the pastor going to be true to the Lord and also remain popular with the flock?
Tom:
Thought well of, Dave. Sometimes we slide into that. We say, Well, I don’t know if they could really handle this. How many times have I heard, over the years, Dave, that, well, sometimes there needs to be a halfway house, we can’t give them the whole truth, we just got to kind of move them along.
Dave:
I don’t remember hearing that, Tom.
Tom:
A lot of this I have, and the idea being that they are not ready for this. Dave, when we did, The Seduction of Christianity, I say “we” I got to help you with it, and that was my privilege, but people say, Oh, this is too much, young Christians will never be able to handle all this.
Dave:
Well, I’ve heard that one, Tom, but now we have another question coming up: The church of God, which He, that is, God hath purchased with His own blood. Now, does God have blood? Did God die for our sins? Yes, God did die for our sins, “I and my Father are One.” The babe born in Bethlehem, as we often said, is the Father.
Tom:
Isaiah 9:6 [2].
Dave:’
Yeah, the eternal God, Wow! The eternal God, everlasting God is our refuge, He’s the everlasting Father. So, the blood of Christ—well, Christ is God, He died for our sins, He paid the penalty for our sins.
Tom:
There’s only one Savior, Dave. The scripture says, Isaiah 9:6 [3] again.
Dave:
Yeah, so that’s a really very solemn point. Look, this isn’t just some—“Wow, I started a church, Wow, I really started in a Bible study in our home, and you should see how it has grown, thousands of people now.” No, you didn’t start the church. Jesus said, I will build my church. Now if these people are really Christians, then they are part of the body of Christ, He purchased them with His own blood. You had better be very careful how you handle this responsibility that God has given you.
Tom:
Dave, that brings up an important point, and we’ve made it over the years, especially as we’ve seen the whole church growth movement take over, in effect. This market driven approach and believers, they are not even believers but potential believers or consumers, and we are in that mode, and so on. But if a church is going to be made up of the lost to try and bring them to Christ, then it’s not the church that you’re talking about right here that the scriptures are laying out for us.
Dave:
It doesn’t fit—“For I know this” Wow! See, Paul knew what was going to happen and it grieved him, and we won’t get into that until next week, God willing. “But I know this, after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock.” Now I don’t think we understand, I certainly don’t understand the extend to which Paul cared for the churches. Remember in 2 Corinthians he says, “I’ve been beaten with rods, I’ve been in prison, I’ve been ship wrecked, and a night and a day I have been in the deep, everywhere I’ve been stoned, they left me for dead.” Then he says, “Besides all that what comes upon me daily is the care of all the churches.” You know, I read that and I don’t understand quite what that means, but Paul seems to give us a hint here. “After my departing shall grievous wolves enter in not sparing the flock.” We had better leave the next week because that really gets into something. But it seems that, I mean, most of Paul’s epistles are written for correction. We’ve been faulted for bringing correction. Why are you so concerned about Paul’s doctrine, and so forth? Well, that’s what the Bible’s concerned about. Christ rebuked the Rabbis, He said follow me, and Paul says, follow me like I follow Christ. So, Paul—
Tom:
Dave, I have to throw this in, we don’t delight in that, this is a calling I know the Lord has placed on your heart, and I believe He’s called me to help you do what God’s called you to do, but we don’t delight in this.
Dave:
It’s a biblical calling, right, we’re following the Word of God. Now, Paul was an amazing man, amazing man. We mentioned last week that Paul knows he is going to be martyred. He tells Timothy in 2 Timothy Chapter 4, “I’ve fought a good fight, I’ve finished my course.” It’s over for Paul, and he’s not just leaving town, they are not going to see him again, and he says that later. So, he is very concerned and very grieved about what is going to happen when he leaves, and he’s trying to impress it upon them. And I think we will see, eventually here that they don’t quite get it, sadly.
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 will greatly assist you, from books and tracts to audio and video recordings, CD-ROM, our website and much more. For a complete list of materials or to get a copy of today’s broadcast, write to us at PO Box 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 [3]. If you would like a copy of this broadcast on compact disk ask for Program #2507, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. And now if you would like to watch Dave and Tom our weekly broadcast is available on DVD, ask about a subscription when you contact us. You can also download both audio and video podcast at our website. If you receive television programming from Sky Angel you will be able to view our video, Psychology and the Church, Critical Questions, Crucial Answers, on August 15, starting at 7:00 PM Eastern, we invite you to tune in. We are planning our second prophecy conference for this August 9th through the 11th here in Bend. The Judgment Day Conference will again feature Dave and Tom plus special guest archeologist and Middle East expert Randall Price, former Israeli General Shimon Erem, and former PLO militant Walid Shoebat. All the information is at our website, or ask about registration when you call or write. Get a pen or pencil ready, we’ll repeat our contact information in just a moment.
Next week, we continue our series of programs addressing the popular new spiritual trend known as, “The Secret” and “Is The Secret a recipe for getting what you want?” In Religion in the News, “The Post Rapture post office” we’ll take a look at that story and address the question: “Is Jesus of purely Jewish descent?” 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. You’ve been listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. For more information about The Berean Call, write to us at PO Box 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 [3]. Join us again next week for Search the Scriptures Daily featuring Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon.