5 Smooth Stones

43 When Jesus came on the scene in public ministry he was preaching the Kingdom of God. He said, “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached...” (Luke 16:16). History and the bible record the amazing e ff ect that His preaching had wherever He went. “The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Ma tt hew 11:5). The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote, “About this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was the achiever of extraordinary deeds and was a teacher of those who accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah.” (Antiquities 18:63) The Arabic translation of this section says “And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them after his cruci fi xion and that he was alive; accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.” Acts 12:17 mentions James but not speci fi cally as an apostle at this time, it may be that he was functioning in this o ffi ce by this time, but it is not stated as such in scripture. Gal 1:19 implies that James was functioning in the o ffi ce of an apostle by this time. 44 God-fearers spoken of in the bible were a class of Gentiles who were not proselytes, but were a tt racted to the peace and order of Judaism. “Understandably, many Gentiles would be a tt racted to the monotheism and the high ethical standards of the Jews, but were not prepared to take the radical step of becoming proselytes and making a total break with their Gentile roots. Recognizing this, the Jews of the day had created a special place for them in their synagogue communities as “God-fearers.” “They had a recognized a ffi liation with the synagogue, they worshiped the God of the Jews, and they agreed to adhere to the Jewish law to the best of their abilities, observing the Sabbath and the dietary laws as strictly as they thought they could. When they went to the synagogue meetings, however, the God-fearers had to congregate in a separate designated place. They could not enter the worship area of the synagogue itself because they were still Gentiles, and as such were regarded by Jews as unclean. No Orthodox Jew would ever enter the home of a gentile, even a God-fearer, or invite such into his home.” Lighting the Word. A New Look Acts - Dr. C Peter Wagner. Regal books copyright 1995 by C Peter Wagner

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