Bible Reading: Genesis 25; Esther 1; Matthew 24; Acts 24
Acts 24:14-15 But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: 15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
Many people claim that Christianity is a Jewish sect. They believe in a sociological sort of way that the three 'Great Abrahamic Religions', Judaism, Islam and Christianity all sprang from a common source. However, that is to completely miss the point. The Jews think that to follow Jesus Christ as the Messiah is heresy. Paul pointed this out before the court as he was on trial before Felix. Paul was born again. He had received the Lord Jesus Christ and he was a new man. Notice how he claims the true faith for his own.
He worshipped the God of heaven. The Creator who the Bible speaks of in Genesis 1 and 2 was Paul's God. He worshipped him!
- He worshipped the God of his fathers. The same God that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had known and worshipped is who Paul worshiped.
- He believed all things written in the law and in the prophets. The Old Testament was Paul's revelation of truth. He had faith that came by hearing and hearing by the word of God! He did not reject the Old Testament revelation; he believed it – all of it!
- His hope was in God for a future resurrection from the dead. He believed there was life after the death of the body, just as the Old Testament said. He believed in a resurrection of the just and the unjust and he knew that he was a part of the just!
Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
The religious leaders who had Paul on trial hated 'The Way'. This is what they called the followers of Jesus. They called it heresy to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Here we must see what is happening. Paul did not pick a new religion, nor did he create one. God revealed himself more fully in the coming of Jesus Christ than he had previously done before. Those who believed on Jesus were the true followers of the God who created the world and chose Abraham. To miss Jesus was to miss God!
The same goes for today. To miss Jesus is to miss God. If you follow Jesus, realize that many will call what you believe heresy. Jesus is God!
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
In Christ,
Rody
