Acts 28:23-31<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying.\u00a0He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God,\u00a0and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets\u00a0he tried to persuade them about Jesus.\u00a024\u00a0Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.\u00a025\u00a0They disagreed among themselves and began to leave\u00a0after Paul had made this final statement:\u00a0\u201cThe Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said\u00a0through Isaiah the prophet: 26\u00a0\u201c\u2018Go to this people and say, \u201cYou will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.\u201d\u00a0 27\u00a0For this people\u2019s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.\u2019\u00a0\u00a028\u00a0\u201cTherefore I want you to know that God\u2019s salvation\u00a0has been sent to the Gentiles,\u00a0and they will listen!\u201d\u00a029 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.\u00a0 30\u00a0For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.\u00a031\u00a0He\u00a0proclaimed the kingdom of God\u00a0and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ\u2014with all boldness\u00a0and without hindrance!\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cSome were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0We know that all who hear the Gospel do not favorably respond to it.\u00a0\u00a0Acts 2:40<\/b>\u00a0states that about three thousand people believed the Gospel that Peter preached on Pentecost.\u00a0\u00a0Some with motive for a lower number estimate say the population of Israel at that time was no more than twenty thousand people.\u00a0\u00a0Some believe it could have been as high as hundreds of thousands.\u00a0\u00a0Yet, taking the lower number we can be sure that those present in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost was at least forty thousand and likely well over a hundred thousand and perhaps several hundred thousand.\u00a0\u00a0We know that because even if the population of Jerusalem was twenty thousand, that number was multiplied since Jews from many nations were there to celebrate the festival. (Acts 2:5-11<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Therefore we praise the Lord for the mighty \u201ckick-start\u201d that happened with three thousand new believers, but there were likely just as many, and even many more, who heard and did not believe.\u00a0\u00a0In modern times the Gospel is being preached in huge stadiums and now simultaneously broadcast to the world.\u00a0\u00a0We praise God for the many thousands who come to a life with Jesus but we are also aware that many don\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, we can be sure that multiplied more don\u2019t than do.\u00a0\u00a0That should not surprise us.\u00a0\u00a0It has been that way since the beginning and Paul will later address the reason why.\u00a0\u00a0We only need to remember that our Lord Jesus said \u201cEnter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.<\/i><\/span>\u00a014<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.<\/span><\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0(Matthew 7:13-14<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Yet for everyone one soul that repents and comes to Jesus, we are over joyed and praise God, as do the angels in heaven!\u00a0\u00a0(Luke 15:10<\/b>)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Here we see that some were convinced and others were not.\u00a0\u00a0The verse does not conclusively state that any of them became disciples of our Lord.\u00a0\u00a0Yet, we hope that many did.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey disagreed among themselves and began to leave\u00a0after Paul had made this final statement:\u00a0\u201cThe Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said\u00a0through Isaiah the prophet: 26\u00a0\u201c\u2018Go to this people and say, \u201cYou will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.\u201d\u00a0 27\u00a0For this people\u2019s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.\u2019\u00a0\u00a028\u00a0\u201cTherefore I want you to know that God\u2019s salvation\u00a0has been sent to the Gentiles,\u00a0and they will listen!\u201d<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0They disagreed and contended among themselves and then they left after Paul quoted from\u00a0Isaiah 6:9-10<\/b>.\u00a0\u00a0He was telling them that they are behaving just like their ancestors who were largely apostate at the time of the writing of Isaiah around 700 B.C.\u00a0\u00a0We know that such is the history of the people of Israel.\u00a0\u00a0Times of worshipping and praising God and times of rebellion against Him.\u00a0\u00a0Today we see the same thing.\u00a0\u00a0God is gracious and His Holy Spirit gives us revival and many people are saved.\u00a0\u00a0The church hums and glows for a period of time and then again many grow cold to God.\u00a0\u00a0Aren\u2019t we all aware that many saints even now cry out for a revival in the land?\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t we look about us and lament the spiritual condition of our country and the world?<\/p>\n It was at a time such as ours, and of Paul\u2019s that the Lord gave those words to Isaiah to give Israel.\u00a0\u00a0It was a warning to a rebellious people to open their eyes.\u00a0\u00a0The Lord was telling the people in Isaiah\u2019s time that they were just like their ancestors before them, they were relying on traditions and not open to truth and to seeing the true ways of God.\u00a0\u00a0Paul was telling the Jewish leaders that they were the same as their ancestors.\u00a0\u00a0Only their spiritual condition was worse, it was generations of apostate traditions and stubbornness passed down.\u00a0\u00a0It had gotten to the point that the Messiah that they had, for generation after generation cried out for, had come to them and they could not recognize Him and they would not accept Him.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus had earlier identified their hardness of heart and told them that the end result of it would lead them to hell.\u00a0\u00a0(Matthew 11:20-24<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0God reached out to these people, generation after generation, decade after decade, century after century and millennium after millennium and the vast majority had rejected Him.\u00a0\u00a0Yet, they called out to God for relief, for help, and then blamed God when He did not answer their Godless prayers. (James 4:2-6<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0It is any different from the time we live in.\u00a0\u00a0The vast majority of the world rejects the Gospel, they reject God, and then they demand that He do for them what they ask.\u00a0\u00a0What arrogance!\u00a0\u00a0What foolishness!\u00a0\u00a0The prayer of the repentant person God hears but not those selfish prayers of those who reject Him (John 9:31, James 4:6, Proverbs 3:34<\/b>).<\/p>\n People do not listen to a true word from God.\u00a0\u00a0In the Old Testament times they rejected, and even killed those who brought corrective words from God and Jesus even gave a parable about it and about how they would also reject and kill him.\u00a0\u00a0(Matthew 21:33-46<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul would prophetically write to Timothy about our generation that would not listen to the truth but only wanted to hear things that made them feel good, that scratched the desires of their flesh (2 Timothy 4:3<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0The Israelis killed the prophets who told them prophecies from God that they didn\u2019t want to hear (Luke 11:47-51<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0In\u00a0V51<\/b>\u00a0Jesus told the Jews that they will be responsible for the sins of their ancestors and for the traditions of them.\u00a0\u00a0Why?\u00a0\u00a0Because they did not repent from the error of their ancestor\u2019s teachings and traditions that had been handed down to them.\u00a0\u00a0Instead they continued them on and passed them on to their children.\u00a0\u00a0They honored their ancestors and the traditions more than God.\u00a0\u00a0They desired these things more than God\u2019s Truth, indeed, more than God!<\/p>\n Today a preacher, if he does not tell the truth of God\u2019s Word, but instead removes the hard truth and instead dispenses sweets, will have a large ministry.\u00a0\u00a0People want the candy and not the healthy fruit.\u00a0\u00a0Their teeth of their souls rot as they go to churches of preachers who betray God\u2019s Word.\u00a0\u00a0Woe to you preachers who trim God\u2019s Word in order to fill your pockets.\u00a0\u00a0You will go to hell and you bring the captive foolish with you.\u00a0\u00a0Woe to you!\u00a0\u00a0Change your ways while there is time.\u00a0\u00a0People, run from such men so that your eternal souls may be saved!\u00a0\u00a0(Isaiah 9:13-17, Matthew 15:14, 23:15<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Paul preached the Gospel to all.\u00a0\u00a0He didn\u2019t grow weary even when the seeds seemed to fall on hard ground.\u00a0\u00a0And we, dear Family, should not grow weary.\u00a0\u00a0In these days we are opposed, and we know that the opposition will continue to grow.\u00a0\u00a0But we serve a risen Savior and our reward in Heaven is sure.\u00a0\u00a0Therefore Paul wrote to fellow believers, to us \u201cLet us not become weary in doing good,\u00a0for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up<\/i>.\u201d (Galatians 6:9<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Most of those who heard Peter and Paul share the Gospel rejected it, but they both continued to share it.\u00a0\u00a0And we are told to continuously and persistently do the same. (2 Timothy 4:2<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Many people today are telling the world that they care and love them.\u00a0\u00a0They seduce the people with lies of love.\u00a0\u00a0We must continue to reveal to them what true love is and where true love comes from. (John 3:16<\/b>) We are whom the Lord has given the job of preserving the world and leading them to Him.\u00a0\u00a0(Matthew 5:13-14<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Let us show that we love the Lord by doing so. (John 14:15, 15:14<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0In this way, we praise and honor God.\u00a0\u00a0(1 John 4:12<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Not with words with no actions, but with actions that testify to truth of our words.\u00a0\u00a0Actions that display our faith and our love of God, and others.\u00a0\u00a0(Hosea 6:6, Matthew 9:13, James 2:20-26<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0We honor God with action that shows what lives within us.\u00a0\u00a0So let us, as Paul did, never stop loving, never stop sharing the Truth, and never stop obeying God.\u00a0\u00a0And that, dear Family, is what God desires of His children.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!<\/p>\n P<\/b><\/span>salm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/p>\n Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.<\/p>\n Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; and what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Your God.<\/p>\n Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Acts 28:23-31\u00a0–\u00a0They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying.\u00a0He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God,\u00a0and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets\u00a0he tried to persuade them about Jesus.\u00a024\u00a0Some were convinced by what…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,1969,2411,103,1700,100,106,101,94,1874,88,17,2036],"class_list":["post-2252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-galatians","tag-hosea","tag-isaiah","tag-james","tag-john","tag-luke","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-proverbs","tag-psalm","tag-timothy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2252"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2253,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252\/revisions\/2253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}