2 Corinthians 12:9 God said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Frederick Douglass said that “God plus one is a majority”. English Baptist minister Charles Spurgeon stated, “Why count heads? One man with God is a majority though there be a thousand on the other side. If we have faith, we have God with us. If the Lord sent thee, O my brother, his strength will accomplish his divine purpose. Wherefore, rely on the promise, and be very courageous.” And there is an inscription on the Reformation Wall (a monument to reformers) in Geneva that reads: un homme avec Dieu est toujours dans la majorité. Translation: “one man with God is always in the majority”. The meaning is that God is all we need.
This last Sunday, Pastor Kyle continued in our church’s sermon series through the book of Acts. Acts 3:11-20, While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see. Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.”
Pastor Kyle gave us four lessons on turning opposition into opportunity. (1) Commit to obey God regardless of the outcome. At the Father of the Reformation, Martin Luther’s trial at the Diet of Worms on April 17th, 1521, he was asked: “Will you recant them?” Luther replied: “Unless I am refuted and convicted by testimonies of the Scriptures or by clear, I am conquered by the Holy Scriptures quoted by me, and my conscience is bound in the word of God: I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is unsafe and dangerous to do anything against the conscience. Here I stand! I cannot do otherwise. God help me! Amen.” Romans 6:23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God [Father, on and Holy Spirit] have done all the work for the forgiveness of sin and the salvation of our soul. But we have our part which is to respond in belief, repentance, faith and obedience. Repent, then, and turn to God. With an abiding dedication, an undying devotion and an intense desire, we are eternally grateful for the Gospel and willfully obey the Lord.
Ephesians 2:1-8 explains, “you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Undeniable truth.
Let's continue PAstor Kyle's message in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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