Good morning. Peter explains what really happened: this is
what was spoken of by the prophet Joel – and it shall be in the last days, God
says, that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams; even on my bondslaves, both men and women, I will
in those days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy. And I will grant
wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and
vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood,
before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. And it shall be that
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. This quotation is
really remarkable given that Peter was not considered to be a learned man. The
average man would not have been able to make the connection between the
scripture and what happened; so it had to be the Holy Spirit. Jesus the
Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs
which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourself know – this
man, delivered over by the pre-determined plan and foreknowledge of God, you
nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. Peter was
talking to Jews. It was the Romans, not them personally, that nailed Jesus to
the cross; however, it was through their insistence that Jesus be put to death
by crucifixion that precipitated this action. It’s kind of like when it says
that Judas acquired the field with the blood money – he did not personally do
it, but it was through the money he received that it was purchased. Peter’s
words proclaim that everything went according to God‘s plan. God knew what was
necessary to bring salvation to all men – and He made it happen. Father thank
You that You have a plan for our lives; and if we let You have Your way, it
will come about just as You desire.
Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God
Good morning. While Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. Jesus was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men. Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. It doesn’t say, but I assume it is still during this time of the Passover. This man came to Jesus by night. Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do the signs that You do unless God is with him. It just said that the people believed in His name because of the signs He was doing; yet it does not say what those signs were. Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. That is why unbelievers cannot tell what is of the kingdom of God and what is not – they’re not born again. Nicodemus doesn’t have a clue. How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he? Unless one is born of water and the Spirit ...
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