05.26.15  

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. - Acts 2:22-24 NKJV. 

And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. - Acts 2:40-41 NKJV. 

If someone applied to work at your business in these days you would of course be careful about hiring a new employee. So, if someone filled out their application saying they had previously lived in the city of North Pole, graduated from North Pole High School, and had work experience working as an elf in Santa Claus' House...would you hire her? That cannot possibly be true! However, the truth is that Joyclin Jaksons grew up at North Pole, Alaska, and did graduate from North Pole High School. She also does have work experience having worked as an “elf” in Santa Claus' House, which is a souvenir shop. The shop does a lot of business during the summer. Joyclin went to college in Oklahoma, and did have some trouble finding a job, because of her unbelievable background. The good news is that someone did check out her story, found it to be true, and found an excellent employee. (Edmond Life and Leisure 05.07.15; Daily Oklahoman 05.23.15; Fairbanks Daily News 05.19.15) 

It had to be shocking to hear the apostle Peter preaching that the one who had been crucified, the one whom they had shouted to have crucified, had come back to life! How could this possibly be true? But God, through the Holy Spirit, was speaking with that double edged sword of truth with every word Peter spoke that day. Three thousand were saved and brought into the Kingdom of God, because they were able to see that the unbelievable was actually true. That was just the beginning! 

In Acts 3, we read that a man who had been born “lame” unable to walk all of his life, was healed through the power of God. How could that possibly be true? Peter says to the lame man begging for money, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk (Acts 3:6 NKJV).” The man then jumped up, running into the Temple; leaping, and praising God! 

When the High Priest had the apostles thrown into prison, the angel of the Lord released them, and sent them back to testify to the “words of this life.” The High Priest then forbid them to preach, and Peter said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” They plotted to kill the apostles then, but Gamaliel warned, “if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.” 

Saul, who became the apostle Paul, persecuted the church until on the Road to Damascus, “As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me (Acts 9:3-4 NKJV)?’” Saul, came to understand that what could not possibly be true, was indeed true! 

It may sound like the Gospel of Jesus Christ cannot possibly be true, but it is true! If you have been rejecting, and rejecting, and rejecting the truth of Jesus being the only way to salvation (John 14:6); Gamaliel would tell you not to be found fighting against God. Saul, who became the apostle Paul, would tell you not to wait for the blinding light of truth to bring you to a sudden stop in your life, because the Gospel is true, it is all true! Billions have believed the truth since the powerful sermon of truth preached by the apostle Peter nearly 2,000 years ago. It is still true! Believe it!