A sheep in wolf's clothing.
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
( Ecclesiastes 1:6 )
Understanding relative motion is the power to comprehend that heliocentric and geocentrospheric models coexist. The geocentrospheric model is empirical. The heliocentric model is theoretical.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
( Matthew 2:1-2 )
Can we deduce a mechanism by which God can blacken the inner surface of the firmament and make available a vast quantity of crystalline material from which to make the stars?
And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
( Revelation 21:19-20 )
We don’t hammer square pegs into round holes to get the pieces of Matty’s Paradigm to fall into place. It is deduced, not induced. This is another nail to hammer into the lid on the coffin of Flat Earth.
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
( Genesis 1:16 )
Open Door Baptist Church
Acts 8:1-25
Paul didn’t participate in Stephen’s murder, but he didn’t do anything to stop it. He was determined to prove that he was the most zealous of all the pharisees. At this time he thought that meant he had to stop the spread of the church, but he must have been conflicted because of the impact Stephen’s sermon had on him.
I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
( Acts 22:3-4 )
But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.
( Acts 23:6 )
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
( 1 Timothy 1:15 )
Following the Lord’s commands
But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
( Matthew 10:23 )
And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
( Acts 6:5 )
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
( Mark 16:17 )
Peter and John.
Remember Ananias and Sapphira?
Danby House
2 Corinthians 4:6-12
There is a way out, but we don’t have to worry about it.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Hyperbole, derived from a Greek word meaning “over-casting,” is a figure of speech that involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis.
I’m not exaggerating how great God is, God is so great that it can’t be described.
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
Open Door Baptist Church
Stephen’s case against the establishment has 8 accusations:
Acts 7:2-10
The will of God was with Joseph, the establishment rejected him.
Acts 7:17-29, 35
Moses came as a deliverer and was rejected. This is the first time that the children of Israel rejected Moses.
This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. v. 35
Acts 7:36-37
Moses prophesied the coming of the Messiah whom the establishment crucified.
Acts 7:38-43
The tablets of the 10 commandments which Moses smashed and had to make again.
To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, v. 39
Acts 7:40-41
The golden calf.
Acts 7:42
The host of heaven.
Acts 7:43
Moloch and Remphan.
Acts 7:51-53
Danby House
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
( Philippians 1:6 )
Writing sermons can be an odd process.
I have been trying to remember a passage that I heard or read which I thought was saying that God has the power to keep or maintain us until we have completed the work that he called us to do.
I think I remember a pastor preaching something along those lines years ago.
I’ve tried to look for the passage using the concordance, but I can’t remember the words exactly so the searches that I have done didn’t produce anything that I recognized as what i thought I was looking for.
Thankfully I have been keeping up with my daily Bible reading.
In fact, today I just got to the end of the Bible and I will be starting it again for the 15th time.
Recently I read what i thought was the passage that I was looking for. Conceptually it matched the idea that I thought I remembered. I made a mental note of what book, chapter and verse it was. Then I forgot the mental note.
What I remembered was where it was on the page: the bottom left corner.
Today I decided to find it and worked my way back from the end of the Bible looking at all of the bottom left corners.
I found three passages which work with the idea I am trying to confirm whether or not it is really a thing.
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.( 1 Peter 1:7-9 )
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
( 2 Timothy 1:12 )
And how about this for a twist: this sermon was an issue that I had been pondering for a while, so much so that I began a diligent search for the passage in it. Another one dropped in my lap in an intriguing sermon from BEZA International Church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the very place where I received my call to write Matty’s Paradigm.
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
( 1 Thessalonians 5:24 )
Open Door Baptist Church
Acts 6:9-15
Libertines – Freedman, the name of a synagogue.
a freedman, one of the class of manumitted slaves; a synagogue at Jerusalem appears to have been reserved for them.
Manumitted – Manumission, or affranchisement, is the act of an owner freeing his or her slaves.
Cyrene – Cyrene (/saɪˈriːniː/; Ancient Greek: Κυρήνη, translit.Kyrēnē) was an ancient Greek and later Roman city near present-day Shahhat, Libya.
Alexandria – Alexandria (/ˌælɪɡˈzændriə/ or /-ˈzɑːnd-/;[3]Egyptian Arabic: إسكندريه Eskendereyya; Arabic: الإسكندرية al-ʾIskandariyya; Coptic: ⲁⲗⲉⲝⲁⲛⲇⲣⲓⲁ Alexandria or ⲣⲁⲕⲟϯ Rakote) is the second-largest city in Egypt and a major economic centre, extending about 32 km (20 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country.
Cilicia – In antiquity, Cilicia (/sɪˈlɪʃiə/)[2][note 1] was the south coastal region of Asia Minor and existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia during the late Byzantine Empire. Extending inland from the southeastern coast of modern Turkey, Cilicia is due north and northeast of the island of Cyprus and corresponds to the modern region of Çukurova in Turkey.
Asia – The Roman province of Asia or Asiana (Greek: Ἀσία or Ἀσιανή), in Byzantine times called Phrygia, was an administrative unit added to the late Republic. It was a Senatorial province governed by a proconsul. The arrangement was unchanged in the reorganization of the Roman Empire in 211.
Stephen may have been aware of this teaching of Jesus:
But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.( Luke 21:12-15 )
Jesus was quoting scripture:
Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
( Exodus 4:12 )
And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.
( 1 Kings 21:10 )
Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
( Matthew 26:59 )
the customs which Moses delivered us.
Irony. When Stephen mounts his defense he will accuse them of resisting and opposing Moses.
Angel – a messenger, generally a (supernatural) messenger from God, an angel, conveying news or behests from God to men.
Open Door Baptist Church
Acts 6:1-7
The ordination of the first deacons. The word Deacon doesn’t occur in the passage as written in the KJV but it does in the Greek
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
The next time the word Deacon occurs in our English version is Philippians 1:1
Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
This is where we see a distinction between the clergy and the laity
broadly speaking the clergy, or priesthood, care for the spiritual welfare, the diaconate care for the physical welfare of the congregation.
The qualifications for bshops and deacons are laid out in 1 Timothy 3
We connect the office of bishop to the office of pastor through 1 Peter 2:25
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Matty (Headwind) 