Jehoshua is on the throne of David in New Jerusalem and He is the King of a New Israel
Part 7 of the gospel in Acts
Acts 16:13 "And on the sabbath day we went forth without the gate by a river side, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down, and spake unto the women that were come together" Here we see that the Sabbath is a holy day that Paul is still keeping after the cross. The distinctness and the specialness of the Sabbath is very apparent even after the cross. Acts 16:14-15 14And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one that worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul.15And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide [there]. And she constrained us. Jehovah God opened the heart of Lydia and she and her household were baptized. This shows us two things, one that it is God who saves and moves people to accept the gospel and two, that baptism immediately follows conversion. Acts 16:19-21 19But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers,20and when they had brought them unto the magistrates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,21and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans. In the context of the above passage, Paul cast a demon out of a woman who had been following them. Since she could no longer be a tool of her masters for gain, Paul and Silas were brought before the magistrates at Philipi. This passage is also key and could easily be missed. Notice that the men point out that Paul and Silas are Jews and that they are troubling the city by intoducing customs which are not lawful for Romans to observe. What customs would these be? Some will say the Sabbath and feast days but likely it is the same thing that was being preached all through the book of Acts. It is likely the anointing, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension and enthronement of the Son of God. Why would the men say these things are not lawful for Romans to observe? Acts 17 gives us the answer: 6And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;7whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another King, one Jehoshua. Here is the answer, just a chapter later we see that Jason is dragged before the rulers of Thessalonica and the Jews accuse them of turning the world upside down which was true. But what was it that they were preaching that was turning the world upside down which was also unlawful for Romans to observe? Verse 7 of Acts 17 gives us the answer: "Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jehoshua." The doctrine that the apostles were teaching that was against the law of the Roman empire was that there was a King besides and instead of Caesar and that was Jehoshua. This was a political statement by the Church. Some ministries teach that the doctrine that the apostles were teaching that was contrary to Caesar was the law of Moses but that is not found here. The doctrine that offended the Roman empire was the Kingship of Jehoshua Messiah. The Roman empire held that Caesar was a divine king a son of God. These were titles that the Messianic's were ascribing to the Messiah. In effect, the Church was saying that Caesar was not their king. Although the early Church believed in respect for authority they gave their allegiance only to Jehoshua and His Father. Acts 16:22-23 22And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods.23And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: For teaching that there was another King, one Jehoshua, Paul and the brethren were beaten with rods and cast into prison. The idea that the true King was Jehoshua and not Caesar so offended the Macedonian leaders that they rent their clothes. This was a similar response to the Pharisees and other Jewish religious leaders when Jehoshua stated that He was the Son of God and King of Israel which are Kingship titles. The early Church was getting hit from both sides of the fence. On on one side, we have the Jews who rejected Jehoshua as the Messiah and Davidic King because He didn't come in the form they wanted. On the other side were the pagan Gentiles in the Roman empire who counted Caesar as their king and also worshipped false gods. Amazingly, this type of persecution against Christians happens today around the world as they reject the sovereignty of government rulers and claim allegiance solely to the Son of God. In America, the Churches have largely forgotten this and have sided with the Caesar's of the Republican and democratic parties. They still claim the Son of God but their allegiance is divided. If the Church wants to get back to fervor of the 1st century Church they must get back to proclaiming they have no King but Jehoshua. Acts 17:1-3 1Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:2and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,3opening and alleging that it behooved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom, said he, I proclaim unto you, is the Christ. Again, the Sabbath was set apart day to preach the gospel. The apostles everyday but the Sabbath clearly had a significance different than other days. Let's see what Paul preached. He preached that Jehoshua had to suffer so that He can rise again and that He is the Messiah. Paul preaches the same message that Peter preached in Acts 2, the passion of the Messiah, his death, resurrection and Kingship. When Paul says that Jehoshua is the Messiah He also means "He is the King". The title "Messiah" is a Kingship title belonging to the Israelite King. This is consistent gospel message of the apostolic Church i.e. the suffering, death, resurrection and enthronement as Davidic King of Jehoshua. This is what Paul preached to the Jews in Thessalonica. How do we know that the preaching of Jehoshua being the Messiah meant He was King? Because just a few verses later Jason who was housing Paul and the others was brought before the rulers of the city and was accused of the following in chapter 17: 5But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people. 6And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;7whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jehoshua. This was the message that was turning the world upside down, which is that there was another King besides Caesar. This King is Jehoshua and the Church was preaching that He was the King. This was against the law of the Roman empire who held that Caesar was the only rightful King. This was considered treasonous against Rome. The Kingship of Jehoshua was the custom that was unlawful for the Romans to observe noted in Acts 16:20-21. The customs that the apostolic Church was teaching was unlawful for Romans to observe was not the law of Moses because people were allowed to go to synagogue and they generally had religious freedom. A Roman citizen could lawfully convert to "Judaism". The Kingship of Jehoshua was tied into the Davidic covenant. You cannot separate one from the other. The message of the Davidic covenant being fulfilled, in that one of David's offspring would be raised up to establish the the throne and Kingdom of David forever, was the message that was turning the world upside down. Acts 17:22-24 22Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. Onto the next sermon, here Paul adresses people of Athens. He was stirred in his heart regarding the idolatry that they partook of. The people of Athens thought Paul was preaching a strange new doctrine when he preached to them Jehoshua: Acts 17:18 "Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jehoshua, and the resurrection." The philosophers of Athens thought Paul was preaching some strange teaching (doctrine). The doctrine Paul was preaching was Jehoshua which entails His earthly ministry, teachings and identity and also His resurrection. This is the overlying theme of the message in Acts which is that Jehoshua is the resurrected Messianic King. Let's look at verses 22-24, we see here a good example of how to preach the gospel to people who are caught up in other religions. Paul knows that these people are in idolatry, however rather than blast them for that he acknowledges their devout spirituality but then tells them that it is misplaced. Paul does point out that they are worshipping in ignorance but he stops short of calling them idolaters. Acts 17;24-25 24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; Paul then goes on to declare who God is and He is the creator of all things and dismisses the idea that He can be contained in man made temples or be relegated to a physical object to be worshipped. Paul says that God is the giver of life to all things. Acts 17:26-27 26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: Paul says that God has made all nations of one blood which refutes any ideas of racial superiority. Very importantly Paul says that God is very near to us & engages with His creation. Paul puts the onus on humans to seek after God. This refutes the idea of the Calvinist predestination. The God of the bible is a near God contrary to the Plantoic idea that God is far from us and distant so much so that He needs an intermediary to interact with us and that this intermediary is the one who involves himself with God's creation. Acts 17:28-32 28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.32And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. Paul refers to the poets of Athens and how they acknowledged that we as humans have our life due to God. We as human beings are the offspring of God denoting that He created us. This does not mean that we are all children of God as that comes via spiritual begetting from above. Notice that Paul's sermon here is not one where he is castigating the Athenians but rather he appeals to their spirituality while at the same time directing them to have a more accurate understanding of who God is. Because we are made in the image of God we should not think of God in terms of silver and gold and other inanimate objects. Paul's statement that God winks at ignorance is important to remember because He doesn't condemn those who are ignorant but rather winks at it. This shows us that God is a God of love therefore we should not condemn those who have been ignorant of Him to the lake of fire. However, He does command those once ignorant to repent when they hear the gospel of the Kingdom preached. Verse 31 of Acts 17, Paul says that there is a day (one day) that God will judge the world with righteousness being the standard by a man (Jehoshua) He (God) has ordained. Let's unpack a bit this part of verse 31: Paul says that the day of judgment is one day not two days separated by a thousand years. This agrees with Jehoshua as well and the prophets who say the resurrection of the just and unjust takes place simultaneously. God will judge the world by a man showing that Jehoshua is fully human. This shows that God and Jehoshua are two separate distinct beings. God is God and Jehoshua is a man. God is a Spirit and not a man according to the bible. Jehoshua is a man who is of the seed of David. The fact that Jehoshua will sit on the judgment seat does not mean He is God but Paul makes it clear He is a man. This is true Christology. This agrees with the old testament prophets and the new testament apostles that the Messiah is a man (1 Timothy 2:5). Paul says God ordained Jehoshua showing that Jehoshua was given privileges by God and did not have them inherently. This ordaining took place at Jehoshua's baptism which is the first time He is described as being full of the Spirit. Now lets look at the second part of verse 31, Paul says that God raised Jehoshua from the dead. There is no scripture that says the trinity raised Jehoshua from the dead but rather the witness of scripture agrees that the Father raised Him from the dead. Jehoshua being raised from the dead is our assurance that there will be a future resurrection which is the hope of all those who believe in the gospel. Verse 32, of course some mocked the resurrection but others were willing to hear it at some other time. This is what happens when we preach the gospel of the Kingdom, some will mock and some will be interested. Paul shows us how to preach the gospel to unbelievers in that we shouldn't condemn them but rather direct them to an accurate understanding of God. We are also to exalt the man Jehoshua and that He is ordained by God to judge the world at the last day. The resurrection should be preached as the hope not dying and going to heaven. Jehoshua being raised from the dead by the Father should be at the centerpoint of our preaching. Acts 18:1-5 1 After these things he departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome: and he came unto them;3 and because he was of the same trade, he abode with them, and they wrought, for by their trade they were tentmakers.4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jehoshua was the Messiah. Oftentimes when we are sent to preach the gospel we must be willing to work with our own hands as Paul did. There should never be a time when a preacher of the gospel lives rich off the gospel and demand that people support him. Again, Paul preaches the gospel on the Sabbath day in the synagogue to both Jews and Gentiles. Gentiles who were fearers of God or proselytes went to hear the word of God on the Sabbath. They did not have a separate day of worship on Sunday. Paul's message was rooted in Jehoshua being the Messiah i.e. anointed one of God. As he did at Berea Paul would have proved this by the old testament as those were the only scriptures that the Messianic's had at this point in history. In order for Paul to prove Jehoshua's Messiahship he would have had to refer to the Davidic covenant and other Davidic Messianic passages. He also would have had to show that Jehoshua was from the line of David. This is something many modern Christians ignore or are unable to do because of the severe lack of emphasis placed on it by mainstream Christendom. Acts 18:8 "And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized" This shows that upon belief/faith in the gospel baptism is suppose to immediately follow. The idea that baptism is to wait after a period of instruction is unbiblical and a man made tradition. Acts 18:9-11 9 And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace:10 for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city.11 And he dwelt [there] a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. Paul was instructed to be bold in preaching the word and not to hold his tongue. This is also for us as well. Paul was in Corinth teaching "the word of God" for a year and a half. Remember, at this time there was no canonized bible as we know it today. The new testament had not been written yet. This shows that the "word of God" does not refer to the bible itself but rather is short hand for the gospel of the Kingdom.(Acts 28:31). Acts 18;28 "for he powerfully confuted the Jews, [and that] publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jehoshua was the Messiah." This was Apollos who was a Jew and confounded the Jews by showing from the scriptures that Jehoshua was the Messiah. Again, we need to see the overwhelming witness in scripture that the Apostles doctrine was that Jehoshua was the Messiah not God. To be the Messiah means you are God's anointed King not God Himself. Also, note that in order to prove the Messiahship of Jehoshua Apollos had to use the old testament. This means he would have to refer to the covenant God made with David and other Davidic Messianic passages.
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