Thursday, March 24, 2016
ACTS 8:1-4 The scattering of the Jerusalem believers and Philip's ministry ACTS 8:5-40
ACTS 8 NLT
1 Saul was one of the witnesses, and he
agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. Persecution Scatters the
Believers A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church
in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through
the regions of Judea and Samaria.
2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen
with great mourning.)
3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy
the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to
throw them into prison.
4 But the believers who were scattered
preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.
5 Philip, for example, went to the city of
Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah.
6 Crowds listened intently to Philip
because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he
did.
7 Many evil spirits were cast out,
screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame
were healed.
8So there was great joy in that city.
9 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer
there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone
great.
10 Everyone, from the least to the
greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.”
11 They listened closely to him because for
a long time he had astounded them with his magic.
12 But now the people believed Philip’s
message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus
Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized.
13 Then Simon himself believed and was
baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the
signs and great miracles Philip performed.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard
that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John
there.
15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for
these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit.
16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon
any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then Peter and John laid their hands
upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given
when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this
power.
19 “Let me have this power, too,” he
exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy
Spirit!”
20 But Peter replied, “May your money be
destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought!
21 You can have no part in this, for your
heart is not right with God.
22Repent of your wickedness and pray to the
Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts,
23 for I can see that you are full of
bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”
24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon
exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!”
25 After testifying and preaching the word
of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped
in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News.
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said
to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
27 So he started out, and he met the
treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen
of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage,
he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over
and walk along beside the carriage.”
30 Philip ran over and heard the man
reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are
reading?”
31 The man replied, “How can I, unless
someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit
with him.
32 The passage of Scripture he had been
reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is
silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
33 He was humiliated and received no
justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the
earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was
the prophet talking about himself or someone else?”
35 So beginning with this same Scripture,
Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.
36 As they rode along, they came to some
water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be
baptized?”
37
38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and
they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the
Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but
went on his way rejoicing.
40 Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther
north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town
along the way until he came to Caesarea.
Revelation 14
Revelation 14 (New International Version, ©2010)
Revelation 14
The Lamb and the 144,000
1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
The Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
8 A second angel followed and said, "'Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,'[a] which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name." 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man[b] with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe." 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
Revelation 14
The Lamb and the 144,000
1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
The Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
8 A second angel followed and said, "'Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,'[a] which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name." 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man[b] with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe." 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
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