Stellenbosch University SDASM

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Sunday 29 July 2018

Persecutor of the church

Acts 26 vs 9 - 10

9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them."

These are the words of Paul, formerly known as Saul. He is the man who led Stephen to his death and a key figure in ensuing his persecution . Paul was a pharisee and bordered on fanaticism.

This same Paul became the writer of a large part of the new testament.

What lesson can be taken out of this about God's ability to call to his lost sheep regardless of their current views on him and his doctrine?

God Bless You😊😊😇

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Sabbbath

Memory Text: ”Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15, NIV)

Saul's conversion to Paul has great significance in church history but its significance lies not in the conversion itself but in the contribution that he made after converting. His previous persecution of the early church forever made him greatful of God's mercy on him and hence the dedication.

God Bless You😊😇

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Thursday
Using Your Talents

The Holy Spirit has given us different gifts, talents. The same way the Master in Matthew 25v13-30 did. When the Master returned, he settled accounts with the servants indicating that they were stewards of what they didn't own but were however responsible for it. May we not make the same mistake as the foolish servant and leave our gifts unimproved and unused.
Question: Jesus told this parable in the context of the last days and His return. What does it teach us, then, about how the use of our talents is crucial to being prepared for the last days?

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Wednesday
The Ten Virgins
Read Matthew 25:1-13

The fact that they are called "'virgins'" suggests they represent those who profess to be Christians. They are not on Satan's side of the controversy.

But in the end time, they all sleep. Christ has already warned us about keeping watch or staying awake so they will be ready when He returns. Matt 24:12. They have not studied His Character they have not held communion with Him

Lets pray we are not like the ten virgins

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Tuesday

The abomination of desolation:

God declares something an abomination when it is a serious violation of His law, such as idolatry or sexual immorality.

So the abomination of desolation has to do with religious apostasy. Mathew 24:15, Luke 21:20

So what is it?
Read the lesson to further elaborate on this important concept

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Monday
Enduring til the End

Matt 24:13
Jesus warns about the deceptions that will take place in the end times. Only those who fortify their minds will stand. We have to be grounded in the Word of God so that we are not deceived.

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Sunday

A powerful confirmation of prophecy
Matthew 24 vs 4
And Jesus answered and said unto them, "take heed that no man deceive you "
We are living in a time where there is deception everywhere. There are many false prophets and Christ's . They are deceiving multitudes of people who trust them . This is a misguided hope . Hope is also being put into politics amongst other things , which is also a misguided hope. We should only trust Jesus Christ .

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Sabbath

Matthew 24 & 25

Jesus warns the disciples, and essentially the whole of spiritual Israel, about the end times and the extent of deception that will appeal even to the elect. (Matthew 24:24)
He warns about the catastrophe that will befall, particularly, the generation that will be alive when He returns and describes it as a time of wars, rumors of wars, nations rising against nations, false Christs and persecutio (Matthew 24:6)

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Friday summary:
The dragon, Satan who raged war against God in Heaven is the same one who will rage war against God's people on earth. The devil has always aimed to undermine and in fact completely disregard God's divinity and what better way to do that than by attacking His commandments. God's commandments are a sign of his divinity, especially the fourth one(seventh day sabbath) which reveals Him as the Creator and only true God. In the end there will be those who are obedient to God and ALL His commandments and those who aren't

Bible references:
Rev 12vs17
Rev 12vs17
Rev 13vs4
Gen 2vs1 - 3

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Thursday

The Attempted Change of the Sabbath

God's law is still binding, James 2:10-12.

We know that under papal Rome the seventh-day Sabbath was replaced by the tradition of Sunday keeping, a tradition so firmly entrenched that the Protestant Reformation kept that tradition alive, even into the twenty-first century. Today most Protestants still keep the first day of the week, rather than following the biblical command for the seventh day.

Daniel 7:23–25. What do these verses teach that can help us to understand the origins of Sunday keeping?

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Wednesday

The Seventh Day In The New Testament

Every reference to the seventh-day Sabbath in the New Testament reveals that it was still being kept as one of God’s Ten Commandments.

Notice how the women, who had been with Christ, “rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56, NKJV).

Read Acts 13:14, 42-44 and Acts 16:12, 13.

Acts 16:13 is especially interesting because it occurs outside of the context of the synagogue. The believers were meeting by the side of a river where some “customarily” (NKJV) went to pray. And they did so on the seventh-day Sabbath, many years after the death of Jesus, too. If a change to Sunday had occurred, nothing in these texts indicates it.