God bless you in the name of Jesus Christ and welcome to this special leadership conference call. As you recall from the first special leadership conference call, apologia is a Greek word which can mean “an answer of truth in the face of accusation.” Remember the meaning of this word is not an apology, which is to admit guilt and or ask pardon for some wrongdoing. The concept of an apologia can be traced back to ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates as an opportunity to address accusations with truth as a defense. Building from the truth we have already considered we want to the topic of what should Christians do when they encounter an impasse between themselves?
When these challenges go unresolved often, we miss out on what is good in life. When such conflicts occur, the question that should be asked is not who is right, but what is right. And the reason why is that “Who is right?” or “Who do you stand with?” tends to focus on people, but “What is right?” gets the focus back to the truth. The correct response is, “God and His Word are right.” That’s Who I stand with and what I stand on. Then working out any differences between us becomes a lot easier to settle. So, in this teaching we will focus on how God and therefore His Word is right. In truth, His Word enlightens us, not physically but spiritually so we can understand how to proceed through life’s challenges.
Psalms 119:105: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
It’s the Word that allows us to know how to navigate in life, because it’s only God’s Word that has the “lumen” power — the light bright enough to expose even the subtlest of nuances in life. We know that according to Hebrews 4:12 the Word is also “quick and powerful” or “alive and energetic.” It’s a living Word from a living God. Therefore, it is God that we trust and rely on to direct our steps. His Word shows us the steps we should take in life.
Proverbs 3:5 and 6: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
As the mature in Christ, the strong meat that we need provides the spiritual nourishment to help us, because spiritual anemia is weakness and inability to respond to the challenges we face. It is due to improper diet or the neglect of the Word. Christians spend too much time dining on traditions and commandments of men when often God has nothing to do with these edicts. The faith of Christ, his accomplished work should be the “main course” in the Christian diet. That’s why we need to get to the meat of the Word for real nourishment.
Hebrews 5:14: But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age [or mature], even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Only the meat of the Word — representing the “solid food” that requires a more developed digestion to assimilate, allows the mature to really make those distinctions between good and evil. A less developed spiritual digestive system, often found in young or carnal Christians, misses these nuances. It’s the meat of the Word, that provides something solid to build greater understanding. It is this type of understanding of the Word, not just a surface look at it, that is required to really identify good and evil.
The word “good” here is interesting. It’s translated from the Greek kalos and it’s spelled or transliterated “k-a-l-o-s” and the word “evil” is translated from a Greek word kakos transliterated “k-a-k-o-s”. When we examine these two words side by side – kalos and kakos – we notice there’s only one character difference between them, otherwise they look the same. Oftentimes that’s the way situations are in life. Making the distinction between good and evil can be hard sometimes because evil disguises itself as good to intentionally deceive the undiscerning eye or at the least to confuse the naïve. That is why we must put on the light of the Word.
It’s so important to get to the Word itself — not opinions, the Word. What does the Word say? Talk about overcoming the world, wow! The worldly practices of top-down leadership or lording over God’s people as we saw in the first installment of apologia is not good. We learned how Jesus Christ from Luke 22:25-27, the Apostle Paul from 2 Corinthians 1:24 and the Apostle Peter from 1 Peter 5:1-3 noted the error of it, and the remedy to this worldly practice. Now, often God utilizes contrasts for us to understand things. He makes a point by setting two things side and side to make each stand out more clearly, like light and darkness, that’s easy to understand. He talks about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit. We are going to look at two records and see a contrast between them.
In the first Acts chapter 15, the apostles, as a group, were present, and the course of action that resulted is the Word was living and moving forward for all involved. The results were good. In the second record, Acts chapter 21, the apostles as a group were not present and the action taken resulted in the Word not living and moving, and the knowledge of grace through Christ, which is what Christianity is all about, was brushed aside. Evil took advantage and negative consequences resulted. We will clearly see in the Acts 21 record, Paul was actually controlled, he was told “Do what we say.” That’s another example of lording over God’s people.
Acts 15:1, 2: And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved [that is not true].
When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
Pretty neat. Now, I want to pay close attention to this phrase “apostles and elders.” It comes up five times in this record. Five times:
Here, in verse 2. Look at verse 4 please, you’ll see it again.
“And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles [plural] and elders…”
Now look at verse 6.
“And the apostles and elders…”
Now take a look at verse 22.
“Then pleased it the apostles and elders…”
And then finally, in verse 23.
“And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders…”
So there’s five times in this record that it comes up. The number five often is associated with the concept of grace in the Word. Grace through Christ versus the legalism and control of the law is what was at stake here. And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.
Sure, people are getting born again and receiving the gift of holy spirit, that’s fantastic! Everybody is excited about new people being won to the Word. And the people that were being won to Christ were not of Israel, they were Gentiles, representing all other nations. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.
Now I want to stop right here because this is very significant.
They were declaring what God had done with them. It wasn’t about them, it was about what God was doing! That is noteworthy. When we get excited about the things that are happening in our areas, in our fellowships, things like that, we want to tell people about it. We are excited about what God is doing in our lives and that we can do things with His involvement. We are excited to partner with God as fellow laborers. The key here is the word “with,” “that God had done with them.” This word “with” is a Greek preposition: meta. In this usage, it means “in association with” or denoting companionship.
Wow! Could you imagine being in association with God, being in companionship with God, partnering with God. Another way to express it is fellowship with God. They were demonstrating they had a relationship with God. This is what God really wants. God is more interested in what we do with Him, then even what we do for Him, because He wants to be involved. He’s the One that opens the eyes of our understanding, He’s the One that brings us comfort as the God of all comfort, He’s the One that brings peace as the God of peace into our heart. Jesus Christ is the way, but the way leads to God, the Father. God wants us to do things with Him.
When left unchecked, doing things for God can easily turn into works, to be accepted by God. You know, “I’m doing this for God.” And in and of itself, that’s not bad, but see, it can turn into doing them to be accepted by Him. But we’ve already been accepted by Him through the finished work of His Son. We are accepted by the accomplished work of Jesus Christ. That’s why there is no more work to be done to be accepted. Fantastic! Let’s keep reading.
Acts 15:5-9: But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders [there it is] came together for to consider of this matter [see, they considered it as a group]. And when there had been much disputing [In other words, everybody had input. That inclusivity is so important in how Christians should function], Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness giving them the Holy Ghost [holy spirt, that’s the gift], even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
That’s right, all Christians are equal in the eyes of God because of the work of Christ, which the Bible refers to as the faith of Christ. No one is above, no one is below, we all have Christ within. And we share the same faith, the faith of Jesus Christ. That’s really what the household means, we share the faith of Christ, or his accomplished work for our salvation as a family. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Sure. We all share the same faith of Jesus Christ: that’s the household. And he’s saying, “why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”
But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. Salvation is by grace. It’s unmerited divine favor; it’s nothing that we did. We believed on Jesus Christ, but he accomplished it for us. What a great truth! Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.
It was God that was at work in these situations. Then, the following verses note James who is presiding over this meeting, and he gives the direction based on all the input:
Acts 15:22, 23: Then pleased it the apostles and elders [there it is again] with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren, and they wrote letters by them after this manner; the apostles and elders [there is the final use of that phrase in this record] and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.
It’s neat that he called them the “brethren… of the Gentiles.” They knew that they were brothers and sisters in God’s family. God’s family, because of the work of Christ was greater than just those who were of lineage of Israel. Now it included all people who accepted Christ. They knew that they were brothers and sisters. It’s beautiful! Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
Now I want to point out something here in this verse 24, it says some “which went out from us have troubled you with words.” The word “troubled” is translated from the Greek word tarassō. This word tarassō means “to stir up, to agitate, to disturb by various emotions.” Well, this is contrary to what should have been done. When the apostles and the elders with the whole church agreed together, they gave their approval as the whole church to send written communication. This is Ephesians 4:3: “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
But these that had troubled them, what they caused was stirring up and agitation, and it means “to disturb by various emotions.” Once you get people stirred up or agitated by emotions, and fear gets in, then any distortion or perversion of the truth can be passed on. Even if something that people know is absolutely true and they hear it with their own ears and see it with their own eyes, if you get people emotionally whipped up enough, those who were convinced begin to consider and doubt the truth or reality of it. Today people call it “gaslighting” — where people endeavor to manipulate people through incessant verbal and mental abuse of something opposite to what they know is true or right. That’s not good. Paul notes this practice in the book of Galatians.
Galatians 1:6: I marvel [Paul marveled] that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.
Paul was marveling that they were moved away from the grace that’s in Christ Jesus. It says “another gospel” and the word “another” means when there’s only two involved. There’s the true gospel, the “good news” of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, and then there’s everything else. How did they manipulate people into this corner where what once they believed and stood firmly on as a conviction, simply collapsed and they went the opposite way? Galatians 1:7: Which is not another; but there be some [that’s people] that trouble [tarassō “to stir up, to agitate, to disturb by various emotions] you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
They stir up people’s emotions with words, with accusations, with threats or intimidation. What it leads to is to pervert the gospel. Pervert means “to turn or to change.” That’s where and how it’s done. It’s amazing. But you’ve got to get people stirred up; and even to the point where people who have walked and lived the Word together in harmony turn on each other as enemies.
Galatians 4:16: Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
How did that happen? Well, it starts with the emotions, intimidation, and finally control. People become objects to be controlled rather than children of God to be loved. Then those who endeavor to help them recover themselves by speaking the truth to them become the enemy. This is Satanic. Unity is not built by eliminating people. Unity is built one heart and one soul at a time, and anybody that does it knows the love and the labor that it takes. People take time to work with them. People are not just chess pieces on a board to be used strategically to further someone’s agenda. People take time to work with and a lot of patience. See, unity is built on the one calling we all share. And then with lowliness and meekness with longsuffering, and forbearing one another in love, we can endeavor to keep that unity, like Ephesians 4: 1-3 says. It takes a lot of love, a lot of forgiveness. It’s the same as when you build the “one flesh” relationship in marriage. It takes a lot of love and a lot of forgiveness. Even Jesus Christ, in dealing with Judas who betrayed him, forgave him. That’s love.
1 Corinthians 3:1,2: And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
Why were they not able? What was the indication that they were not able?
1 Corinthians 3:3-6: For ye are yet carnal [“Carnal” means they are still living exclusively by their five senses and not incorporating the spirit of God.]: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Wow! God is the one that causes His Word to grow in the heart of man through grace. It is achieved, whether a person or an organization, by partnering with God. During the American Civil War, it was reported that Abraham Lincoln was asked, whose side God was on. And I really appreciate his response. This is what Abraham Lincoln had supposedly said:
Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right. That’s the position to stand on. It’s not who is right, but what is right; and the Word is always right. See, when we focus on “Who is right?” or “Who do you stand with?”, that leads to focusing on people. The correct response is “We stand with God and with Him on His Word.”
That’s what’s right! Please turn back to Acts 16. We looked at Acts 15 and the Jerusalem council and that the apostles and the elders were present (and specifically, the apostles). Let’s look at the result of what they did. It is here in verse 4 of chapter 16 that the phrase Apostles and elders for the last time in the Book of Acts.
This is also noteworthy, Acts 16:4-5: And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders [there’s the ministries serving and working together] which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
Look at the result of that! There was an impasse in the church, the apostles were present to endorse this decision to give their input, and then BOOM! “… so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.” The outcome of the Acts 15 controversy and solution was the faith of Jesus Christ was established in the churches. They determined that the accomplished work of Christ through grace for all people was the right path God wanted them to be on. The path of adding another condition to salvation and acceptance of people by God was not right.
Wow! Yet we see conditions upon God’s acceptance and salvation other than the sacrifice of Christ placed on Christians all the time. Something is wrong with this picture of Christianity if we are saved by anything other than grace through Christ! Now let’s look at the contrast, in Acts 21 (this is several years later). We know from the record, Paul really shouldn’t have gone to Jerusalem. God didn’t want him to go, the household told him, and there was even a prophet that came and told him that he shouldn’t go to Jerusalem. But he went anyway. We shouldn’t look down upon Paul too much for his decision though because we have all been guilty at one time or another doing something God warned us not to do, or not doing something God told us to do. There is a lesson here but not any ammunition to be critical. Now let’s see the response from Jerusalem and the leadership there in the church. And the day following Paul went in with us [which would have included Luke] unto James; and all the elders were present.
Now it doesn’t say “the apostles.” It just says “James; and all the elders.” Now James was a leader in the Church no question about it. He wrote the book of James. “… and all the elders were present”. But where are the apostles? They’re noticeably missing. How interesting. Now we don’t know what happened, the Word doesn’t tell us. But we do know they are not mentioned, and God has a specific reason when He states or does not state something in His Word. So, it is noteworthy in this record where Paul goes to Jerusalem, it is the last time the word “disciple” is used. There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple [that’s the last occurrence in the Book of Acts], with whom we should lodge.
God doesn’t bring up the word “disciple,” a disciplined follower, anymore. How interesting. And in this record the apostles are not present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Now that’s what we want to talk about. What is God doing in people’s lives? Look at the deliverance that God is bringing to people. We’re after what God is at work doing. We are interested in what He wants. So this is what they declared, and look at the response.
Acts 21:20-22: And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews [those Israel] there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law. And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
What is it, therefore the multitude must – needs – to come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
Here it is, here’s the contrast to “what things God had wrought.” Do therefore this that we say to thee [“Do what we say.”]: … Wow, what a contrast between what God had wrought and now “Do what we say.” And then they give Paul an assignment to engage in legalistic standards to endorse the law. This is top-down leadership, right here, when a deeper understanding of the grace of God through the faith of Christ is knocking at their door. Paul was ready to deliver the knowledge of this grace. What had God wrought? See by this time, the apostle Paul had already written 1 and 2 Thessalonians, he’d written the Book of Romans, he’d written 1 and 2 Corinthians and Galatians. They’d all been written, it was out there for people to understand, and Paul was ready to deliver these truths regarding the revelation of the mystery of Christ and the church, as much as he understood up to that point — certainly, Christ in you the hope of glory.
Wow! And yet they wanted him to do this: “Do what we say.” This is what we are talking about, to isolate and control. You know, it says in Romans 10:4 (which Paul had already written at this point): “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Paul never should have carried out what they were telling him to do because this was about isolation and control.
Galatians 4:17 (Amplified Classic): These men [the Judaizing teachers] are zealously trying to dazzle you [paying court to you, making much of you], but their purpose is not honorable or worthy of for any good. What they want to do is to isolate you [from us who oppose them], so that they may win you over to their side and get you to court their favor.
These Judaizing teachers are the ones who were troubling the Galatians and perverting the gospel of grace by requiring Paul to “do what we say.” “Doing what I say” is the control — top-down leadership — as opposed to doing what the Word says and highlighting what God has done. That’s the contrast. A grace era minister only wants people to do what the Word says. He or she is not authorized by God to control people—work with them, love them, encourage them, be a helper of their joy, yes. Now to reiterate the contrast with these two records, what is a key missing piece between Acts 15 and Acts 21? The key missing piece is the apostles are noticeably not present in Acts 21, and the results speak for themselves.
On the heels of Paul following through with what he was told to do, he is imprisoned for several years. God still took care of him, and he was productive for the Lord, but certainly Paul being held by the Roman authorities and hindered from traveling to minister freely was not God’s will. The grace of God through the faith of Christ is tremendous, and this is what we want to steward, live, and teach. For many Christians it is still a mystery on how to implement faith practically. Simply, it is living in the moment with our negative past forgiven through the crucifixion and our future set-in glory through the resurrection, leaving our focus on living newness of life now in the present moment. Christ in each believer gives us the advantage over the world. God can work in each believer; He can communicate directly to each of us. That is fantastic! This is part of the benefit of being a member of the body of Christ.
Isaiah 54:13: And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
When God is teaching us and opening the eyes of our understanding, when He’s involved in the depth of our heart, we will have great peace. He’s the One that’s showing us, He’s the One that’s involved deeply in our lives. It’s what God wrought that we’re interested in. Living and sharing the Word is simple, though sometimes challenging. It’s about meeting needs of the people with love and the Word. Answers from the Scriptures help people move ahead. When people’s needs are met, the Word will move forward and continue to reach others. The gifts of God’s grace in service working together help catalyze the process. Then what happens is that the saints rise up and contribute to the work of the ministry, and further, they develop their contributions via the spirit and build the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11, 12: And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers [all are noted in the plural]; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
The word “perfecting” is in the sense of mending the saints in their lifestyle of newness of life. Filling in those gaps they need so that when they go into the bounty of God’s abundance, they get a full haul of all God is offering. As needs are met, people want to know “What can I do?” They just want to serve. Then the work of the ministry flows right into that. And when the work of the ministry is accomplished and developed and advanced, then it leads to the edifying of the body of Christ where individual contributions via the spirit all come together beautifully to build the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:13-16: Till we all come in the unity of the faith [the family faith], and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
That we henceforth be no more children [children spiritually, not in age], tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. From whom [Christ] the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
It’s not one, two, three, or four people, but everybody is working together. And it’s done in love, with tenderness and forgiveness. Everyone is important; each can put on the mind of Christ because each has Christ in them the hope of glory. And this is what needs to be taught and lived.
Christianity is not about positions or titles, but about God’s family utilizing the spiritual abilities God has given each of us. This is what keeps the unity among us, not who is right. God and His Word are right. So you might ask, “What is next?” Well, there are so many God- inspired ideas (even technologies and avenues) to pursue these days and such things can help us move the ministry of Christ forward and reach those that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Moving ahead together with grace as faith-filled believers leads to success. The mystery of Christ and the church needs to live in local areas, and most significantly in Christian leaders—anyone who moves with God and sets a good example and pace for others to follow. And as everyone sees the truth of this and embraces this, it will be one voice that will speak, to unleash the amazing potential latent in the lives and the hearts of God’s people.
That’s the one accord of the Book of Acts. If the Word shared and what’s been said makes sense to you, here’s some practical things we can do:
1. Speak up if inspired when we come across legalism that contradicts grace. Be very kind and loving and clear, but firm. Let people know what you know, as you are inspired to do so. God will work in you to will and to do of His good pleasure.
2. Require a biblical answer to your questions to the end that you are satisfied. It’s simple. If anyone asserts anything, ask them, “Can you show me the chapter and verse, please? So, I can understand.” That’s an honest and biblical way to approach an impasse among Christians.
3. Prove the Word to yourself. Romans 12:2 says that we should prove that perfect and acceptable will of God. Acts 17:11, talking about the Bereans, states: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
4. Review 1 Corinthians 13 on the love of God. Because we harbor no ill towards anyone. No bitterness, no anger, no. Just the love of God.
5. Pray abundantly. And open your heart to God, He listens.
God says in Isaiah 46:10: Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.
God knows the end of a matter from the beginning. He knows what has transpired in your life and mine. He already knows what’s going to happen. That’s why we can be at peace and at rest. We don’t need to be agitated because God is involved and His counsel shall stand. He will do what His pleasure is.
Isaiah 55:11: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void [empty], but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
God’s Word will prosper because it is His Word. And it won’t return to God empty, but it will accomplish what pleases Him and prosper where He sends it. The knowledge of the grace of God through Christ, where no one is above one another is the Word to our day and time. We each have the same measure of faith and the measure of the gift of Christ. We are all unique members in the body of Christ. All of us are needed. All of us have contributions. All of us have been called of God. This is the truth of God’s Word that guide our conduct each day.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love, thank You for Your grace, Your mercy, and Your peace. And Father, we lift to You the hearts of Your people, and thank You for Your blessing, and Your wisdom, and Your guidance to continue to prosper our way in the wonderful and the powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen. God bless you!
Scripture References
Psalms 119:105; Hebrews 4:12; Proverbs 3:5; Hebrews 5:14; Luke 22:25-27; 2 Corinthians 1:24; 1 Peter 5:1-3; Acts 21; Acts 15:1; Acts 15:5-9; Acts 15:22; Ephesians 4:3; Galatians 1:6; Galatians 1:7; Galatians 4:16; Ephesians 4; 1 Corinthians 3:1; 1 Corinthians 3:3-6; Acts 16; Acts 15; Acts 16:4-5; Acts 21:20-22; Romans 10:4; Galatians 4:17; Isaiah 54:13; Ephesians 4:11; Ephesians 4:13-16; Romans 12:2; Acts 17:11; 1 Corinthians 13; Isaiah 46:10; Isaiah 55:11
This text was prepared from the teaching audio and notes. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
