Mount Pleasant Baptist Church

  Daily Nugget: Throughout the Gospels, and up to this point in Acts, most of the opposition Christians faced came from “religious” people. Here in this chapter, the enemy is clearly from the other, irreligious side. The antagonist was Barjesus. The name meant “son of Jesus” or “son of Joshua.” However, he used the name Elymas, which meant “wizard.” Being that this sorcerer was a Jew (Acts 13:6), he probably had some biblical training. If he did, he knew that sorcery was sinful (I Sam. 15:23, II Chron. 33:6), yet, he pursued that wickedness even though he knew God hated it. To make matters worse, this male witch tried diligently to keep someone from being saved (Acts 13:6-7). Even today, there are some cases where someone stands for some Christian principle but is opposed by a person claiming he also is a Christian. As in the past, their “religion” does not seem to interfere with some people’s ungodly thinking and actions. I have asked myself repeatedly, “How...

Daily Nugget: Peter’s future did not look too promising as he lay in a dark, dank prison cell. Acts 12 describes his unpleasant position further by detailing that he was chained to guards on either side of him, was unclothed, was locked in a prison with security outside his chamber, and was facing a death sentence from Herod. No one would ever have suspected he was leaving that jail alive. Then a hopeful word came into the story. It is a word that usually indicates that things are going to change. The word is “but” (Acts 12:5), and Peter’s situation did change. Things changed for Peter’s imprisonment because prayers got God involved. The impossible wasmade possible. Guards were not disturbed; however, Peter’s shackles fell off, an angel got involved, and prison doors flung open on their “own” account. Out Peter walked, a free man! Just as things were changed for Peter when others started praying, things can change today when God’s people start praying. God's answering prayer has ...

  Daily Nugget: Peter understood the message that God made salvation available to all, including the Gentiles. However, those around him did not. Peter explained to the other apostles and disciples how God had shown him His plan in Peter’s trance (Acts 10). When it was all explained, the others then understood. It always helps to hear the other side of a matter before making a judgment. The “other side” helped them see that God was working in the Gentiles, also. In his explanation (Acts 11:15), Peter told fellow Christians that, “… the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.” That encouraged the others that the same power God gave the Jews was also made available to any that would believe in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. The same encouragement can also be received when we realize that the Holy Ghost that was available in Peter’s day is alive and available to work in believers today. Although we may not have all the sign gifts they had in that dispensati...

Daily Nugget: Although not commanded by Scripture, Jews in the early church were avoiding non-Jews. The gentiles were labeled as spiritually “unclean” by unscriptural “laws” the Jews had added. However, God still wanted the gentiles to have the opportunity to hear about Jesus and to be able to accept His gift of eternal life. For this change in “law” to take place, God used Peter. Peter was allowed to go into a trance (Acts 10:10). In that state, he was told three times to eat something that scriptural laws forbade him to eat. After responding “no” in his trance, Peter finally got the understanding that God said it was okay. The disciple quickly realized that God was telling him through circumstances involving a gentile, Cornelius. He understood when God “cleans” something, it is clean (Acts 10:14). A little light went on in Peter’s mind, and he understood the connection God was showing him between the trance and this Gentile that was sincerely seeking the Lord. Peter understood ...

Daily Nugget: From time to time, when talking to people about salvation, it has come up that some are convinced that their sins are so great that there is no hope of their getting saved. I immediately retell the story about Saul, found in this chapter, to show them there is still hope for them. When the first martyr for the cause of Christ, Stephen, died, young Saul held the coats (Acts 7:58) of angry Jews as they hurled stones at the man of God. Saul saw the great peace in Stephen’s face and his demeanor as he calmly fell asleep while the irritated mob did their worst against the man. Later, Saul thought he was serving God and pursued Christians throughout the land, seized them, and had them thrown in jail. Perhaps, he was even inspired to attack Christianity because of what he had seen done to Stephen. Christian believers soon were petrified at Saul's name, as his reputation of apprehending and slaughtering believers (Acts 9:1) spread. God saw what the Jewish zealot ...

Daily Nugget: Philip was given a command by an angel to go south (Acts 8:26). Without receiving any other details, the man of God obediently went. After thirty miles or so, he encountered a lone chariot riding in the desert. As he got closer, he saw it was an African man being chauffeured in a chariot. Running to keep up with the traveler, Philip overheard the man who “just happened” to be reading Isaiah 53:7 at the time. As any alert soul-winner would surmise, Philip knew that the timing was of God. It was the perfect opportunity to tell the Ethiopian eunuch about the One that was prophesied about in the Scripture. The preacher then asked lead-in question considering the soul-winning opportunity he had; “… Understandest thou what thou readest?” The answer was too good for any soul-winner to resist: “… How can I, except some man should guide me? …” That man’s answer should be the driving force of any Sunday school teacher, preacher, or faithful soul-winner. His response is why most c...

Daily Nugget: Continuing from the previous chapter, Stephen was persecuted by religious Jews and their leaders. He turned their time of questioning him into an opportunity to preach to them. He started by preaching a condensed history of the Jews. I am sure all that were listening were agreeing with him as Stephen gave a brief synopsis of their Jewish past, starting with Abraham. Heads may have been nodding as he progressed through the experiences of Joseph, Moses, and David. All must have been in agreement as he spoke of David and Solomon. Then Stephen’s history lesson ceased, and he got to the reason for his reviewing the great prophets and leaders of the Jews. Stephen reminded them that the Jews had persecuted all the prophets of the past (Acts 7:51-52) and, because of their hardened hearts, were not even obeying the law that they were given. I can imagine for a brief minute, heads stopped nodding, and a silence came over the crowd. After that brief silent...

Daily Nugget: In Acts chapter 6, we find an early church growing by leaps and bounds. It was flourishing so much that the twelve apostles could not meet the needs of all their congregation. They needed help, so they chose seven more to assist them. One of the seven was Stephen. It was not long until Stephen was allowing himself to be used by the Holy Spirit. God was using him to do great and marvelous things (Acts 6:8). Soon, success stirred up animosity from the “religious” crowd (Acts 6:9-14). Priests, the intellectual scribes, and others expressed their outrage against Stephen. Arguing against him ensued. False witnesses stood against the servant of God, accusing him of things he had not done. The unrighteous religious were at it again — trying to silence someone trying to do something for God. Why did it happen? The Bible does not clarify other than to say that Stephen’s wisdom was too great for them to understand (Acts 6:10). I would not be surprised that conviction from what S...