Gems from Acts 8

Acts 8:30 - "And Philip ran thither to him..." He ran...he actually RAN! Can you imagine? A grown man sprinting across the desert... :D

And I thought, Do I have the same sense of urgency? I remember seeing some in my canvassing team a few years ago who actually would RUN from house to house, with that heavy canvassing bag! I remember thinking to myself, How do they do that?! They had that sense of urgency, that divine unction.

Acts 8:37 - "...And he [the eunuch] answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." And he was baptized.

You know, I've heard this verse used a lot among the conventional Christian world. They say, "See, all you have to do is believe!" For a while, this puzzled me, too. Why, throughout the book of Acts especially, does it seem like so little was required for one to become a Christian and be baptized? What about all the other important doctrines that we teach before baptism today?

This time, it finally hit me. That was their "present truth" - that Jesus was the Son of God. It was unpopular. In fact, many lost their lives because of that profession. Keep in mind, too, that - especially in the beginning of the apostles' ministry - most of their converts were Jews. They already knew the doctrines. They were only lacking Christ.

To claim the same "present truth" today - to require only that people profess belief that Jesus is the Son of God - would not require any real sacrifice. It has become the popular, accepted belief in mainline churches. We need to go deeper. The Three Angels' Messages - the Sanctuary message - the anti-typical Day of Atonement - the Sabbath truth, and how it relates to the Mark of the Beast, etc. - this is our "present truth". Does that mean we should abandon the "present truth" of yesteryears? By all means, no! All present truth builds on the foundation of present truth that has come before. The Three Angels' Messages would have no impetus without preaching Christ as its center. Likewise for all the other messages we preach.

Anyways, sorry to get all preachy, but I'm excited. :) Now I finally have a totally logical answer to those "just believe" objections, without having to just scramble around from verse to verse and put puzzle pieces together. (Though of course that definitely has its place, too!)