Scott Moore: Welcome to the "Building Faith and Family" podcast with Steve Demme. I'm your host, Scott Moore. Thanks for joining us today. Good morning, Steve. How are you today?

Steve: Better.

Scott: That's good.

Steve: You're supposed to say better than what?

Scott: Yeah. What was worse?

Steve: Five days ago, my granddaughters were over. In the afternoon, they prevailed upon me to play foursquare in the driveway. I didn't have any shoes or socks on, so on my bare feet I went out to the driveway and noticed little sticks and debris.

I got my cool cordless leaf blower. I was blowing off all the stuff, and it started to drizzle a little bit. I thought, "Ah, it’s just rain, I'll keep at it," but then the rain came hard. I made my way quickly into the garage, and my feet went right out from under me and I landed on the leaf blower...

Scott: Oh, no.

Steve: I lay there. I could hardly get up. It hurt. I went in. I got my computer out, and I started looking up how you know if you have broken ribs. My wife was taking a little nap, and she woke up and observed my discomfort.

She said, "You need to go to urgent care." I said, "OK." I went to urgent care, which was funny too because they asked me if I had an appointment. I said, “Urgent care?”

The receptionist said, "Well, you can make an appointment." I said, "Oh, I wasn't aware of that. But the people that are scheduled for 04:00 ‑ this was 03:58 ‑ are not here yet." I said, "What's the chances?" She says, "Well, let's start your intake."

Anyway, I got in right away. The guy looked at me and he started poking around and said, you need to go to the hospital and get a CAT scan because you may have broken ribs, which could puncture your lung or liver, and there's no way to tell.

I went to the hospital and spent the next five hours while they did a CAT scan and found no punctures. They had to do some kind of thing where they put in a dye to see whether there's any blood oozing out the other places. But you're going to have several weeks of pain. Nothing you can do about it.

Scott: So you did break a rib?

Steve: No. bruised...

Scott: All right. Wow.

Steve: But, people began to pray. I sent the word out to some groups. Yesterday, I was heading to the pharmacy to pick up some blood pressure meds, and I had put Biofreeze on my side, and it was helping. Then this thought came to me from God. I wonder if they have some kind of a spray that you can spray on wounds or pain or ribs or whatever.

Scott: They do.

Steve: Well and this is what happened. I got to the pharmacy, and I said, "You don't have any kind of spray, do you?" I looked down, and there's this little pamphlet, for "miracle spray."

I asked the Pharmacist what he thought about the stuff, and he said, "We really like this. We've been using it." He said to me, "Go try it. There's a test bottle." So I pulled up my shirt and I sprayed it on it. It's eucalyptus oil and peppermint oil and spearmint oil or something. I've been doing it ever since, and it really helps.

The second thing that happened when I went to my chiropractor later that day for my knees, and I told him what was going on. He offered laser therapy. For those of you that are wondering if I'm a nut, you're probably right. But I felt like those were answers to prayer because I'm feeling pretty good right now.

I mean, it still hurts. I thought I was going to be an invalid for about a month because those first couple days were tough. On Sunday I limped into church, because Johnny was desperate to go. Monday, I wasn't much good, and we postponed the podcast on Tuesday because just getting out of bed was tough.

Scott: Well, you're doing better. Praise the Lord.

Steve: Oh, yeah. I'm of good courage. It still hurts and I'm trying not to do too much.

Scott: Yeah. That could have gone sideways about 10 different ways and been much worse. Those falls are scary, man.

Steve: It is. There's a saying. It's not in the scripture, but it's accurate. The bigger you are, the harder you fall. When you're two foot two and weigh 20 pounds, a fall is a piece of cake. You bounce right up. But when you're an eighth of a ton and you fall on a big square lawn leaf blower, that hurts.

Scott: How'd the leaf blower fare?

Steve: It's in good shape.

Scott: That's a tough leaf blower, man.

Steve: It leads into our discussion today because you remember what happened when Peter was thrown into prison, the people prayed, and then God miraculously released him. Peter comes to the house and knocks on the door.

That little girl was so excited to hear him. She left him at the door. Then she goes and tells them, “Peter's here.” And they say, yeah, right. It pays to pray. Let's pray now.

"Father, thank You for helping me, and thank You. I really believe these things, these remedies, these helps yesterday were ordained by You because You put the thought in my mind. I asked the questions, people were offering, and I appreciate all these different answers to prayer. I appreciate You hearing prayer and answering for me, and thank You for the relief that I'm experiencing." In Jesus' name. Amen.

Scott: Amen.

Steve: I smell good now. I smell like eucalyptus and peppermint and spearmint.

Last time, we talked about this word, proskartereō which is used a couple of times in the Bible, and we read through many of them.

I'm not going to redo it, but you remember in Acts 6 when they were talking about taking care of the widows, "The 12 apostles summoned the congregation and said, 'You guys pick out seven men, but we will, proskartereō, ‘steadfastly devote’ ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.'"

That's the same word that's used in Acts 2, in Peter's sermon right after Pentecost. It says, "They devoted themselves, proskartereō, to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers."

I don't know about you, but I always had the impression of Peter as an unlettered fisherman, a rough and ready guy, who speaks his mind. He puts his foot in his mouth several times. He also makes some wonderful declarations of faith.

When Peter is there, everybody knows that Peter's there. My emulation for him is increasing steadily. I'd like to look again at something about Peter and then his sermon in Acts 2.

In Acts 4 ‑‑ I'm going ahead a couple of chapters to get a little background. This is when they had wonderful healing, and Peter and John had been taken into prison. On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem. Annas, the high priest, was there, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and all who were of high priestly descent.

These are the blue bloods. When they had placed him in the center, they began to inquire, "By what power or in what name have you done this?"

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, Whom you crucified, Whom God raised from the dead, by this name, this man stands here before you in good health."

"He is the Stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the Chief Cornerstone. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

He's quoting several Old Testament references; the stone, the cornerstone, NS salvation. These men knew their bibles. These were the people of high priestly descent, the rulers, the elders, the scribes, all gathered together. Peter stood up and gave them a Bible lesson.

This is what they said. "Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus." I got goosebumps reading that.

These men had been with Jesus. These men were filled with the Holy Spirit, and these men had been devoting themselves (proskartereō) to prayer and the Word. They were doing their homework. They were digging deep into the Word.

With that background, lets reexamine Acts 2, the last couple verses. Peter quotes from Psalm 16, which says, "I have set Jehovah always before me because He is at my right hand. I shall not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices. My flesh also dwells secure. For You will not abandon my soul to shield or let Your Holy One see corruption." This passage is quoted in his sermon.

He also quotes from Joel 2. "It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions even on the male and female servants. In those days, I will pour out My Spirit, and I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke."

"The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and awesome day of Jehovah comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, there shall be those who escape, as Jehovah has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom Jehovah calls."

He reads those passages almost verbatim. Then he makes a reference to David's son being placed on the throne, which comes from two places. Psalm 89. "I have made a covenant with My chosen one. I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your offspring forever."

And Psalm 132, "Jehovah swore to David a sure oath from which He will not turn back, one of the sons of your body I will set on your throne." He also makes reference to Psalm 110:1. "Jehovah says to my Lord, sit at My right hand until I make your enemies your footstool."

Then he says in Acts 2:39, "The promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord your God calls to Himself." He references Isaiah 44:3, where he says, "I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour up My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants."

He's also quoting from Genesis 12:3, "I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed."

I want to reinforce this point, for Peter, in his first sermon after Pentecost, quotes from Psalms, from Isaiah, and from Joel. Peter knew his Bible. He may have been unlearned and unlettered. He may not have any degrees from the Pharisees' universities. He may have not have sat like Paul did with Gamaliel, but Peter knew his Bible.

I don't know how much he knew before he started being filled with the Spirit and spending time with Jesus. The Pharisees noticed that Peter and John had been with Jesus. We know he was filled with the Spirit. My point is, they didn't wing it. They were devoting themselves ‑‑ steadfastly devoting themselves ‑‑ to prayer and the ministry of the Word. They had been doing their homework.

Lets go back to Acts 2, "With many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them." Then in verse 41, this is a great expression, "Those who received His word." Now, if you remember, Stephen speaking in Acts 7 is going to say, "You stiff‑necked, hard‑hearted, you did always reject," etc. These were hard‑hearted, stiff‑necked people who were rejecting His Word, but these people were different.

It says, "They received His word." They were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. They received His word. That expression touched me this morning, and I started digging into it. It turns out that that word is only used about seven times and it's apodechomai, apo means ‘from’ and dechomai means ‘to receive’ or ‘to welcome’.

When you put it together, it means to receive gladly or gladly welcome. These people gladly welcomed Peter's words. They were baptized. I want to dig a little bit more. Apo means from, and the word dechomai means received, which is used over 50 times, and it means to receive heartily.

I'm going to read a couple verses where it is used. Luke 2, "When Jesus came back to Galilee, the crowd received and welcomed Him gladly, for they were all waiting and looking for Him." So when you see this word dechomai, apodechomai, it's to receive happily, heartily, a glad reception.

Matthew 10:38‑40, Jesus uses this word several times in a couple verses. "He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me." 

I know there are people that are little upset that we use this expression, "receive Jesus," because they said, no. It's repent and believe. That's all there is. Repent and believe. I get that, and I understand what they're trying to say. However, Scripture does use this expression. “He who receives you receives Me. He who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

There's a part where, yes, we have to repent. Yes, we have to believe. That's a part of the gospel, but we also have to have give a glad reception and gladly and heartily welcome His Word, which is what these people did when they heard Peter talking. They were convicted. They said, "What shall we do?"

Scott: And there's also, “yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”

Steve: Absolutely. Here's another one, which really is our topic in a sense. James 1:21‑22. "Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all the remains of wickedness, (we could say, repent) in humility, receive heartily the implanted word which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the Word and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

We want to receive gladly with soft hearts, with humility, with a spirit of repentance, and turning away from evil. When we receive His Word, then steadfastly devote ourselves to the apostle's teaching.

If you're listening to the apostle's teaching and you're listening to Peter, you are getting a Bible class. It is Old Testament 101.

This is what the people did, and I don't know how they did it because we know that they didn't have the Bible for quite a few years, but we do know that there were letters being passed around between the churches that Peter wrote and that Paul wrote and that John wrote, but this was a little bit later.

Right away, they were devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, prayers, fellowship, breaking of bread, and that's why they grew, and that's why they multiplied, and that's why they thrived. They devoted themselves to reading and studying the Word.

Because I read my Bible through every year, when I'm reading Acts 2 I know that he's quoting from these passages because I read these passages annually. I know that he's quoting from Joel, and I know he's quoting from the Psalms. I recognize them.

This morning, I went back and documented it to get the exact ones, but we have to give ourselves steadfastly to reading His Word and not five minutes before we go to bed or two minutes when we wake up or put something on the refrigerator, but we have to make this a priority. This is it. “Heaven and earth are going to pass away, but My Words are going to endure forever.”

This is the language of heaven, and this is the language of the Spirit. The Spirit can quicken these verses to us when we need them if we've been steadfastly devoting ourselves to the study of His Word.

That's why, for me, to steadfastly, diligently devote myself to His Word, I have to follow a chart to keep me going. If not, I would probably make it through two‑thirds of the bible every year, and then I'd have feel condemned and blah blah blah. 

I'm going to follow the chart. I need a schedule, and that schedule has helped me over and over and over. So, what do you have to say there, brother?

Scott: Well, that's one of those things where, it almost doesn't even matter what your motives are. Even if you're grinding it out because you feel like you need to, if you're getting more of God's Word in you, that's still a good thing.

Steve: Amen. I quit worrying about long time ago whether I'm being legalistic or religious or blah blah blah. I'm doing it. Read the book!!!

Scott: That was a very immature concern I had when I first heard about scripture memory. I was like, well, that sounds like a very religious thing to do.

Scott: Then I started doing it and was like, wow, that's actually really helpful. I heard somebody describe it once as like the it's kind of like loading your gun with bullets, you know? You've got lots more ammo when you've gotten the Word into your heart and mind. Then the Holy Spirit can call verses to mind when needed.

Steve: Amen. To me, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word. I eat pretty much every day. Although I'm starting to incorporate fasting into my lifestyle. I eat and I drink, and I don't need to pray about those things. I'm hungry.

I noticed so much of a difference when I eat His Word and when I spend time in it, and I do it regularly, like I have to eat regularly.

Reading God’s Word has born such good fruit, and as I prepared for this session, I felt a rekindling, you might say, a reviving to even steadfastly devote myself more to His Word. I had a wonderful time this morning preparing for this and going into the Greek, and we have so many resources at our fingertips that I'm very grateful for.

"Father, thank you for these first disciples who received Your Word eagerly. They were happy to receive it. They were convicted, but they were also happy, and they heartily welcomed what Peter had to say. I pray that You will help me to heartily welcome Your Word when You speak to me, either by Your Spirit, through Your Word, or through other believers."

"Thank You for Peter's set of soul. Thank You for this unlettered and unlearned fisherman that you transformed and made him an apostle. I pray that You'll transform us today from Your Word and from Your Spirit." In Jesus' name. Amen.

Scott: Amen. That's our show for this week, folks. Thanks for joining us for the Building Faith and Family podcast with Steve Demme. If you have a question for the show, email Steve at spdemme@Gmail.com. Thanks for joining us. Have a great week.