April 8, 2007
Scripture:
Ministry:
Go back to Psalm 23 for just a brief moment. We know that this psalm is the center of a triplet: psalms 22, 23, and 24. Psalm 22, we know, show the Good Shepherd giving His life for us. We read v. 1 of Psalm 23; this is the Great Shepherd. Psalm 24 is a picture of His Millennial reign, and He is the Chief Shepherd. The Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd—what a Shepherd He is! In Psalm 22, after crying out to God, we have, in v. 22, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.” In Psalm 22, the Lord leads the praises. We trust that this is what has taken place this morning as we have gathered. In Psalm 23, which starts on earth and ends in heaven, He is leading the flock. Psalm 24 says twice, “Who is this King of glory?” As we said, this is a picture of His Millennial reign, where He leads His people, and all the other nations fall under Him. What a Shepherd! And how precious is the place where our lot is cast. As we read in our center Psalm, we are on the way to Glory. How we worship that precious Shepherd!
EG Hymn 330 – A message came from Heaven Prayer • I’d like to begin, Lord willing, to look at a few stories from the book of Acts. Acts is the only book of history in the New Testament; it is stories about the early church. We learn in chapter 1:4 that the disciples were waiting for the fulfillment of a promise. The Lord mentions that promise in Luke 24:49, when He tells them to wait for it in Jerusalem. What is this promise? We find this in John 14:16. It is another comforter, the Holy Spirit as we learn in vv. 25 & 26. The Holy Spirit is the third Person in the Trinity. So let’s turn back to Acts 2 and see how this promise was fulfilled. Read Acts 2:1–13. After these verses, Peter tells the people that these men weren’t drunk, but were filled with the Holy Spirit; this had been prophesied by Joel hundreds of years before. The Holy Spirit was not another person, like the Lord had been, but was within them, I Corinthians 3:16. When this happened, they spoke in tongues, so that everyone who heard could understand in their own language. So what did the Holy Spirit do for them? More importantly, what does it do for us? John 14:26 says He will teach us the scriptures. He will be our guide, telling us what to do and where to go. It is God’s spirit that lives in us and He wants to direct us. So that is how the book of Acts begins; and, Lord willing, we will see some of the exciting stories that follow.
Hebrews 13:20–25 • Last week we were talking about being made perfect; we saw that this was to do the Lord’s will. This is part of what we had with the children today, the Holy Spirit lives “working in [them] that which is wellpleasing,” (v. 21.) We talk about the power of the Spirit of God, and we can see that here. When you look at all the requirements of a Christian, you could get overwhelmed; but we don’t have to do that in our own strength. Read Ephesians 1:17–20. Notice that in v. 17, He is called “the spirit of wisdom.” The Holy Spirit has many different titles in the Bible and this is one. V. 19 tells us about the power of God: it is an exceeding great power, a mighty power. When was this power manifest? You would think it would be at creation, when God’s spirit spoke the universe into existence. But as fantastic as that was, it is not then. It was at the resurrection of Christ. When all the powers of Hell combined to try to keep the Lord dead, the mighty power of the Spirit of God brought Him out of the grave. That was the greatest manifestation of the greatest power. But the key for us is in the middle of v. 19: “to us-ward who believe.” This power is available to us. Philippians 2:12–13 tells us to work out our own salvation; can we really do that? This is where that power comes in. The question is, how can we make this a working proposition in our lives? It is occupation with the word, through the Spirit, that will work in us “that which is wellpleasing in his sight” (Hebrews 13:21). But we must get involved in this. William Carey was a missionary to India; he went through many trials and difficulties throughout his life. In his time, the trip from England to India could only be taken by boat and was a five-month voyage. Yet when he got to India, there was no mission station waiting for him; he had to find a way to earn a living for himself and his family. He couldn’t speak the language, and when he did learn something, no one would talk to him, because of the strict caste system. For the first year-and-a-half, he had no converts at all. He was often sick; his wife went insane and one of his children died. There were times that he would wish for just someone to talk to. But he said, “I thank God, when I open my Bible, I can forget it all in the enjoyment of the Lord.” That sums up what we have said perfectly. Now v. 22; we don’t find such tenderness as this coming from Mt. Sinai. But here he is encouraging the Hebrews. He tells them to suffer, or bear, the word of exhortation. Exhortations are practical, and they usually make us do something; we have seen many in Hebrews, as well as other types of words (warning, comforts, devotional, and so on). The writer is asking his readers to accept these exhortations, even though that may not always be easy. EG Hymn 234 – Saviour, lead me lest I stray, Prayer