August 26, 2007
Scripture:
I Peter 1:18 & 19—Our first hymn reminded us that the Lamb who was slain was the Lamb on high. Here we find the Lamb was slain. In Revelation 5:6–14, we find that the Lamb was raised on high.
Children’s Meeting—Philip Burgess
EG Hymn 324 – Into the tent where a gypsy boy lay,
Prayer
We’re back to the book of Acts, chapter 8. What city have the stories we’ve had so far taken place in? In Jerusalem. At the end of chapter 7, we saw how Stephen was stoned. V. 1 of our chapter tells us that Saul was at Stephen’s death and agreed with it. He started a great persecution—which is punishment for what you believe—against the Christians and many of them left Jerusalem to go throughout Judea and Samaria. V. 2 tells that men buried Stephen. Then Saul began to wreak havoc among the church, v. 3, taking many of them to prison. So as we said, the church scattered, but they were not quiet; they preached the Word wherever they were. Read vv. 5 & 6. Philip was one of the young men chosen along with Stephen in chapter 6; he went to the city of Samaria to preach and perform miracles. As we see from verse 8, the result was great joy in Samaria. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard what was going on, they sent Peter and John to help, v. 14. After a while, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching in all the cities along the way. Then in v. 26, the Spirit told Philip to go to the desert. Read vv. 27 & 28; when he got there, he met a man who worked for the Queen of Ethiopia coming back from Jerusalem. This man had been to Jerusalem to worship, but likely he had not found what he was looking for; he did get a scroll, part of the prophet Isaiah. Philip—who was probably wondering why God had taken him from Samaria, where many were responding to the gospel, to a desert with hardly anybody—heard the Spirit say, “Go near”; so Philip came up to the chariot and asked the man if he understood what he read. Philip was able to help this man understand what he was reading, be saved, and then baptized. The man went on his way rejoicing and the Spirit caught Philip away to preach in many cities along the way to Caesarea. How thankful we can be for salvation!
Reading Meeting
I Peter 2:1–25
This chapter starts with a “wherefore”; that connects what we just read with what we had in chapter 1. The key thought at the end of chapter 1 was that we have been born again. We have a new life and a new nature. This is what was going on in Acts 8. And the Eunuch: he had a piece of God’s word and God used it to reach a man who was very ignorant spiritually; the last verse of chapter 1 explains this. But there are some things we need to get rid of; that’s what v. 1 is all about. Even though we get a new life and nature when we are saved, we still have an old nature too. We can’t kill it, but we should hold it in a place of death; we need to lay aside the character of that nature. We have 5 characteristics of our old nature here: first is malice, which is wrong intentions or ill will. In this list, the word all is used three times, and this is one of them. It gives a sense of complete laying aside. All these are in our old nature and we can see them clearly in the world. The next item is guile. There was no guile in the Lord. Guile is being deceitful, insincere, very much like Jacob. The opposite is being transparent. Number 3 is hypocrisies, which is not only pretending to be what you are not, but also hiding what you are. In the gospels, the Pharisees showed religion but were corrupt in their minds. Next is envy, coveting what someone else has. The final item is “all evil speaking.” How we need to be on guard! These things speak to us; may we be given grace to lay aside such characteristics of the old nature. The chapter continues to say that now that we are saved and have this new life, it is important to feed it. As we will soon see around here, a baby needs milk. If it doesn’t get it, it will cry for it. Do we cry for the Word? That’s the point. This shouldn’t be confused with what John says about children, young men, and fathers; nor is this connected with what Paul says about milk or strong meat. The issue here is not maturity or diet; it is desire. We should desire the Word the way a baby desires milk. If we feed a child well, it will grow; we too should grow as Christians. Other translations have this verse a bit differently. Mr. Darby says, “as newborn babes desire earnestly the pure mental milk of the word, that by it ye may grow up to salvation.” He says desire earnestly, which is even stronger than the King James is. The Word is pure; it has a purifying effect on our lives. It is mental, or reasonable. It makes sense; it might not be reasoning, but it is believable. How important the Word of God is! At the end of chapter 1, we find we are born again by the Word of God; now is it by the Word of God that we have growth. Also, the Word of God let’s us taste that the Lord is gracious; as we drink in more, we will grow more and learn to know the Lord more. A baby doesn’t want junk food; there is plenty of junk food for us in the world, but it will not satisfy us. We need the pure milk of the Word. Another thing a baby wants is a pacifier; and the word of God can be that to us too: a comfort.
EG Hymn 350 – I will make you fishers of men,
Prayer