March 9, 2008
Scripture:
Ministry:
Turn to Galatians 1:3–5: *“Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”* The apostle Paul can glory in the work of Christ because He gave Himself for us and because He has delivered us from this present evil world. This was the will of God; God made a choice to send His only Son to die for us. Read II Corinthians 1:9 & 10. We have deliver three times in these verses. We have been delivered from so great a death, an eternal death. And yet, He doth deliver; that’s our state now. He delivers us from this present evil world. As an example, think of the Children of Israel in Egypt; they had not been delivered out of the land yet, but “against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue” (Exodus 11:7). The Lord will deliver us to our home soon. How precious is His deliverance, to deliver us from sin and the world! He delivered Himself up as a sacrifice to take our sins on Himself. What courage we can have to know that He delivers us daily. And He will deliver us—maybe today!
EG Hymn 341 – Jesus bids us shine
Prayer
We’ll continue in the book of Acts; last time we finished Paul’s first missionary journey, and today we’ll begin to look at his second one. We’re on chapter 15, but we’ll skip the first part and read vv. 36 – 41. Paul wanted to visit the Christians they had seen on their first journey; but Barnabas wanted to take John Mark along. John had left them part way through their first journey, so Paul didn’t think that was a good idea. So instead, Paul and Barnabas went different ways. Barnabas took John and sailed to Cyprus. Paul took Silas and started by land to Lystra and Derbe, where they had ended their last journey. Read ch. 16:1–2. There they found a young Christian named Timotheus (Timothy).Timothy was well reported of by the Christians there. If we look through the scripture, we’ll find many times where Paul commends Timothy for his faithfulness. Read Romans 16:21; Timothy was a fellow worker of Paul’s. He didn’t give up. God wants us to be dependable like Timothy, so that He can rely on us to do what He would like us to. Read Acts 16:4–8. Paul, Silas, and Timothy continued visiting the Christians, encouraging and teaching them. Then, v. 9, Paul had a vision calling him to Macedonia; so they sailed to Macedonia and began to visit different cities there. Soon they came to Philippi. From what we have read previously in Acts, where does Paul usually go to preach first? It’s usually the synagogue, but this time he goes to a river where prayer was made; it seems that there was no synagogue in Philippi. Here he preached to the women that gathered there. The Lord opened the heart of one of the women, Lydia, a seller of purple materials. Lydia was saved and baptized and asked the apostles, if they found her worthy, to stay at her house, v. 15. The apostles agreed and stayed with Lydia while in Philippi. We’ll stop there today, but I want to make one last note: notice how in vv. 10 & 11, we see the pronouns “we” and “us.” We know that Luke wrote the book of Acts, and it appears that he went along with Paul’s group. But in the meantime, may we be dependable like Timothy.
Address — Jerry Fox
Who in the Bible said, “Lord, save me”? Read Matthew 14:22-33. This is something that helped me recently; I want to look at three short prayers. In this story, Peter needed someone greater than himself to get him out of his situation. We need to be that way, too; and it’s good for us to be that way. This world is contrary to God’s ways and if we will make it through this world, we need the help of Someone greater than ourselves. The Apostles were afraid of the storm, but the Lord said, “It is I, be not afraid.” He was in control of the storm, and He spoke through it. Peter called to the Lord and asked if he could walk on the water to Him. The Lord called Him out, and so He began to walk across the water. Yet he took his eyes off the Lord and began to sink. He cried out, “Lord, save me.” Immediately the Lord reached out and caught him; the Lord was not far away.
Next, turn to Matthew 15: 21-28. This is another short prayer. It wasn’t long or detailed but she got a response. In her prayer, the woman put the Lord first, herself last, and “help” in the middle. Peter did the same thing. Recently I was in a situation where this was the very prayer I prayed. I went out to work on a new style of truck … and forgot to bring the manual. When I got there, I found that the batteries were dead. I tested them and found they were fully charged. But the truck would run for only half an hour and then show that the batteries were dead. I didn’t want to phone back and ask the boss to read the manual to me, so I just prayed, “Lord, help me.” Then I remembered that I had the phone number for the truck’s manufacturer. I phoned them and the Lord let the right person answer the phone. He explained a simple wiring fix to me and that worked perfectly.
The last one is in the Old Testament, in Nehemiah. Nehemiah was the king’s cupbearer. Read Nehemiah 2:1–5. We know that the walls of Jerusalem were lying waste at this time and Nehemiah was concerned; he wanted to build the walls. The king was confused; he didn’t know what Nehemiah wanted. So Nehemiah said, “I prayed to the God of heaven.” He didn’t have long; we won’t always have half an hour to pray. A quick prayer will do. Peter was delivered; the woman was delivered; Nehemiah was delivered. He is always there to help. It can make all the difference.
We could probably guess that Nehemiah’s prayer was “Lord, guide me.” We know the story of how Mr. Whissel was delivering a load of wood chips in an area where there were many moose. Suddenly, a moose was standing right in the middle of the road! Quickly he prayed, “Seigneur, aide moi!” (Lord, help me). Almost immediately, the moose reared up on its hind legs, turned, and landed—just as the big truck roared by! Like Peter, He gave a quick prayer and received a fast answer. If you look back at that passage in Matthew 14, you’ll see that Peter’s prayer was answered immediately. We saw the comparison between Peter’s prayer and the woman’s prayer. But there is also a contrast: the Lord rebuked Peter for his lack of faith, but He commended the woman for her great faith. It is interesting to look at what the Lord saw in the woman. She was being tested, just like Peter. It seems as though the Lord just ignored the woman at first. The disciples wanted to send her away. But she would not be sent away or ignored. She again asks the Lord to heal her daughter, but he responds that it is not good to give the children’s bread (literally, a loaf) to dogs. He used a metaphor that was not too complimentary: He called the woman a dog. Yet the woman took His metaphor and replied, “I don’t need a loaf. One of your crumbs would be enough to heal my daughter.” This is the faith that the Lord saw. He saw in her what He couldn’t find in His own people. So which is more important: great faith, or faith in a great God? Well, faith is an important element in the Christian life; what is ours as Christians that is not ours through faith? However, the Lord can take our little faith and answer our prayers. All three of these people had the faith to ask the Lord for help, and each had his/her prayers answered.
EG Hymn 10 – Faith is a very little thing
Prayer