September 21, 2008
Scripture:
Hebrews 12:2. “endured the cross”. It is impossible to enter in fully to what He suffered; either by God or by man. For your sins and mine He endured the cross. He was holy and spotless, but He hung on a cross. Only guilty people hung on crosses, but here was One who was guiltless, taking our sins on Himself. In another Scripture, He calls them “my sins”. As we think of this, what does it do to our hearts? Does it touch you? It should cause awe and wonder. To think that He would take our place so that we could be free from the bondage of sin.
A very capable black slave woman was up for bids on the auction block in the United States at a time when slavery had been abolished in Britain. The woman was incensed by a British man who seemed bound to have her by continually raising his offer until he won the bid, and paid the price to have her.
The woman vented her anger, scolding the man, being British, for participating in the slave trade! But he responded by telling her that he had bought her to set her free. He gave her papers to her and said, “You are a free woman.” The woman was so touched she fell before him and said, “I will be your slave forever.” Are we that touched by what the Lord did for us? May it cause us to say, “Saviour, I will serve you forever!”
Hymn 234 – Saviour, lead me lest I stray
Prayer
Last time we saw how Paul went to Jerusalem; he had been warned that he would be killed there, and he almost was. The Roman soldiers rescued him at the last minute and we ended by seeing Paul ask if he could speak to the people before they brought him into the castle. In Acts 22, we can find Paul’s speech to the people. We won’t read the chapter; he tells them about how the Lord stopped him on the road to Damascus and how the Lord had sent him as an apostle to the Gentiles. As soon as the Jews heard that he was sent to the Gentiles, they wanted to kill him. The soldiers took him into the castle and the next day he appeared before the Jewish Council. In ch. 23:1, he says to them that he had lived in all good conscience until that day; even when he was killing Christians, he thought that was the right thing to do. In this we can see that it’s not always good to follow our conscience; we need to let our conscience be led by the Word of God. When the high priest heard what Paul said, he asked someone to smack Paul on the face. This was against the law, and Paul rebuked the high priest for it. Then someone told him that this was the high priest, and Paul apologized, saying that it was also wrong to speak against the high priest.
Then Paul realized that part of the Jews who were in the Council were Pharisees and half were Sadducees. These were two groups of Jews who believed differently about resurrection. Paul used this to his advantage and told them that he was a Pharisee and that he was called to the Council to talk about resurrection. This stirred up the Jews and they started fighting with each other and seemed to forget about Paul. The Roman captain watching was worried that Paul would get pulled in pieces, so he took him back to the castle.
That night, v. 11, the Lord stood by Paul and said to him, “Be of good cheer.” This isn’t the first time we read this; the Lord said this to His disciples when He walked to them on the water, Matthew 14:27. Also read John 16:33. He told Paul that he would testify at Rome.
The Jewish people were very upset about what Paul was doing; over forty of them bound themselves under an oath, promising not to eat until they had killed Paul. They planned to ask the chief captain to bring Paul to the council the next day, and they would ambush and kill Paul on the way. The Lord allowed Paul’s nephew to hear about their plan, and he came to the castle and told Paul. Paul sent him to tell the captain; the captain realized the seriousness of this situation and sent Paul to Ceasarea that night with 470 soldiers, horsemen, and spearmen, vv. 23 & 24.
We can be encouraged as Paul was that the Lord is always with us, even when we get discouraged or have to go through hard times. We should always “be of good cheer!”
We saw how Peter is trying to stir us up. In v. 3, we find a prioritization of knowledge. It’s important that we know first that in the last days there will be scoffers, those who mock the truth. If we want to go on living for the Lord, those who can’t make a reasonable argument against what we do will make fun of us. Mockery is one of the enemies tactics. And why do they do it? It’s because they want to live in their own lusts. For example, they mock the idea of creation because if there is a Creator, they will have to abide by His moral law. There are several examples in scripture of people who were mocked, yet continued to live for the Lord: Daniel and Noah are a few.
Interestingly, there is a noticeable difference between those who receive their news ahead of time and after the event happens. We have been told in scripture what the next big events in the course of the world will be, but those who don’t read the Bible don’t know. In business, the future is just an extension of the past, adjusted to the prevailing circumstances. We know, however, that there will be an event that has never happened before: the rapture. Those who don’t believe or don’t accept what the Bible says—those who are willingly ignorant of truth—will be responsible for this when the Lord judges them.
We can see a marvelous example of the prophetic nature of the Bible in Daniel 11. It gives so much detail about the succession of Medo-Persian, Greek, and other rulers that people have said that it must have been written after it happened. And yet, God inspired it before it happened, so that we could look at the prophecy and the history afterwards and say, “There’s no difference.” There’s no excuse not to know God’s plan for the world; those who mock and are willingly ignorant will be judged.
Hymn 2 – ‘Tis the hope of His coming that gladdens my heart
Prayer