November 30, 2008
Scripture:
Psalm 50:23
Revelation 5:9–14
Psalm 116:12,17
Hebrew’s 2:9 : “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
Hymn 330 – A message came from Heaven
Prayer
Today we’ll look at Acts 27; this is the story of Paul’s last journey: to Rome. We begin with Paul and the other prisoners getting on the boat, vv 1 & 2. V. 3, when they get to Sidon, Julius the centurion lets Paul visit some friends there; this refreshed Paul and allowed him to be encouraged in the truth. They continued to sail, around the island of Cyprus, and on to Crete. In vv. 9 & 10, Paul told Julius that it would be dangerous to continue on, and that they should stay where they were for the winter (We know the winter was coming because of the statement in v. 9 about “the fast,” speaking about the fast during the day of atonement, near the end of the year.) However, Julius thought it was better to listen to the owner of the ship: when the weather seemed nice, they started sailing again, hoping to reach another port in Crete that would be better to winter in. However, a storm came up, a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon. They couldn’t control the boat in the wind, and so they let the wind drive it, after they had lightened the ship. V.20, after quite a few days, they gave up hope of being saved. , “Told you so.” But he had good news, vv. 22 – 26: an angel from God had told him to be of good cheer, because everyone would be safe.
The storm continued to drive the ship back and forth. Soon the sailors realized they were coming near to land. They measured the depth of the water a few times and found that it was getting shallower. So, they cast out the anchors and wished for daylight. Some of the shipmen wanted to escape, so they started to lower a smaller boat, pretending to put out more anchors. Paul told the captain that only those who stayed in the ship had the assurance of being saved. So the sailors cut the ropes holding the smaller boats and let them fall. Then Paul recommended that they eat, as they had not done so for two weeks. He prepared some food and everyone was cheered. After this, they lightened the ship again.
Read vv. 39 – 44. In the end, Paul’s message was right; God had saved everyone. Let’s remember that God has promised to help each one of us through the storms of life as well.
Last week we talked about the feast of trumpets. This was an appropriate feast to celebrate because it looked forward to when the Jews would return to Jerusalem. Many of those who had returned had never been there before; they had never seen the first temple. Yet, they still had the desire to worship the Lord. Now that they have the opportunity, they go willingly.
Cyrus had commanded that they build the temple. But before they do that, v. 2, they build an altar to the Lord, so they could restore worship. They had come from a distant captivity, but before they built the city, or even the building, they built an altar. Then, they gathered around it as one man and worshiped; they offered burnt offerings, which signified giving God His portion.
So what do we have? Do we need an altar? We have a Person who was our once-and-for-all Sacrifice. But we do have a table. If we had no table, we would have no assembly, no authority, no discipline. We are not gathered to this room, or to the Lord (though we could say that at salvation): we are gathered to the Lord’s table. The Jews gathered to Jerusalem whenever they had a feast. The only time this happened for Christians is at Pentecost: that was the oneness of the body. Those who meet in the Lord’s name today are exhorted to meet in the unity of the spirit in fellowship. The Lord has given us the Lord’s day, the Lord’s table, and the Lord’s supper. This shows His authority. When Jews returned to Jerusalem, they did not choose a good-looking place for the altar; they put it where it should be according to the law of Moses. Similarly, we should gather as the Lord has outlined in His Word.
Think of how precious it would be to God to see the burnt offerings; after 70 years of nothing but ruins, Jerusalem was finally being restored, and it started with worship, giving God His portion. When we look at the offerings in Leviticus, we find that there are two different Hebrew words that talk about the burning of a sacrifice. The word used in the sin offering connotes consuming; the word in the burnt offering connotes burning for a sweet smell, such as for incense. That’s what God got. The Lord is seen in all of the sacrifices; He was consumed for our sin, but the stronger the fire of judgment, the sweeter the savour that went up to God. It is marvelous to see this picture so long ago!
Hymn 366 – We are little children, very young indeed
Prayer