December 29, 2013
Scripture:
Let’s read 1 Peter3:18a. We were reminded that the wages of sin was death, yet the Saviour suffered for our sins. “Death and judgement are behind us.” What a portion to be with Him in glory!
Hymn 370 – Yield not to temptation
Prayer
Today we are going to continue to dig through the life of Hezekiah. We have learned that Hezekiah brought the worship of God back to Judah. He also led Israel in celebrating the Passover for the first time in a long time.
2 Chronicles 32:1 - 21
Our story opens with Sennacherib, King of Assyria, coming to fight against Judah. He camped outside the city, in a place where water flowed out from city. Water is important for life. You can live for days without food, but not without water. Hezekiah dammed the water coming out of the city, trying to get Sennacherib to leave. Sennacherib is like the tempter in our lives. As Hezekiah did, we need to cut off the things that Satan likes. As we sang “ask the Saviour to help”; we need to go to the Lord for help.
Hezekiah decided to strengthen his city and army. First, he repaired the walls and then he made them even bigger. Lastly, he makes swords and shields for his soldiers. In life, we need to read and memorize the Bible so that we can fight against the enemy (Satan). After Hezekiah did this he gathered the people together and encouraged them. Sennacherib had won many battles and he had tried to discourage them by telling them about his victories, knowing this would make the people afraid. Hezekiah told the people that with God, their army was bigger than Sennacherib’s and God would give them the strength to win the battle.
Hezekiah and Isaiah cried unto the Lord and He helped them. We find out in 2 Kings 19:35 that the angel of the Lord was sent and it killed 185,000 soldiers in the Syrian army. Things didn’t go very well for Sennacherib; first, he lost the battle; then, when he went home, his own family killed him.
Hezekiah trusted the Lord to save them. Like Hezekiah we need prepare ourselves for attacks from the enemy.
Acts 5:29-42
The enemy will always be trying to hinder the work of God, trying to overthrow His Spirit. We can certainly see him at work here at the beginning of the church age. We see him working in the priests when they arrest and try Peter and John for preaching. We see him at work in individuals as we see Ananias and Sapphira sin. We see him, again, in the High Priest and Sadducees as they condemn the apostles here in our chapter.
Peter boldly told these men that he and the other apostles had to obey God, not man. He told them what God had done, what they—those in authority—had done, and what the results were (repentance and forgiveness available). He testified to what they had seen.
This speech had a profound effect on the council. They were cut to the heart, and wanted to kill the apostles as they had killed the Lord. Wherever the Enemy works, though, the Spirit is there to deal with it and bring out good. These men had killed the Lord, but He rose as a Prince and Saviour. Now they wanted to kill His witnesses. Gamaliel told them, “Wait. We might get something that we don’t want.”
The Sadducees—the principle persecutors of the brethren here—didn’t believe in the resurrection, and in that respect were not compatible with the Pharisees. Gamaliel was a Pharisee, and historically was a very respected teacher. We can see that he was influential, because the council agreed to listen to him.
The council was angry, but Gamaliel remained level-headed. He asked for the disciples to be removed and said to the council, “Think about this. Remember what has happened before?” And he brought up some examples of different movement leaders. There was Theudas, apparently some sort of false prophet, who had about four hundred followers. When he was killed, his followers were scattered, and that was the end of that. His efforts were human, not divine, and therefore had no effect. There was another man, named Judas, whose story was similar. Though there are exceptions, man-made religions and superstitions most often fail.
These two men’s failings were good examples, and Gamaliel told the council, “If what is happening is of man, it will fail.” Thousands were coming at this point, not to the disciples, but to the Lord. Gamaliel also warned, “If this is of God, you can’t overcome it.” There are some today that try to overcome Christianity: atheists, evolutionists, etc. The Lord’s things won’t fail, though, and it’s futile to fight them.
So the council brought the disciples back, beat them, and told them again not to speak in the name of Jesus. The apostles left; rejoicing! They were always in trouble, but always happy to suffer for the Lord.
Of course, the disciples disregarded the council’s warning, and in temple and house they taught and preached. They had the local assembly, but their attendance at the temple shows that things were still very Jewish. They didn’t have Paul’s doctrine at this point; but we do know that they had their own company, who they loved to fellowship with. Either way, in public or private, the One before them was Jesus Christ; and we, too, have that privilege.
Hymn 355 – Safe in Christ, the weakest child
Prayer