November 30, 2014
Scripture:
Ministry:
Let’s turn to Leviticus 23. This chapter is about the feasts that Israel was to celebrate and the first one listed is the Passover. Read v.4. We know of the Passover from Exodus 12, where the people of Israel painted blood on their doorposts and lintels when the judging angel passed through the land. But the interesting part of this verse is that he calls it “The Lord’s Passover”. Let’s turn to 1 Corinthians 5:7b. Both of these verses refer to the Passover; with Israel it was “the Lord’s Passover”, and here with Paul it is “Christ our Passover.” Divine things can be viewed from either our perspective or from God’s perspective. In Egypt, God was bringing judgement on those who weren’t sheltered by the Pascal Lamb, but it was a time of salvation for Israel: they were brought out of slavery. But now that the Christian period has begun, the Passover wasn’t forgotten: it became ours. It is no longer a lamb, it is the Lamb of God. Christ is our Passover. The Israelites roasted theirs and ate it with bitter herbs. How precious it is to be reminded of that Passover! Today we have gone to Calvary and been reminded of Salvation: He took our judgement. Israel was as guilty as the Egyptians and we were surely guilty, too. Christ our Passover is our sacrifice, so God could pass us by.
Hymn 362 - Two little eyes to look to God
Prayer
Chapter three of Nehemiah is all the names of the people who helped rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah was Jewish, although he was born and raised in Babylon. He was the king’s cup-bearer. A man had come from Jerusalem; when Nehemiah asked him about the state of the city, the report had not been good. Nehemiah prayed to God asking Him to make a way to let him go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. The king noticed that Nehemiah looked sad and asked him what was wrong. Nehemiah asked for permission to return to Jerusalem to build the walls. The king not only gave him permission, but also letters saying that he had permission to build. He also sent men to protect him on his journey. As we saw last time, he found the walls broken down and the gates burned.
The walls of the city protected the people inside. Our flesh, the world, and Satan are our enemies. We must fight them with God’s Word, the Holy Spirit, and faith. These are our walls of protection. Our enemies can hinder our walk with God, so we must guard carefully against them.
Well, the walls had been broken down, and the gates had been burned. They needed to be repaired or completely replaced. This wall was about 9 feet thick, so this was a big job and there would be a lot of work. Several groups were working in different places all around the wall. They worked together to get the job done.
Read Mark 13:34: “…to every man his work.” Each one can be involved in the work. There is even work for us today! This can reflect how our meeting works. Just think of the work that goes into a Bible Conference. The meals need to be prepared and accommodations booked. Then there is preparation for the meetings themselves; afterwards, there are notes and recordings. All these things help to encourage us. They help build the wall. They remind us of the truth and help us to abide in it.
Read 1 Corinthians 15:58. We must abound in the Lord’s work, and do things for Him.
There was a crippled boy, Tom, who was confined to the attic of his grandmother’s house. One day, his best friend brought him some money as a gift. Tom remembered a time when he had gone to a mission and heard about Jesus. He wanted to learn more about Him, so he asked his friend to buy a Bible for him. Tom read that Bible and learned the way of salvation, and soon was wondering what he could do to share it with others. He decided to write Bible verses on cards and drop them out of his window, which was above a busy street. One day, a man came to visit him. He told him that he had found one of the boy’s cards on his hat. The verse had been about doing the works of Him who has sent you. This man had been touched that this crippled boy was doing what he could do for God while he, an able bodied man, was doing nothing. The boy was willing to work for God, and so should we.
There were different groups of people working on this wall, and they all had different skills that they put to work. There were priests, goldsmiths (v.8), merchants (vv. 31 & 32), and many others from the city. There were even some people who did more then one part of the wall. They had finished the part they were working on and had begun another. They finished building the wall in fifty-two days. They got their work done quickly despite the opposition from their enemies. Nehemiah even points out in v. 30 a man who worked earnestly on his part of the wall. Some of them worked where needed; others worked by their house. It was important to them to build the wall so the enemy couldn’t get in. Nehemiah knew that they were in the center of God’s will so the people got involved and strengthened their hands for the good work. They also built the gates (v.6). They had to lay the beams, and put up bars. Then they put on the doors and locks.
In our song we sang “Two little hands to work for God”, and we’ve seen through this whole chapter how these people used their hands to work for God. We also should seek to honour God with our work.
Acts 20:17-38
We’re looking at Paul’s third missionary journey. On his way back to Jerusalem, he stopped at Miletus and called for the elders of Ephesus. This was an important talk, because Paul knew that he wouldn’t see these people face to face ever again. He told them that he had told them all the counsel of God. Corroborating that, the book of Ephesians contains some of the highest truths in the whole Bible. The book of Corinthians contains the solutions to a lot of problems—which are incredibly helpful—because that assembly had a lot of problems. Ephesians, on the other hand, contains truth that assumes a high degree of faith in the listeners.
Paul first told the Ephesian elders how his manner had been all the time that he’d been with them. Our manner—our character of behaviour—effects the truth that we try to share. It’s the aspect of living what we preach. We speak the truth, and our lives must demonstrate it; which is easier to say than to live. Our lives must be consistent with our talk.
Paul served the Lord like a slave, just as the Lord was in bondage to the life that His Father laid out. Could there be a higher calling? It’s not an easy thing to serve Jesus; you have to serve with humility of mind, in a path that you may not have chosen.
Paul laboured among the Ephesians with tears and emotion. There are times of elation in the Lord’s service; times where you see the Lord working through you for blessing. But that’s not often. More often there are sorrows, tears, and broken hearts, as you watch others walk away from the truth.
Paul was also among the the Ephesians in temptations. That makes us think of the Garden of Eden, and the Lord in the wilderness. We all have trials, and this might have been the enemy trying to hinder Paul. Our three enemies (the world, the flesh, and the Devil) are always working in opposition to us. In Ephesus they worked through the unbelieving Jews.
Serving the Lord is no coast downstream, you have to swim against the current. In spite of all, though, Paul held back nothing of profit from the Ephesians. May we always take away something profitable from our times together.
Do we ever take stock of our spiritual profitability? At the end of the day, have we moved forward? Not only are we responsible for ourselves, we’re also responsible for each other. The enemy is out there, and he is seeking to deceive each one of us. Are we able to share things that will help and encourage each other? We may not see the rewards of it in this life, but it will be good to get to the Judgement Seat of Christ and find that we did something that He approved of. Not all rewards are given on Earth.
Paul showed and taught publicly about Christ, but he also testified to the Jews and Greeks “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s an important verse. “Repentance” has different meanings. We use the simple definition, “sorry enough to quit”, but it really includes more than just quitting. Repentance includes getting before God and judging our sin in His presence. It includes sorrow. Not only is repentance the basis of our salvation, but it’s also the basis of Christian living.
Hymn 163 – Guide us, oh Thou gracious Saviour
Prayer