February 8, 2015
Let’s turn to 1 Corinthians 5:7b. This verse takes us back to the Children of Israel in Egypt, in slavery. But God was about to deliver them. There was going to be a plague and any firstborn who wasn’t sheltered under the blood of a lamb would die. Everyone was dependent on the blood of the lamb displayed on the doorposts as the angel passed over. God has provided us with blood so that we will not come under judgement. Christ is our Passover. It is a privilege to commemorate this again. He died that we might live.
Hymn 324 - Into a tent where a gypsy boy lay
Prayer
Last time I spoke, we were continuing on with the “I am” verses. We were talking about the trinity. God is three in one, whereas we have three parts: a body, soul, and spirit. When we get saved we become joined to the Lord through the Spirit.
This week we are going to look at “I am the resurrection and the life.”
John 11:25 - Here Jesus was speaking to Martha, the sister of Lazarus, who had died. Mary and Martha were very sorrowful and the Lord was comforting Martha. When a person dies, if they are saved they will go to heaven; if they are not saved, they will go to hell. How does this happen when the body is still on the earth, though? The spirit and soul go to heaven and the body stays on earth. This is the way it was with Lazarus.
John 11:30 - Jesus was far away when the news came that Lazarus was sick. He took a while to get there so, Lazarus had already passed away when Jesus met Martha. Now He is approaching Bethany.
John 11:31-32 - Mary scolded the Lord saying, “What took you so long?” She thinks that he can heal sick people, but she doesn’t know that He is the resurrection and the life for those who believe on Him.
John 11:33-35 - Jesus weeps even though He knows He is about to bring Lazarus back to life. This is because He can see the effects of sin on those He cares about.
John 11:36-44 - When Lazarus came out, he was bound hand and foot. The people were so amazed that the Lord needed to tell them to take the grave cloths off! Lazarus’s soul and spirit came back to his body. This is a picture of what will happen when the Lord comes to take us. He went to Bethany for Lazarus. Lazarus was already dead, but that didn’t hinder the Lord because He is the resurrection and the life. Someday the Lord will come and those who are alive will meet Him in the air and go with Him to Heaven, Those who are already dead will also rise. We will have a new body and will be forever with the Lord.
Acts 23:1-16
We’ve been marveling at how God worked through the Apostle Paul throughout his ministry. However, these last weeks we’ve seen Paul take a Jewish vow, go into the temple, etc. This wasn’t consistent with what he had been preaching to the Gentiles! This week we see Paul trying to defend himself against people who weren’t always honest. They were just as earnest for Judaism as Saul of Tarsus had been.
“I’ve lived in all good conscience before God until this day,” Paul told the council. This council had apparently been gathered in haste, for the high priest wasn’t even in his proper, recognizable, outfit. He commanded those beside Paul to smack him on the mouth, and Paul rebuked him for this unlawful action, not realizing who he was. Those around him then rebuked him for rebuking God’s high priest.
This was a sad place for someone raised up by God as Paul was. Here he is, saying things that he shouldn’t, and having to apologize and back down. But he goes on! Trying, apparently, to be tactical, he attempted to cause discord among his accusers—the Pharisees and Saducees. He cried out, “Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee.” This was partly true. He had been a Pharisee, but once he was saved, he left all that behind. Philippians 3:4-7.
Paul then stressed one of the doctrines that divided the Pharisees and the Sadducees: the resurrection. He told them that he had been called in question because he believed in the resurrection; which the Pharisees already believed in, but the Sadducees didn’t. He now had these two factions poised against each other.
This revelation made the Pharisees willing to let Paul go, but a frenzy broke out. Paul was in the middle, and the local army had to rescue him before he got pulled in pieces.
It wasn’t the best day of Paul’s Christian life; yet the Lord stood by him. That’s precious. He didn’t forsake his servant; instead, the Lord told him to be of good cheer. He still had a purpose for Paul. Paul was a chosen vessel; one to go, preach, and set up assemblies. He had testified to the resurrection, and now he would bear witness for the Lord in Rome.
The next day, more than forty Jews bound themselves under a curse to neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. We don’t hear much more about them, but they must have eaten before they killed Paul!
So what do we take away from all this? Maybe it wasn’t Paul’s brightest day: he did things that he shouldn’t have done. Yet the Lord stood by him; and not to rebuke, but to encourage. Paul possibly shouldn’t even have been in Jerusalem; yet looking back he could say, “The Lord was with me in the way that I went.” Perhaps not, “Being in the way, the Lord led me,” but “The Lord was with me in the way that I went.”
Hymn 200 – Tis the hope of His coming
Prayer