May 15, 2016
Scripture:
In v. 31, there is a question. But what things it is speaking about? They are the things mentioned in vv. 28 - 31. In Galatians, we saw that we were being delivered, and here we see that He is being lifted up. We are more than conquerers because of His victories for us.
Hymn 346 - Jesus who lives above the sky
Prayer
Today we will be reading from a chapter in Mark’s gospel. This chapter has three parts. The first part is about a man, the second about a woman, and the third is about a child. So we could say that this chapter takes in everyone. But all three of these people in this chapter are ailing. The man was possessed with demons, the woman had a disease, and the child was dead. These conditions are pretty serious. For us they are pictures of what we see in people today until they meet Jesus. They had problems physically, but it is a picture of the spiritual problems for us.
Mark 5:1 - 19
Jesus had just arrived in the country of the Gadarenes. He found a man who lived in the tombs outside the city. He lived in a cemetery. If we lived in a cemetery, we might be a little spooked. It appears this man is a little out of control. The people had tried to put him in chains or bind him up, but it never worked. He was out of hand, uncontrollable. He went around the cemetery, and he wasn’t frightened as others would be. They had tried to make him act sensibly, but every time they tried it didn’t work.
Now Jesus came and the man acted like he was worshiping Him. He said to Him, “Don’t torment me.” He thinks Jesus had come to make life worse for him. Jesus told the unclean spirit to come out of the man. He asked him what his name was. He replied that his name was Legion because they were many. This man had a serious problem right inside him.
The demons begged Jesus not to send them out of the country. They wanted to be in something, so they asked Jesus to send them into the herd of swine that was close by. Swine are pigs. Pigs are unclean animals. Israelites were not supposed to have anything to do with them.
The Lord told them to go into the pigs. There were about two thousand of them. The pigs went completely out of control, and headed straight for the sea. Now, I have never seen a pig swim. If they do end up in water, they will thrash around. This hurts their neck to the extent that they will bleed to death if they don’t drown. All of the pigs died. The people who were responsible for looking after the pigs ran off to tell the people in the city what had just happened.
The man, who was originally uncontrollable, was now sitting at Jesus’ feet in his right mind. He was all better. Jesus had healed him by casting out the demons.
Let me ask you now, if there was a man full of demons racing around a cemetery, and a man in his right mind sitting at Jesus’ feet, which one would you be afraid of? Well the people were afraid of the man sitting a Jesus’ feet. Jesus had made this man useful again, and they were afraid. They asked Jesus to leave them alone, and told Him they didn’t need Him.
The man asked Jesus to let him go with Him. He was saying “I want to be where You are.” But Jesus told him to go home and tell others of the marvelous thing He had done for him.
Now, we are not possessed, but we have an enemy - Satan. He tries to make us do things we are not supposed to do. But we have Jesus, who healed us. We can trust, obey, serve, and thank Him. When we do His will we will be richly blessed. But He also wants us to tell others of what He has done for us, share the Gospel, and tell others of freedom from the enemy. There are those who haven’t heard the Gospel, and they are in ‘chains’ to sin. Nothing binds us to Jesus, but love.
There isn’t anything as great as knowing Jesus as our Saviour, and we need to tell others about what Jesus has done for us.
Philippians 4
Each chapter in Philippians has been given a title:
Chapter three ended by telling us how to walk the Christian path, and Paul links that to chapter 4 with a “therefore.”
Verse 1 of chapter 4 shows us Paul’s affection for the Philippians. He had gone through much trouble in Philippi, and these believers were his spiritual family. He was now in prison, unable to visit them, and he longed for them. They gave him much joy, and he considered them one of the prizes he had been awarded for his efforts. 1 Thessalonians 2:19 records similar feeling. Paul looked forward to the Lord’s appearing, when these believers would be his joy and his crown.
Mr.McDowell once lead one of his employees, Mr.Lambert, to Christ. Mr.Lambert continued to struggle with drink, though, even after he was saved, and Mr.McDowell would speak to him about it each time. One day Mr. Lambert—feeling bad for all the trouble he caused—said to Mr.McDowell, “When you see poor Lambert in heaven, will it all have been worthwhile?” The Lord will give us credit for being an instrument in someone else’s salvation, even though He did all the work. Prizes down here are temporary; those will be eternal.
Paul’s message was: “Stand fast in the Lord.” We all have besetting sins, but Paul encourages us to stand fast against them. II Samuel 23:11- 12 tells the story of Shammah, one of David’s mighty men. He single- handedly stood and defended a plot of lentils from the Philistine army. That man was steadfast; you couldn’t budge him. He defended those lentils— the food of God’s people—and the Lord gave him what was needed, and won a victory. The Devil tries to destroy our food; the word of God, and Christ, the Bread of Life. He tells people that God doesn’t exist, and that the Bible isn’t reliable. The Philistines came through slashing and destroying the lentils, but Shammah stood firm and said, “Don’t you dare touch this food.” God has given us Christ and His word to feed on. What will we do with them? May we stand firm like Shammah.
We are not to stand in our success, careers, education, or fine house, but in the Lord. He alone can give us what we need to be victorious over Satan. He will help us stand steadfastly.
Paul then directly admonished two women in the Philippian Church: Euodias and Syntyche, and besought them to be of the same mind in the Lord. Maybe they were of the same mind in other things, but they had different minds in the Lord. It seems like they were living for the Lord, for Paul says they laboured with him in the gospel. They wouldn’t have preached, but they helped him. Division among members still affects the assembly as a whole, however. The Lord doesn’t—and Paul didn’t— overlook such things. We’re not sure what divided these two sisters, but Paul encouraged them toward harmony and restoration. It even seems like he turned to Epaphroditus (who we believe was taking this letter) and told him to do what he could to help the situation. Some have called these two “Odious” and “Soon touchy”; two characteristics that cause problems between people. May the Lord preserve us and help us go on in the same mind with each other!
Hymn 75 - I gave my life for thee
Prayer