Resource Manager Posted October 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 26 October 2017 2 Chronicles 23Daniel 4Acts 2 "THOSE WHO RECEIVED HIS WORD" Today we read the dramatic account of the events that followed after the disciples were empowered by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Led by Peter, they preached in such a way about Jesus, who he was and what he had done, and the terrible events to come that the hearers "were cut to the heart" [Acts 2:37]. The words which had pierced their conscience were, "Let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified" [Acts 2:36]. What can you know for certain today? More and more have convinced themselves that there is no God and they can live their lives just as they feel because they have no belief or faith: Australia has had Prime Ministers who have been an example of this. We have been reading of a similar state of affairs in Chronicles where Kings in Jerusalem followed Baal worship with all its immoral behaviour – and chaos followed. Peter in his address to the people at Pentecost quoted extensively from the prophet Joel in a passage which has an application to both the end of the Jewish age in AD70 and our Gentile age, events which are today soon to happen as God makes his power known in an awesome way. How literal are we to understand the words Peter quotes? We must not explain them away. God declares, "I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And … everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." [Acts 2:19-21] Our final and most telling thought is the words Peter uses in responding to their reaction to his challenge, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation" [Acts 2:40] We partly quoted them in our heading – "so those who received his word were baptised." Note the word "received"! It is one thing to read, to hear and to listen, but the only thing that really matters is when the words are "received." Have you "received" them? If so, your life has been transformed and you have new – eternally significant objectives as a result.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted October 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 27 October 2017 2 Chronicles 24Daniel 5Acts 3; 4 "THEY ABANDONED THE HOUSE OF THE LORD" Our readings today caused us to reflect on things and friends which influence our actions. How important is it for us to have the right kind of friends – and what other things influence us? Our readings in Chronicles yesterday revealed the chaos in Jerusalem when a most evil Queen Mother, the daughter of Ahab, seized power after her husband was killed, she ruled for 6 years after killing all but one rival. The youngest of the royal children, Joash, was hidden by his aunt for 6 years and then proclaimed king at the age of 7 and the wicked Queen Mother killed! This was at the initiative of Jehoiada the Priest. Today in 2 Chronicles 24 we read that “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest” [2 Chronicles 24:2]. Urgent repairs were made to the Temple. “But Jehoiada grew old and full of days and died.” [2 Chronicles 24:15] But then we read, “Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. And they abandoned the house of the LORD.” [2 Chronicles 24:17,18] As a result of this bad influence the rest of Joash’s reign was a disaster, he even ended up killing the son of Jehoiada the priest who had rebuked him. When we come to 2 Chronicles 34 next week we will read of a really good king, who, when they found the Book of the Law when they were cleaning out the Temple after another disastrous reign, initiated great reforms after being influenced by what he read. In Daniel today we read of Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, king Belshazzar (called ‘son’ in the text, but there is no word for grandson). He also behaved foolishly, although, as the aging Daniel told him, “Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this” [Daniel 5:22]. He knew how his grandfather had, in the end, served the true God. So Belshazzar failed to rule wisely, in the fear of the true God, although he knew of him. So what are we allowing to influence us today? Belief in evolution is the dominating influence all around us and it is growing – so that there is no fear of God in people’s minds. What influences us to do the wrong thing? What will cause us to think and do the right thing?-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted October 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 28 October 2017 2 Chronicles 25Daniel 6Acts 5; 6 "BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE" In Daniel 6 today we have clear evidence that this wonderful man, now in his old age, was a man who had a regular prayer life. We read of those who are jealous of the opinion the king holds of him and look for ways to discredit his loyalty to the king. They confer together and decide; "We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God." [Daniel 6:5] They persuade the King to issue an ordinance banning the making of petitions (i.e. prayers) "to any God or man for 30 days except to you O King" [Daniel 6:7]. Now "when Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he had done previously." [Daniel 6:10] Those jealous of his standing reported this to the King which, because such laws are regarded as immutable, led to Daniel being put into the Lion's Den; his miraculous preservation followed. The most significant part of this story for us is that Daniel was a man of constant prayer, daily in communion with the only true God. In Daniel 10 we will read of his distress at the awesome visions given to him: a heavenly being then comes and says, "O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you: be strong and of good courage." [Daniel 10:19] In our Acts reading, we note the reasons why the disciples decide to appoint deacons. The number of believers being baptised and joining the church had become so many that the need for more and more organisation was becoming necessary. With their appointment the disciples now said, "we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word" [Acts 6:4]. What an example this is to all who seek to effectively follow Christ and it reminds us how those baptised on the day of Pentecost, how they "devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers." [Acts 2:42] How well do we follow these examples? We must each search our hearts to give a true answer to this question – our answer will show whether we have become – or are becoming "strong and of good courage." -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted October 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 29 October 2017 2 Chronicles 26; 27Daniel 7Acts 7 "DO NOT HOLD THIS SIN AGAINST THEM" What sin? The above words were uttered by Stephen as they took up stones to throw at him; he knew he was going to be killed. His speech in response to the High Priest, which we read today, was increasingly provocative – rather similar to how Jesus repeatedly uttered provocative parables about the Pharisees in the weeks prior to his arrest: for e.g. Luke 20:9-20. The more you read the more you sense the challenging nature of the Master's teaching. It reminds us of Moses in the wilderness and his increasing frustrations with the people. The time came when he said, "Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered around him" [Exodus 32:26] These were the priests, the relatives of Aaron. As Moses became dismayed with the people then, similarly our Lord and our Heavenly Father must be dismayed today: how many who claim the name of Christ, who have come out from the world, are keeping genuinely close to the their Saviour in their wilderness journey? The wilderness is increasingly negative –“ and readily hostile if provoked – to believe there is a God they need to, simply have to, fear! Stephen's speech was a history lesson reminding them of God's involvement throughout the history of their nation – it reaches its' climax when he challenges his hearers "Which of the prophets did not your father's persecute?" [Acts 7:52]. In every generation those who are really on the Lord's side, stand out because they stand apart! Yet, the essential lesson we must take from this chapter is that we leave all attitudes of judgement to our Master. Stephen emulated his Lord, as he cried out as the stones began to hit him, "Do not hold this sin against them" – these were his last words before he fell asleep – until the resurrection – his next conscious moment! How many, especially the Pharisee Paul, then called Saul, will be there at the resurrection – among the sheep and the wheat – because Stephen's dying prayer was heard. Paul's word's to the Philippians are so appropriate and challenging, - that "we may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world" [Philippians 2:15] Let us all shine as brightly as we can.------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted October 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 30 October 2017 2 Chronicles 28Daniel 8Acts 8 "MY WITNESSES IN JERUSALEM" The enemies of the gospel thought they had had a great victory when they stoned Stephen to death; but when we assess what happened as a result, it was a great victory for the spread of the Gospel. We can see this as we take an overview of today’s chapter in Acts, Acts 8. We recall in Acts 1, the words of Jesus to his disciples just before he ascended to heaven, he told them, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem …” [Acts 1:8] But he said much more than that “… and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” They had not done this, the community in Jerusalem had grown larger and larger – it’s very size creating difficulties that needed to be solved as we read in Acts 6:1-4. When we take an overview of the events we read of today we cannot help but see God at work. In one sense the stoning of Stephen was a tragedy, in another, it provoked a flood of activity in starting to carry out the final words of Jesus, for Saul (soon to become Paul), emboldened by the death of Stephen, became the leader of “a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” [Acts 8:1] Saul “was ravaging the church, entering house after house, he dragged off men and women …” [Acts 8:3] But “those who were scattered went about preaching the word” [Acts 8:4] The first area to benefit was Samaria. Philip played a leading role in this, “… when they believed Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ they were baptised…” [Acts 8:12] Later, under the guidance of the Spirit, Philip was caused to join an Ethiopian who was returning from worshipping at Jerusalem [Acts 8:27] and teach him how to understand Isaiah’s prophecy (in Isaiah 53) about the Messiah. When they eventually “came to some water” [Acts 8:36] he asked to be baptised, and after confessing his belief “they both went down into the water” [Acts 8:38] and Philip baptised him. It is clear baptism involved going down into water – and being plunged under the water as a symbol of the death and resurrection of Jesus, Paul stresses this in Romans 6:3-5. The concept of ‘christening’ was invented centuries later by the RC church, God’s word knows nothing of this, it is a human invention. The final chapter in the Bible is a warning against “anyone (who) adds to the words of … this book” [Revelation 22:18-19] Let us faithfully follow God’s word – recognizing that a central feature is the teaching of “the kingdom of God.” -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted October 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 31 October 2017 2 Chronicles 29Daniel 9Acts 9 "A CHOSEN INSTRUMENT ... TO CARRY MY NAME" We have a mentally absorbing set of readings today. They are most spiritually stimulating – and challenging! In Chronicles 29 we read of the ascension to the throne of Hezekiah and in the "first month" he opened up the Temple and ordered the Levites to begin a process of thoroughly cleansing it ready for use. We think of the return of our Lord to reign. We cannot begin to imagine how his reign will start – but it is certain it will be utterly aweesome! Surely he will waste no time in setting in train events to cleanse the world of all its' present filth! In Acts 8 we read of the dramatic conversion of Saul, soon to be called Paul. As he nears Damascus he hears the voice of Jesus! Will we hear his voice – at his return? How? The gospels tell us, "... the powers in the heavens will be shaken ... then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory ... then he will send out the angels and gather his elect ..." [Mark 13:25-27] When Paul hears his voice he is taken into Damascus - blind! Ananias, "a disciple at Damascus" [Acts 9:10] is told to find Saul! He objects, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints ... " [Acts 9:13], but he is told, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel." [Acts 9:15] 'Food' for our serious meditation here! What is it to "carry" Christ's "name"? Do we do that? Is this not to represent Christ in some way? Did not Jesus set an example! "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" [John 14:9] So, whoever sees you or me, sees ...? Food for our deepest meditation! This takes us to our final thought today in Daniel 9 and this prophet's remarkable prayer. It is one of the most detailed in Scripture. A particular highlight for us is Daniel 9:15. "O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day ..." That word "name" - has the sense of making a reputation. The aim of many people today, especially politicians, is to make a 'name' for themselves! They sort of "trumpet" their name! Most 'names' are increasingly ungodly! In utter contrast - our aim must be to make sure we "carry" Christ's "name" - following, to at least some degree, in the footsteps of Paul as he fulfilled the role the Master destined for him - "to carry my name before the Gentiles ..." -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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