Year 2 Day 351
Pray (ACts) Read - 1 Thessalonians 5v1-11 Message - Scott Woodburn We finished last week's devotions with a discussion about eschatology which is the study of the things that will happen in the final days of history. Paul reminded the Thessalonians that Christ was coming, He would bring dead Christians with Him and all of those who loved Christ would be raised to everlasting life. The Christian dead would receive their resurrected bodies first and this would be followed by Christians still alive at Christ's return. The Thessalonians understood this and so Paul fully admitted that they were well aware of "the times and seasons" (v1). These weren't men and women caught in a day dream. They were paying attention and they knew full well that the return of Christ was and is an awe inspiring reality. They were fully aware that the day of Christ's return would "come like a thief in the night" (v2). In other words it would be unexpected. Just as a thief doesn't tell you that he will rob your house at 4:21am next Friday, so too we do not know the day or the hour of Christ's return. Many people laugh at any notion of Christ's return. Jesus is merely a swear word for them or a piece of jewellery or a fictional figure trusted by fools. Such individuals think the world will never end, they say "peace and security" but in reality they are in supreme danger. Paul tells us that Christ's return will bring destruction upon the unprepared (v3). He uses the image of a pregnant woman going into sudden labour to prove his point. Christ will come suddenly and the unbeliever will not escape. Yet the Thessalonians weren't living in the dark about these matters (v4). They (like all Christians) were children of light and children of the day. The child of God does not live in darkness (v5). God has opened our eyes to the light of His truth. Nevertheless Paul urged the Thessalonians to stay awake and sober (v6). Night is a time for sleep and those who wish to get drunk do so at night (v7). But the Christian belongs to the light of day and not the dark shadows of night (v8a). The mature Christian understands that we are living in the last days. The next great event of human history will be the return of Jesus. Therefore we are to be awake, sober and alert. We protect our hearts with the breastplate of faith and love (v8b). We have received Christ by faith, we love Him and we love His people. We are to protect our minds with the helmet of the hope of salvation (v8b). We live in troubled times but we focus our minds on our blessed hope - we have trusted in Christ and we will not be put to shame. The Christian should frequently consider Christ's return but they should never fear it. Jesus will come like a thief in the night but one who has trusted in Christ is ready. God has not destined us to meet with His righteous anger but instead to obtain salvation (v9). Christ has died for us and therefore if the Christian dies before the return of Christ (asleep) or if the Christian lives to see Christ coming in the clouds (awake) our destiny is the same - we will live with Jesus (v10). Paul urges us once more to take these words and to encourage one another with them (v11). Additionally we are to build one another up. This is our great challenge as Christians. The world is a dark place and life is often hard. The temptation is to put the head down and focus on our own wee corner. But we are part of the church of Jesus Christ. We are a community of redeemed sinners who live in the light of day. Therefore brothers and sisters I urge you to daily remember that Christ is coming back and this world is fading away and to excel in encouragement. Stay awake, be alert, live in the day for our destiny is not wrath but salvation. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q103 What do we pray for in the third petition? In the third petition, which is, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven,” we pray, that God, by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to his will in all things, as the angels do in heaven.
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Year 2 Day 350
Pray (ACts) Read - Mark 8:14-15 Message - Alan Burke Bread is one of those every day items that many of us don’t spend to much time thinking about. It is a staple for breakfast and many a lunch and there are many wonderful varieties, shapes, sizes and types that cater for many different tastes. Most of the bread that we eat is dependant on a little microscopic fungus that helps it rise called yeast. We have dried yeast in sachets and packets that we simply add if we go to the effort of making bread ourselves but it wasn’t until 1825 that yeast similar to what we have in its present form was produced. Before then what was used was leaven. Leaven was a little bit of yesterdays bread dough that already had the naturally occurring yeast in it. When you add yeast/leaven to bread it helps it rise, it only takes a tiny amount, just a little bit of it to transform the dough. What Jesus here does is take the idea of yeast/leaven (the NIV 84/11 translates Leaven as Yeast) and use it here to speak of the Pharisees and Herod. Look back in your bibles though to what came before, Jesus had just fed four thousand people with seven loafs and there was an abundance left over (8:1-9). Then they once more get on the boat, Jesus and the disciples and there the penny drops, the disciples realise they only have one loaf to feed them all. I hope that as you think of this you understand the irony. Like really, what were they at? These disciples were physically present with Jesus when he fed the four thousand and these disciples are worrying about their bread. They had seen Jesus do miraculous things but they are caught up with the temporal worries of life. It’s half understandable, after all, bread was one of those necessity's of life, they would have been reliant on it, the Lord’s prayer, ‘give us this day our daily bread’ well bread was what you eat in the main. For us we have cupboards filled with stuff, but the same meaning, give us this day what we need. These disciples are worried for their daily bread, their temporal needs when they are in the presence of the God incarnate, and to that Jesus says “be careful”, or if you have the ESV or the KJV before you you’ll read ‘Beware’ beware of the leaven or the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod. This warning of Jesus was because of their unbelief, because there was a very real danger ahead of them. This warning of Jesus to the disciples, to us, Beware is one that we should sit up and listen to. “Beware, watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” This leaven was their unbelief, unwillingness to hear or see, their opposition to the plans and purposes of God in Jesus and the false teaching of the Pharisees. These disciples were unaware of how they were in this, their worrying about their lack of bread, well it was their unbelief, that Jesus was warning them, that they were in danger of just being like those who were in most opposition to Jesus. Their worry about the temporal, their lack of bread was a sign of their unbelief. It can be easy for us to fall into the trap of unbelief wondering how we got there as we get caught up in the every day circumstances. What we need to do is be on our guard, because think about it, if we start spending time with someone who’s aways doom and good before we know it we are going to find it hard to be anything but doom and gloom, other people rub off on us, what they say impacts us, when we are surrounded by others who are constantly disparaging God and His word it is hard to take it serious and believe it and that is what the father of lies the Devil is trying to do. We have to be careful, on our guard that it is not the leaven of the Pharisees or Herod, or Boris, or false teachers, or the gossip, or the grumpy so and so, or family member that is against the gospel, or the what ever it may be doesn’t leave us in spiritual ruin. That causes us to start thinking to ourselves well you know ‘they have a point’ we compromise for the sake of those around us, we end up becoming impoverished, we end up listening to the world and not our God. Let us beware, because like leaven/yeast it only a little to make a big impact! Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q102 What do we pray for in the second petition? In the second petition, (which is, Thy kingdom come, (Matt. 6:10)) we pray, That Satan’ s kingdom may be destroyed; (Ps. 68:1,18) and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, (Rev. 12:10–11) ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; (2 Thess. 3:1, Rom. 10:1, John 17:9,20) and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened. (Rev. 22:20) Year 2 Day 348
Pray (ACts) Read - 1 Thessalonians 4v13-18 Message - Scott Woodburn What's your thinking about the Antichrist? How do you interpret the millennium? What will happen when Christ returns? Your answers to these questions will reveal your eschatology. Did you know you had an eschatology? If at the very least you think that Christ is coming back then you absolutely hold an eschatological opinion. Firstly, lets be clear, eschatology is a hard word to say. I frequently get my tongue in a mess when pronouncing this word, so let's break it down...S-KA-TALL-O-GEE. Got it? Good. So what is it? Eschatology is a study of the things that come last. The word is two greek words pulled together. "Eschatos" meaning "last" and "Logy" meaning "the study of". So when we think about eschatology we are considering the events that will mark the last things of human history. The Thessalonians were a people with a well developed eschatology. They believed that Christ was coming back and so they were concerned about what would happen to those among them who died before Christ's return. Would they be lost? Would they miss Jesus? Absolutely not. Paul writes and informs his brothers and sisters that Christians grieve their dead but they do so with a blessed hope that the pagan world doesn't share (v13). What is that hope? We believe that Jesus died and was raised again to life (v14) and through faith in Christ, those who have died before His return will be brought with Him on the final day (v14b). Let's break that down a wee bit. Human history will end at the return of Christ. The disciples were told that Jesus who ascended up into heaven would return the same way (Acts 1v11). Jesus told us to expect His return even though He Himself did not know the day or the hour (Mark 13v32). The final day is a reality and when Christ comes He will come in judgement (Matthew 25v31). Eschatology isn't just head knowledge about interesting stuff. If you are reading this as an enemy of Christ then please understand that He will return, you will be judged and you will be lost to hell if you do not repent and believe the Gospel before that final day. Paul describes Christ's return in these very verses. Jesus will come back and every Christian who has died before His return will come with Him (v14). This is not fanciful nonsense, it is the Word of God (v15a). Paul adds that those who are still alive at Christ's return will not precede those who have died in Christ (15b). What does this mean? Paul goes on to explain. When the final day comes, Christ Himself will descend from heaven with a trumpet blast of God (v16). There won't be anyone who will miss Christ's return. It will be a momentous event and the eyes and ears of the world will be lifted from the emptiness of Facebook and Tiktok to the seriousness of the Christ the Judge. Christ Himself will speak with a mighty angelic voice and issue a command (v16). What will He command? Just as He once commanded Lazarus to come out of the grave (John 11v43) so too will Jesus command "the dead in Christ" to rise. The souls of Christians in heaven will be reunited with new bodies. Just as Jesus died and was raised to life, so too every Christian who has died will be raised never to die again. This will come first and when the resurrection of the Christian dead is complete, living Christians will be transformed and called up to meet Christ and their brothers and sisters in the clouds (v17). So living Christians will not precede (be raised before) dead Christians. The dead in Christ will be raised first and then those Christians still alive at Christ's return. Together we will always be with Jesus. Paul urged the Thessalonians to encourage one another with his words (v18) and we should do the same. What's so encouraging? That regardless of this world's troubles, our hope is secure. History isn't spinning out of control, Christ is coming back. The dead in Christ are safe and secure in heaven and they will stand again on the earth. Even though your body and mind are failing, in Christ you will see heaven. The sin and curse that blights this world will de dealt with when Jesus returns. Here is our blessed eschatological hope. Christ Himself tells us “Surely I am coming soon.” (Revelation 22v20) and in response we cry "Come, Lord Jesus!" Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q101 What do we pray for in the first petition? In the first petition, which is, Hallowed be thy name,” we pray, that God would enable us, and others, to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known, and that he would dispose all things to his own glory. Year 2 Day 347
Pray (ACts) Read - Mark 8:10-13 Message - Alan Burke You might be wondering why we’ve spent so much time on Monday and Wednesday looking at the words ‘question/argue’, ‘test/tempt’ and the meaning behind them, but it is so that we are in no doubt that the Pharisees were coming and that this is a thoroughly confrontational scene. They are coming to Jesus, demanding him to prove who He is. They were demanding a sign even though they no doubt heard and seen what Jesus had been doing, heard what Jesus was doing. But it didn’t matter because they were convinced that these things were all by the power of Satan. So here as they came to Jesus what they wanted wasn’t another miracle, what they wanted was a sign they wanted the heavens to open, they wanted to hear God’s voice say “This is Him, your Messiah”. Just like Satan in the wilderness, these Pharisees were tempting Jesus to do something stupendous, to prove beyond all doubt who he was. Then we are told of the response of Jesus to their coming, to their questioning, and we are simply told that he 'sighed deeply’ (NIV), or rather the greek tells us that he ‘sighed deeply in His spirit’ as the KJV and the ESV also include. Jesus to their demands sighed deeply in His spirit. The pParisees came on the war path, so riled up, demanding a sign and Jesus responds not like them, not with anger or indignation, rather it is that of dismay, despair. The Pharisees with their constant confrontation, their lack of belief, their utter blindness to who Jesus was, how they had attributed his power to that of Satan and now they are wanting another sign, like a big neon sign in the sky kind of sign, pointing to Jesus ‘saying this is him’ is just too much, Jesus had reached the end of his patients with them. The Pharisees were just like that rebellious generation in the days of the Exodus, who had seen God’s works among them, who had seen and heard God as He worked bringing them salvation yet their hearts were hardened. In the wildness they had barely stepped across the Red Sea and they longed once more for Egypt, they put God to the test, even though they had seen the proof, they had seen God at work. Likewise, these Pharisees they had seen and heard of what Jesus was doing among them yet their hearts were hardened, they were putting God once more to the test even though they had seen the proof, they had seen God work among them though His Son Jesus Christ. So to their demand Jesus responds… “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.” The reason why is that what ever sign they would be given they would not see or understand, no number of proofs our signs would enable them, The Pharisees is really ‘A Sign Of Their Disbelief’. Finally we are told the end of this confrontation is of Jesus leaving them, as he got back into the boat and crossed to the other side. I want to leave you with this, some will say that they would believe in God if they only had a sign, if only it was clear to them. Well all of creation each and every part of it creation reveals that there is a God, the entire natural world bears witness to God through its beauty, complexity, design, and usefulness. That what is meant when God uses the apostle Paul to say in Romans 1:19-20 ‘For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. All are without excuse.’ Every single part of creation testifies to how there is a God, so that no one should complain that God has left insufficient evidence of His existence and character. Through general revelation to all men, God communicates His existence, His power, and His glory, so that we are left without excuse. All of creation though, is, “not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation” (Westminster Confession of Faith, I.1). General revelation does not reveal Jesus Christ or His work of redemption for sinners. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q100 What doth the preface of the Lord’ s prayer teach us? The preface of the Lord’ s prayer, (which is, Our Father which art in heaven, (Matt. 6:9)) teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us; (Rom. 8:15, Luke 11:13) and that we should pray with and for others. (Acts 12:5, 1 Tim. 2:1–2) Year 2 Day 346
Pray (ACts) Read - 1 Thessalonians 4v1-12 Message - Scott Woodburn The Thessalonians caused Paul's heart to soar. They were standing firm in the faith even under trial. They loved Christ, loved Paul and loved each other. They had been taught by Paul himself how they should walk before the Lord and they were doing it (v1). So were these Christians the finished article? By no means. Paul urges them to walk as they have been walking and to "do so more and more" (v1b). It isn't that Paul is a hard taskmaster, he simply wants to guard these people from arrogance. In all of our hearts there is the capacity to believe our own nonsense. We tell ourselves that we're pretty great, we don't struggle with sin, we're always loving and before we know it our hearts are pride filled pits of sin. The Thessalonians are walking rightly before the Lord but Paul urges them onwards. No complacency was allowed. They practiced love and they should practice it all the more. Paul had already given them these instructions as a word from Christ Himself (v2). They were being sanctified by the Lord (v3). What is sanctification? Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man or woman after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. One dangerous hindrance to our sanctification is sexual immorality. In this regard the modern and the ancient world are remarkably similar. Around 25 years or so after Paul wrote to the Thessalonians the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Remarkably both towns were preserved under the fallout of the eruption and to this day you can walk the streets and enter the homes of ancient Romans. Both towns are famous for their erotic art. There are images of couples enjoying sexual intercourse, oversized carved images of male genitalia and even a preserved brothel. In Paul's day as well as ours, sex was everywhere. The Apostle knew this and urged his hearers to control themselves (v4). They weren't to live like the passionate and lust filled Gentiles who didn't know God (v5) but they were to listen to God who had given them the Holy Spirit (v8). Their sanctified lives were to be marked by holiness and not impurity (v7) for the Lord would surely judge the individual who wronged his brother in the area of sexual immorality (v6). If a warning was necessary about sexual immorality the Thessalonians didn't need to be reminded about loving one another (v9). They were doing this in their own town and throughout Macedonia (v10). Paul's advice was once again to do this and to keep doing it (v10b). They were to excel in loving one another. As the passage comes to a close we reach one of the most radical verses I know. It is a glorious summary of the Christian life and one that I suspect you've maybe overlooked. That isn't a criticism by the way - I overlooked it for years and then one day I read verse eleven and realised the liberating freedom of it. How should I walk in this world? How should I live before outsiders and not be a burden on anyone (v12)? Paul's answer is powerful. Live quietly, mind your own affairs and work with your hands (v11). Do you realise the scale of that? Sometimes we think the Christian life is about moving from great victory to great victory. It is a life spent on mission teams during the summer and having moving worship experiences in the autumn. Yet for most Christians life is running the kids to school, arguing with elderly parents and failing to concentrate during sermons. So what's the Christian life really like? Live quietly, mind your own business and do your daily work. I sincerely pray that this verse sets you free from that exhausting and endless striving after so called "victorious Christian living". Here's radical Christian living untried by many. Go to church every Sunday and attend to the ordinary means of grace. Love your neighbour and don't try to sleep with his wife. Live quietly in your local community and keep your nose out of business that doesn't concern you. Finally go to work, do your work and put bread on your own table. It is the will of God to sanctify us (v3) so may we love one another and walk uprightly before the Lord. How? Live quietly, mind your own affairs, work with your hands and do so more and more. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q99 What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer? The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer, but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called, The Lord’s Prayer. Year 2 Day 345
Pray (ACts) Read - Mark 8:10-13 Message - Alan Burke I want to draw another word out of this passage today that will help us as we look to what is going on. On Monday it was in the coming of the Pharisees how they came to question Jesus and how that word that is translated as question/argue depending on the translation before you is two words. They are ‘rule’ and the other is ‘dispute’. Rule gives us an idea of their attitude and the emphasis behind the word in greek that is to dispute is that of questioning. So they were coming all riled up to have an argument, to harangue Jesus. Ok the next word, again depending on the translation will be either ‘test’ (ESV/NIV) or ‘tempting’ (KJV). Well this word is used only four times in Mark and if you turn back to 1:13 you’ll see it used as Jesus was being ‘tempted’ by Satan. The three other uses are when Jesus was facing opposition by the Pharisees (8:11; 10:2; 12:15). What we learn is that the temptation of Jesus didn’t just take place in the wilderness, it wasn’t a once for all experience, it continued. It continued at the hands of those who were the religious leaders, who wanted a sign but it was ‘A Sign Of Disbelief’. Today this is as far as we are going, that Jesus was tempted by Satan though these Pharisees and a note of application. I know it’s not the thrust of the passage, but the reason why Mark didn’t go into the temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness or if He was victorious was because he wanted us to understand that Jesus faced temptation not only at the beginning of His public ministry in this ’40 day’ temptation, but throughout his life and ministry. Jesus faced temptation at the hands of Satan throughout his ministry as Satan endeavoured to subvert God’s great plan of salvation. In Mark 8, it was Satan using the Pharisees to tempt Jesus. We all face temptations in so many ways, don’t we? You may rightly say to me that I know nothing of what you face, the temptations that you are in the midst of, I can never understand the temptations that you face and you are probably right but the good news is our Saviour can. In Hebrews we are reminded that; “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15). Our Lord and Saviour was tempted in every way but as without sin, we may think, well he wasn’t tempted in the way I am, he wasn’t tempted with the things I face, so then how was he tempted in every way? He was tempted in every way because behind his temptations throughout his life, he experienced temptations that were real and beyond our understanding, greater temptations that we will ever face and at each point he resisted, he overcame. He knew what it was like to be tempted, he was fully human, yet he never sinned. He can sympathise with us in our weakness because he experienced what we experience and now he at the Father’s right hand intercedes for us, speaking on our behalf (Heb 7:25). Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q98 What is prayer? Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, (Ps. 62:8) for things agreeable to his will, (1 John 5:14) in the name of Christ, (John 16:23) with confession of our sins, (Ps. 32:5–6, Dan. 9:4) and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies. (Phil. 4:6) Year 2 Day 344
Pray (ACts) Read - 1 Thessalonians 3v6-13 Message - Scott Woodburn There is no such thing as an independent church. I know we all like to think that our own church is the only church that matters but it is simply not true. Paul was far from the Thessalonians and missed them dearly. He had laboured among them and a church had been planted but Paul had not forgotten them. Indeed he was so concerned about them that he had sent Timothy to see how things were going in Thessalonica. By the grace of God, Timothy's report was a positive one. Timothy had returned to Paul and reported that the Thessalonians were trusting in Christ and loving both the Lord and each other (v6). Just as Paul remembered them, they hadn't forgotten him and they too longed to see Paul once more (v6b). This is a beautiful picture of the inter-dependance of the church. It didn't matter that these brothers and sisters were separated, by faith they still loved one another and shared a Christ-centred concern that couldn't be diluted by distance. As Timothy's report reached Paul's ears it caused him great comfort. He knew great distress and affliction but the good news coming from Thessalonica delighted his soul (v7). He speaks as a parent in verse eight. He has heard that the Thessalonicans are doing well and so he says "now we live". In other words Paul had been worried about his spiritual children. Would they endure affliction? Would they stand for truth? Would they be led astray? Paul "lives again" when he hears that the church is standing firm. It's as if he had been holding his breath and now suddenly a gulp of fresh morning air fills his lungs. Paul's response to the good news is to be thankful towards God (v9). It is the Lord who preserves His people and it is the Lord who keeps churches in the faith. As a mark of his thanksgiving Paul longs to return to see the Thessalonians and supply what is lacking in their faith (v10). The Apostle hasn't spent enough time with these people and so he wishes to return and teach them the Word of God once again. It is by this means that the church grows. Each week fellowships meet on the Lord's Day to worship and to hear the voice of God - do not neglect this unbelievable grace! As the section comes to a close Paul prays two things. Firstly, that the Lord will reunite Paul and the Thessalonians (v11). Secondly, he prays that the Lord would increase the love that the Thessalonians had for one another (v12). As they lived together and prayed together and loved one another the Lord would sanctify them and they would be found "blameless in holiness" at the last day (v13). Do you notice that? The love of the saints found in a local church is a sure mark of our salvation. Indeed as we walk together and love one another the Lord grows us up in the faith. This cannot happen when we deliberately stay away from the local church! There is no such thing as an independent church and there is no such thing as an independent Christian. Regardless of distance the church of Christ should be marked by a sincere and abiding love for our brothers and sisters in the family and household of God.We are to meet together, pray together, hear the Word together, weep together and rejoice together. As we pay heed to one another the Lord is at work in our souls, growing us up in the faith so that we will stand on the last day. None of this works if we choose to stand alone. Brothers and sisters, take your place in your local fellowship which itself is part of the worldwide church of Christ. Take your place and love God's people. Take your place and love God's Word. Take your place as one for whom Christ died. Take your place and rejoice at the glorious beauty of Christ's bride. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q97 What is required to the worthy receiving of the Lord’s Supper? It is required of them that would worthily partake of the Lord’s Supper, that they examine themselves, of their knowledge to discern the Lord’s body, of their faith to feed upon him, of their repentance, love, and new obedience; lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves. |
Alan
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