This sermon that we have been looking at is beginning to draw towards a conclusion. Jesus who was proclaiming this message to his disciples and the multitude that gathered on the mountain, returns as he closes to speak of the law and the prophets. We need to remember the law and the prophets were the books provided by God to the children of Jacob, named Israel after he had experienced an encounter with God, when he saw him face to face at Peniel. His children received the law and the prophets after God had delivered them from Egypt. This means the book of the beginnings of faith in Genesis, and the rest of the books of Moses detailing their deliverance and God’s covenant with them in the wilderness, plus the whole of the writings of the prophets who wrote the Old Testament. It means Genesis to Malachi. This week we will consider his instructions about how to treat our fellow men. Next week Lord willing we will conclude with a warning. Both are found in the law and the prophets and were not new. That is why we read Leviticus 19:33,34 at the start of the service ‘And if a stranger (foreigner) sojourn (live) with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ Many more references in Moses’ writings say similar things.
1. Treat Others as Yourself v12. The word therefore at the start of v12 is looking back over all that has been said in this sermon since its beginning, not just at the previous verses about prayer. That means that it is worth reflecting on what we have learnt so far to see this. Jesus began by explaining to those gathered that those who follow him are blessed. They are the poor in spirit, who have come knowing their helpless condition to seek to follow Jesus. They are those who mourn over their sin. They are those who are meek and humble. They hunger and thirst after righteousness. They are merciful, having received mercy. They seek to be pure in heart to be accepted by God. They are peacemakers like Jesus, rather than warmongers like the children of the devil. They are often persecuted because they are righteous and are lied against. These obtain the kingdom of heaven, they are comforted, they will inherit the new earth, they will be given righteousness, they will continue to obtain mercy, they will see God, they will be known as his children, and they will be given heaven in the new earth. These are instructed to rejoice even in persecution and to be the salt and the light of the world. They are to provide men, women, and children with the salt of the gospel to bring life to the spiritually dead, as the salt compounds in fertilizers bring life to the soil. They are also to teach and provide light for ongoing living through proclaiming the truths and the instructions found in the law and the prophets. In v17,18 they are instructed that Jesus was about to completely fulfil the law by fulfilling it and keeping it perfectly. He was about to fulfil all the prophetic writings in their entirety by making a substitutionary sacrifice at Calvary, dying on behalf of his chosen people and enduring hell and the wrath of Almighty God on the cross, and then rising from the tomb three days later to demonstrate the acceptance of the sacrifice. He was to bring salvation to his chosen people of faith and bring his kingdom into being through the New Testament church built by Jews. Then he was to destroy his physical temple in Jerusalem, his physical city of Jerusalem, and the physical children of Israel as a nation to leave nothing contained in the Old Testament unfulfilled. He was to build the spiritual temple of the church, in the spiritual Jerusalem in heaven, with the faithful spiritual children of God from the New Testament church. Through the rest of that chapter, he taught that they were to keep the commands of God by treating men, women, and children righteously. This was contrary to the sayings of the Pharisees, that have been written down in the Jewish Talmud and followed by those who call themselves Jews and are the synagogue of Satan. These things Jesus Christ says himself to the Apostle John in Revelation 2:9 to the church at Smyrna and 3:9 to the church at Philadelphia. He taught how not killing, means not getting angry; not committing adultery, means not looking lustfully at a woman; not having to swear means always speaking truthfully; and not taking revenge, means loving your enemy. They are not to be hypocrites in their giving, praying, or fasting like the Pharisees were and they are not to treasure the things of this life. Then we saw they are not to judge severely and unrighteously and were to treat men righteously and make knowing how God wants them to live their business. Last time we saw how they are to approach God in prayer with their requests. All these things we should be doing as believers today. These things are all that the law and the prophets teach. Jesus sums them up here by saying whatever you want men to do to you in a situation, you should treat them likewise as you would like to be treated if you were found in their position. 2. This is a Strait or Narrow Way. He instructs them to take this strait or narrow gate as it is the only way that leads to life and there are few that find it. What is this strait gate. It sits as the centre point of world history being the death of the Christ or promised seed of faithful Abraham. The law and the prophets were all about revealing Jesus Christ as the way of salvation. Men and women are wicked and sinful, they fell into this state in the garden of Eden. God had created mankind from the dust of the earth, breathed into him the breath of life and placed him in a garden to enjoy its fruit and to maintain it and have dominion over all the animals. Mankind rebelled against the gracious God who had provided all of this, they disobeyed the single rule given to them and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This brought spiritual death to them immediately and physical death came following in its footsteps some 900 years later for Adam. This all following their willing enslavement to the evil master Satan, who promised the world and brought their destruction. Like many who promise things they can’t provide today, like net zero which means complete destruction, and not happiness. This state of rebellion we are all born into. It is that of spiritual death, rebels against our Creator and followers of the evil one. This was how we were all born, heading for an eternity of suffering in hell for our rebellion against an eternal God. The law and the prophets all taught about the promised Saviour of the world. This one would lead a perfect life keeping all the laws of Moses as he would be born of a woman but not of a man. We are told a virgin would conceive. This perfect righteousness that he would achieve, would be given to his chosen faithful people for them to stand before God on judgement day. He would die an agonising death and suffer hell in the place of his chosen faithful people, to take the penalty on their behalf for their sin. He would rise again after three days and nights and rise to heaven to await the day he will return in judgement. These things were about to unfold before the eyes of those listening to this sermon and they are warned, narrow is the gate and way leading to life. It is to be a road of trial and suffering, just like the one Jesus was already on. He was to face attack from his physical enemies, a fierce battle with Satan himself, and the desertion of his followers in his final hour as one betrayed him and eleven fled. He was tried at an illegal Sanhedrin meeting, where those lying to try and frame him couldn’t agree on their story, but he was still condemned to death. He was led to Pilate and Herod who both found him not guilty, yet the day following his arrest he was tortured through crucifixion. He endured all the physical suffering and God poured out hell upon him for the sins of his chosen people. He endured it all before handing his Spirit to his Father as he died, and his body was buried. Three days later he left the tomb alive despite the guards the Pharisees had placed to stop him. This is the one who will provide eternal life to his chosen faithful people, to those who enter in at the strait gate and follow his instructions for their lives. Are you going to do that this morning and take the strait, and narrow gate of following the Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life, I would sincerely encourage you to. 3. Few find it. They are few who find it, as to follow Jesus Christ will mean much trouble in this life, much difficulty and suffering and rejection from friends and family. Jesus knew the Old Testament which shows that few follow God. All people across the nations of the world enter the wide gate described in v13. It is a wide gate, and the way is very broad many companions are travelling to the same destination. It is a comfortable road with little in the way of trouble, but it leads to the destruction of all who continue walking in it. This is where David speaks in Psalm 14:1-3 speaking of men ‘The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.’ This is the condition of all men. We are all born in this condition needing a Saviour. The prophet Isaiah laments the position of the children of Israel, Abraham’s grandson in 1:1-4 ‘The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.’ v9-10 ‘Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.’ God calls his people Sodom as he calls Jerusalem in the book of Revelation 11 where speaking of the two witnesses, he says v7-8 ‘And the dead bodies of the two witnesses shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.’ The children of Israel were rebelling shortly after they were delivered from Egypt, of the 600,000 men over 20 who left Egypt only 2 entered the promised land. Before entering Canaan, they began worshipping Baal and Ashtoreth, there were few from their nation that shared in the faith of Abraham. Most of the children of Israel took this broad way which leads to eternal destruction in hell. You see, it doesn’t matter whether you are born into a church family blessed with reading your Bibles from an early age, or into a family of crime who have never heard of Jesus, we all start on this broad road which leads to destruction. When in AD70 when the Lord sent his judgement upon the temple at Jerusalem flattening it, destroying the city which had been known as the place of his dwelling flattening it, and wiping out virtually all the Jews of the day, we see a picture of how awful that coming judgement day will be for the unbeliever. It is only those who the Lord enables to get off the road that the masses are following, those who seek Jesus Christ at the narrow gate of the cross, those who pray to him asking forgiveness, that find salvation and receive eternal life. I trust that many listening are trusting in Jesus Christ this morning, if you are not, I would encourage you to seek his face today. Amen. Readings: Leviticus 19:33-34, Matthew 7, Hebrews 13:20,21 Hymns: 69 The God of Abraham praise, 209 Hark! the voice of love and mercy 506 Whom should we love like Thee,
0 Comments
We have been making our way through this sermon on the mount over several weeks. It was given by Jesus Christ. This morning, we reach an encouragement to pray to God and to ask of him. We have already been warned not to pray like the hypocrites. We considered this in 6:5-13, we are not to be seen of men and are not to use vain repetitions like incantations. We were then given instruction on how to pray, in the pattern prayer we call the Lord’s prayer. This was not provided to be an incantation to be repeated often but was given to us as an example prayer. A useful prayer to help in the teaching of those who are children of Christian parents, and new converts to help them in framing their own personal prayers to God. I still have much to learn in this area myself. We were reminded that God is our Father and is in heaven. We are instructed that we should seek to glorify his name ourselves in all we see around us and to encourage others to similarly glorify his name. We are to pray for the success of the kingdom of God as it grows with the spread of the gospel through testimony, teaching, and preaching, and for the overthrowing of the kingdom of darkness which predominates in our country at present. We are instructed to pray that we will be obedient and submit to the instructions that God has given to us in his word, shown clearly in the ten commandments. That he would grant us wisdom in applying these commands to every situation we encounter in life. We were then instructed to ask for our daily needs so that we can work in his service throughout each day. We are to ask for forgiveness for our sins that daily ensnare us and offend him, through Jesus Christ the only Saviour. Finally, we are to ask to be kept from temptation and delivered from evil. This before we should close praising God for who he is and all that he has done. The instruction regarding the pattern prayer ended with a challenge, we show we are forgiven and true children of God by forgiving others. If we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. This is the pattern prayer that has already been taught in this sermon. Here in Ch7 we move on to an encouragement to pray, following the instructions not to judge others severely and to be careful in how we reprove them. We are instructed to ask, to seek, and to knock. To pray, to pray sincerely and seriously, to pray and pray again.
1. Ask by Prayer. The encouragement comes to us to be always in a frame of mind, where we will come to God and ask and beg him for those things that we lack, and they will be given. These are related to what we should be asking for, the success of the kingdom of God, obedience, and submission to God in ourselves, our daily needs, forgiveness, and deliverance from temptation. We are to ask as James says in 1:6,7 ‘let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.’ We should be praying that as we tell others about the Lord Jesus Christ, as we testify to what he has done for us and is doing for us, that those who hear may be challenged to consider where they stand before him. That we may personally encounter those who are receptive to the news of salvation and a deliverer from evil. Our greatest delight should be to talk of the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and the opportunity of directing others to him. In the UK where the kingdom of darkness holds sway we should be encouraged to speak at every opportunity. We can tell people why things are the way they are as we have abandoned God’s ways. We can provide them with a solution that of repentance and a changing of the way they live to put God first. How many so-called churches have abandoned Christianity and no longer do this? We need courage as to do so in our land today begins to have consequences of persecution. We should be praying to the Lord to give us the ability to be obedient. When all around us encourages us to abandon any notion of God and to do as we please and to look after ourselves. When we start understanding the scope of the ten commandments, we start realising how far short we fall. We have grown up to enjoy our needless comforts and become slack regarding what God teaches. We fail to put the Lord’s Day at the head of our week, spending it in the worship of our God and avoiding all our weekday concerns and pleasures. Is the Lord’s Day any different in your house to the other days of the week? There should be a difference. Do you get angry when others upset or offend you? We should not. How do we respond when things go wrong? Are we ready to submit to the perfect will of God that may involve us in suffering and struggling with those events around us. We should be asking for our daily needs, not wants. Peace, comfort, and joy may not be what we need in life. If we are backsliding from our walk with God, they are the last things we need. If we are being prepared for great trials and tribulations then we may need the hardships to come upon us, so that we can learn for the days ahead. Submission to the Lord is something we all struggle with, no one delights in trouble, but that is where the Lord often refines us and prepares us for glory. We need to be praying for forgiveness, as we know only too well if we are walking closely with the Lord that we are so far short of what we should be. Even when we are walking closely there are so many areas in which we can sin and offend our God even without knowing it. It is the reason there was a sacrifice for it in the law, you can read about it in Leviticus Ch4. This was a type of the sacrifice of Christ, just like all the other sacrifices were, they have all been done away with. Jesus Christ brought about salvation, with the only acceptable sacrifice that the others were signs of when he died on calvary. But we still need regularly to seek forgiveness. We should also be requesting deliverance from temptation. We are surrounded by it, from all the eastern mysticism in the wellbeing techniques that are being promoted, to the pornography that is invasive everywhere we look, to the war and hatred that is being stirred up by divisions, to the promotion of murder be it called abortion for the unborn or euthanasia for those who are depressed. We are on a battlefield and need the Lord’s help. If we are faithful in asking for these things from our God with faith, then we are told that they will be given to us. what an encouragement that should be to each one of us, but how often we fail to ask, we are too busy, we forget. How feeble we can all be. 2. Seek, Pray Sincerely and Seriously. This reminds us that as we ask, we need to ask in faith. That faith needs to be an active sincere faith. We should not only be asking and pleading with the Lord to provide those things that we need to be faithful servants of his, but we are to be active in the pursuit of these things. As we pray for the kingdom of God to grow, we need to be often testifying to those around us, those who we meet telling them of the Lord Jesus Christ. This means our work colleagues should know about the God we worship; our family should know about him and our neighbours and those we meet in the shops should also know about him. The personal testimony of an individual is far more effective that a tract, both should include some use of the words that we have been given in scripture, as they are from God. We are not giving our own opinions of what is happening around us, and what the consequences will be, but we are telling them of the one we follow in his own words and what he says about such things. We should not only be praying to become obedient, but actively seeking to learn more of how the Lord would have us live. We should also be practically learning how to implement changes to our lives to help us with this. If we have no time for praying and seeking our Lord, we should look to change those pressures that we have in our lives that are hindering our doing so. We should be learning to accept all things that come our way, thanking God for each and every one. This is true surrender to the Lord in which we can truly bring honour and glory to his name. I am sure we all struggle here. It is not easy when things go wrong and are particularly difficult to remain calm and accepting of what the Lord has in his will for us. This is where we need to learn about Romans 8:28 when all is well. If we do so then when we want to get upset, frustrated, and worrying about something that happens we can try to remind ourselves of its words ‘we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ We should not only be praying for deliverance from temptation, but fleeing from it whenever we encounter it. You don’t have to stand on the platform looking at that poster of a scantily clad woman or man. You don’t have to stay where trouble is brewing and likely to break out. You don’t have to stand admiring that thing you greatly desire but cannot have. While praying to be delivered from temptation we should taking every possible action to avoid it and flee from it. If we are found faithful in both asking and seeking the Lord will help us find it, but we need to be active and not just sitting around expecting it to land in our laps. 3. Knock, Pray and Keep Praying. This reminds us that sometimes when we come to the Lord in prayer there are three ways he can answer. He can say no to our requests, this will not be the case while we are asking for those things that he has instructed us to pray for. The second answer will be yes with an immediate answer to prayer, and we can expect this when we come to ask for those things that we have been instructed to seek. The third alternative is that he will answer with a not yet. We need patience in the Christian life. We are encouraged in these verses to keep praying if no answer seems to come. Because as those who ask receive and those who seek find, so those that knock will have the door opened. We are reminded of the woman of Canaan who came to Jesus in Matthew 15 who came seeking mercy on her daughter who was vexed with a devil. She kept asking, she kept seeking and she kept knocking v22-28 ‘a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.’ We need to have faith and serious sincerity and persistence as we come to the Lord in prayer, knowing that if these things we ask for are good for us he will provide them for us. He speaks of sinful men like us. If our son asked of us bread, would we give him a stone to harm him? If he asked of us a fish like an eel, would we give him a serpent to harm him? He argues if we know how to give good things to our children, how much more will your heavenly Father give things good for us to us. May we be encouraged this morning to pray, to pray seriously and to keep praying. Amen. Readings: Numbers 28:1-8, Matthew 7, Hebrews 13:20,21 Hymns: 50 Awake, my soul, and with the sun 390 Jesus, where’er Thy people meet, 698 I asked the Lord that I might grow It has been several months since we set out with Paul on this second missionary journey. Paul set off from Antioch in Ch16 with Silas to revisit the churches of Jesus Christ, that he had founded with Barnabas on his first journey which took them to Galatia. We saw him travelling around those churches with the message from the Jerusalem Council. That council was where the Antioch church sent representatives including Paul and Barnabas to discuss the conduct of the Gentile converts to Christianity, particularly in relation to circumcision. This arose due to those who had troubled the churches by saying that the Christians had to be circumcised as the Jews were. Paul and Silas were to take the message that they did not need to be circumcised, but were to abstain from meat offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and to abstain from sexual immorality. As the missionaries went, the churches were established. This establishment and encouragement then led to their growth. As they travelled through them to Lystra, they collected a young man Timothy, with a good testimony and reputation to join them as an apprentice on the journey. As we followed them, we saw hindrances in the work as they desired to go to Ephesus but were hindered, and after seeking guidance and travelling where they felt the Holy Spirit was leading them, they ended up going north, before crossing over into Europe. It was there they met Lydia, a lady from Thyatira by the river in Philippi as she was meeting with other women to pray to God. She became the first convert in Europe along with her household. We then saw the conversion of the slave girl who lost her clairvoyance, whose masters caused a riot which led to the arrest of Paul and Silas and their imprisonment. This led to the earthquake at midnight and the conversion of the jailor and his household. They then travelled to Thessalonica where they faced opposition and the converts sent them away to Berea, where the Jews searched the scriptures, and many were converted. Paul left Silas and Timothy there when trouble broke out as the Jews from Thessalonica arrived, while he went on to Athens where he spoke at Mars Hill to the philosophers of the city. Telling them God commands all men to repent. Last week we saw Paul’s arrival in Corinth, his working with fellow tentmakers Aquilla and his wife, the blasphemy he heard in the synagogue and his speaking to the Jews and saying, ‘your blood be on your own heads.’ Despite these words the chief ruler of the synagogue was converted, and we saw how the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision saying he should continue to speak the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Lord promised that he would remain with him, he would not be harmed in the city and that there were many in the city who would be saved. We saw that Paul was then to remain in the city for 18 months teaching the believers and preaching to the lost. The next event took place during those 18 months, and we can imagine they happened quite soon after the vision, knowing how the Jews soon opposed the gospel of Jesus Christ, rejecting the Christian church.
1. The Jewish insurrection dismissed. It seems logical that the Lord warned Paul just before this incident that he would be unharmed, but Paul must have wondered how that would happen. We know from other places the Jews did not take long to act. The Jews of Corinth having blasphemed in the synagogue had found a new leader for them a man named Sosthenes, who replaced Crispus who was converted. Under this new leader they went on to make an insurrection against Paul and they brought him to the judgement seat. This was nothing new. This was in the same way that they had taken hold of Stephen the first Christian martyr in Acts 6:12 and brought him to the judgement seat, Paul looking on as a supporter of them at that time many years earlier. They came accusing Paul of persuading men to ‘worship God contrary to the law.’ He was proclaiming salvation through Jesus Christ alone, who reigned in the kingdom of heaven. Paul had already been accused of ‘teaching customs which are unlawful to Romans’ in Philippi, which led to his imprisonment and the midnight conversion of the jailor following the earthquake in response to the praises of Paul and Silas. In Thessalonica they failed to get hold of Paul, after attacking the house of Jason, but spoke of those ‘that have turned the world upside down,’ before the brethren sent Paul and Silas away. At Berea after the initial success Paul was sent away as the people were being stirred up. This was nothing new to Paul although he had been preserved since the jail in Philippi, in Corinth the Lord had promised him that none would harm him. At the judgement seat Paul was accused by the Jews, but as he was preparing to speak in his defence he was interrupted. The proconsul of Achaia, Gallio, became irritated at the Jewish actions and he spoke to dismiss their argument. He says to them if a crime had taken place or some wickedness, he would listen to them and act as a judge. He was prepared to be the law enforcer if a crime had been committed but was not interested if it was only speculation regarding words and names. The correct responsibility for a magistrate, he was not interested in words or opinions, but crimes. How much our current magistrates could learn from his action. He tells them to look to it themselves and drove them out as he wanted nothing to do with it. In response to this judgement the Greeks turned on Sosthenes the chief ruler of the synagogue and beat him. Gallio did nothing to stop this contrary to his position as proconsul, as a crime now took place in front of him the beating of an innocent man. Here he abandoned his responsibility, as the group in question, the Jews had just irritated him. We don’t know what impact this may have had on Sosthenes. However, as Paul opens his first letter to the Corinthians 1:1 we find that the letter comes from Paul and a Sosthenes ‘Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother.’ We do not know for sure if this was the same man, but it is not impossible that this leader of the Jews should come to be converted, just like Paul had after witnessing the trial and judgement on Stephen. We know from Paul’s example that a persecutor can become a follower and we should not be surprised if this was the case here. Paul stayed in the city a good while after, which took him up to the 18 months mentioned last week. 2. Ephesians desire Paul stay. Paul takes leave of the brethren of Corinth having been instrumental in the conversion of many, and then having established and confirmed them in the faith. He goes towards Syria with Aquila and Priscilla whom he had stayed with in Corinth. It appears that as Paul heads out to be at the feast in Jerusalem, he takes a Nazarite vow in Cenchrea. This is explained in Numbers 6:2-8 ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, when either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord: He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.’ This was showing his devotion to God and was not an innovation from the scribes and Pharisees it was embedded in the scriptures. Therefore as Paul was a Hebrew Jew as we saw last week, it was understandable for him to take this vow to show his devotion to God. He speaks in 1 Corinthians 9:20 about these things ‘unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law.’ Paul was therefore happy to take a vow to God as a Hebrew Jew, so that he could reach other Jews. He was headed to Jerusalem for the upcoming feast, and therefore he was looking to engage with the Jews in attendance with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul was seeking every opportunity to reach out to those of his own nation with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. On their journey they arrive at Ephesus, where Paul had desired to go to much earlier in the journey but had been restrained from doing so. This is where both Aquila and Priscilla remained. While he was there Paul as usual entered the synagogue as he always did and reasoned with the Jews regarding Christ. It seems they were impressed by those things he said as well as possibly by his having taken a vow at Cenchrea to enable him to relate to them and they wanted him to remain longer with them. He did not consent as he was keen to get to Jerusalem for the feast, but he speaks of returning if God willed it. He had experienced enough on this journey and had encountered changes in plans as well as hindrances halting him from travelling to those places he hoped to visit. Therefore, as he speaks to them, he shows his being prepared to submit to the will of God, whatever that may be. If God permitted, then he would endeavour to return, however, there was no guarantee that this would happen. 3. Returns via Jerusalem We finally see this second missionary journey come to an end as he goes to Caesarea and then went up to Jerusalem to salute the church there on that memorable occasion for the Christian church. It was likely that the feast he arrived for was the day of Pentecost. That day on which the Holy Spirit was first granted to the disciples in the upper room, following the Passover when Jesus died and rose again. At that feast there would be plenty of opportunity to conduct outreach among the Jews who had gathered for the feast. This was one of the three days when all the men were to go to Jerusalem as revealed in the law of God. As he travelled, he may have encountered those going from those regions he had visited on this second journey, those from Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth. This would have given him further opportunity to teach Christ to those who were travelling. Once there we see he saluted the Jerusalem church visiting with the Apostle James and any of the other apostles who were there, they may have like him sought to return for Pentecost to report to the Jerusalem church the progress the gospel was making across the nations. He then returned to Antioch, the church that had sent him out on this second journey. We can be sure that as he returned to those who commended him to the Lord’s work as he departed, that he would have given them a report on all his journeyings and the success of the gospel. As we think on these things may we be encouraged to continue seeking to spread the gospel in our day. Amen. Additional readings: Psalm 136, Acts 15:40-41, Acts 18. Hymns: 24 Let us with a gladsome mind, 459 Let us sing the King Messiah, 732 Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us |
AuthorA servant of the Lord Jesus Christ who endeavours to faithfully follow what God teaches in the bible. Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|