Following Jesus's Example

I Peter 2:19-25

How do you respond when you’ve been unfairly attacked or mistreated?  If you’re like most people, including myself, you want to get back at the person and get even.  Hurt them as bad as they hurt you, maybe even worse.  However, this is not the way that God would have us respond, and that is what our Scripture lesson for today is about.

The people to whom the Apostle Peter was writing to were experiencing persecution for their faith, unjust persecution, and he wrote to give them encouragement during this difficult time.  Some of you who read this may live in countries where it is very difficult to be a Christian, and openly showing your faith may bring some significant persecution.  For other Christians, the persecution might not be so open and obvious.  We may get picked on by our boss, or our unsaved family members or neighbors may mock us.  In either case, Peter gives us an example to look to for how to respond.

Peter starts off saying to make sure that any attacks or mistreatment aren’t justly deserved (vs. 19-20).  If we get a ticket for speeding, or our boss calls us in for sleeping on the job, don’t plot revenge or start complaining of being persecuted.  On the other hand, if we suffer for doing what is right, for being a Christian and living for Him, we will please the Lord if our response is appropriate.  He will bless faithfulness.  Be patient and don’t complain or try and retaliate.  He will reward us in due time.  Believers will find favor with God if they are treated unjustly for His sake and they accept it in faith, rather than responding in anger or revenge.

Look to Jesus.  He is the example to follow, by emulating how He responded when He was treated unjustly (vs. 21 - 24).  What had Jesus done to deserve the brutal treatment He was getting?  Nothing!  Unjustly arrested in the middle of the night, hauled before an unfair court where His sentence had already been decided.  Jesus was slapped and punched.  Then handed over to be brutally scourged, forced to carry His cross out of town, and then crucified.  He had done nothing wrong, and how did He respond?  Jesus could have called on legions of angels to come and set Him free, and to destroy those Jewish religious leaders and Romans, but He didn’t.  He suffered for our sake to set us free from sin’s bondage.  Jesus never complained.  He committed Himself to God (vs. 23).  When we commit something to someone, we are turning it over to them, trusting that they will keep it safe.  That’s what Jesus did.  He had perfect trust that God was sovereign.

When we might sometimes face unjust trials, whether large-scale persecution, or only mocking or snide remarks, we need to follow Jesus’ example.  Face the suffering with patience and calmness, being confident that God is in control.  Jesus suffered and died for our salvation, and now, we as Christians, should be dead to sin and live for righteousness.  We are to live by His example, and follow in His footsteps.

Little children often like to be just like their parents.  Sometimes they will even play dress-up, putting on their parents oversized clothes and shoes.  They want to be just like mommy and daddy, following their example.  I live in the north, where we get snow, sometimes rather deep, every winter.  Before sidewalks and streets are shoveled, a parent might go out, making footprints in the snow, and then instruct their child to step into the footprints they have made.  They are to follow in his steps.  That is what we are to do with Jesus (vs. 21).  He has gone before us, giving us an example to follow.  We are to follow in his steps.  

Who Is Your Shepherd?

Psalm 23

This Sunday’s lectionary, the fourth Sunday of the Easter season, we return to Psalm 23, which we looked at once before, during Lent.  This time around, I would like to focus on the first verse - “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Throughout Scriptures, mankind (especially believers) have been compared and referred to as sheep.  Sheep are not very bright, and are slow to learn anything, if they even learn at all.  They are also very stubborn, and they go astray very easily.  Most importantly, sheep need to have a shepherd to watch over and protect them.  Without that, they are easy prey for predators.  These are characteristics that are often typical of us, so comparing us to sheep is quite fitting.

Let’s look at the characteristic of sheep needing a shepherd.  Shepherds watch over the sheep, protecting them from animals that would harm them and from injury.  If they do get injured the shepherd will tend to their wounds.  When a sheep wanders off, which they will when given a chance, the shepherd will go out in search of them, bringing them back into the fold.  They also lead the sheep from one field to another, providing them with the best places to graze.  Sheep cannot find good and safe places on their own.

We all have a shepherd of one sort or another, one that we follow and allow to lead and direct our life.  We can follow and seek after attaining fame and fortune.  That can often lead us down a path we really might not wish to go down, where our ethics and morality could be jeopardized.  Another “shepherd” we can spend much of our time following after, can be political or national leaders.  It doesn’t matter whether right or left wing, either one can, and frequently does leave us sheep in bad shape.  Then there are the other “shepherds” who are false religious leaders.  These are very dangerous shepherds which can lead the sheep down the path to eternal destruction.

Who was David’s shepherd?  Is it the same one we have chosen to follow?  David very clearly states at the start of this Psalm that the LORD is his shepherd.  In the King James version of the Bible, when the word LORD is all in capital letters, it refers specifically to Yahweh, the name of God.  David is saying he has chosen Yahweh as his shepherd, and he is one of the sheep of His fold.

David knew that with Yahweh as his shepherd, he had everything he could ever want, and that all of his needs would be met.  “I shall not want.”  Yahweh is a shepherd who loves and cares for the sheep in His flock.  He is not a shepherd that is negligent in His care of His sheep, allowing them to wander off and get injured.  If they are stubborn, and wilfully wander away from His fold, this good shepherd diligently seeks them until He finds them, and then carefully picks them up and brings them back to the fold  (Luke 15:3-7).  Are any other shepherd that we could be following so loving and careful for their sheep?  Will they be protective of the sheep when an enemy comes around, ready to tear them to pieces?  He is protective of the sheep in His fold from all enemies, particularly the enemies of their soul.  Some other shepherds that we could be following will lead us down a path of destruction, but not this shepherd.  Nothing can touch His sheep without His knowledge.  He will always lead us into safe and abundant pastures.

There are no other shepherds who will care for us as this one.  He is our Good Shepherd.  One who willingly laid down His life for us (John 10:11-15).  Who is your shepherd?  Whose fields are you grazing in?  Be sure it is a shepherd who loves and cares for you, who will protect you, not just in this life, but through all of eternity.  The only shepherd who is like that is the one David chose, and that is the LORD, Yahweh.  Be sure you are His sheep and in His fold.  If you are, He will care for us both now and forever.

Attacks on Church From Within And Without

Acts 6:1-9, 7:51-60

This Sunday’s lectionary has us looking again into the Book of Acts.  In today’s passage we are introduced to Stephen, the Church’s first martyr.  We’ll also see how Satan attacks the early church both from within and without.  He’ll stop at nothing to try to bring the Church of Jesus Christ down.

As Chapter 6 begins the early church is maybe only a few years old.  In verse one we read of two groups of believers - the Grecian, or Hellenists, and the Hebrews.  These were both groups of believers who had come to faith in Jesus out of Jewish background.  (The ministry to the Gentiles hadn’t really started yet.  That started later, in Chapter 10.)  The “Hebrew believers” were those who lived in Judea, spoke Hebrew, and were devout followers of the Law.  The “Grecians” or ‘Hellenists” were also Jewish, but they came from what is present-day Greece, Turkey, and Syria.  They spoke Greek as their first language, and were often not quite so zealous for the Law, as they lived in the Greek culture.  Both were Jewish, though, and both had come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus.

As we read in verse 1, the widows and poor from the Greek or Hellenist believers were being overlooked and left out from the food distributions by the Hebrew or Judean believers.  This is something that should not have been happening, especially among fellow believers, and so soon after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.  The Church was so brand new, but already Satan found a way to stir up dissension among the believers.  Pride and snobbery, and feelings of ethnic superiority set the one group over the other, and the Greek believers in need were getting left out.  This was becoming a big problem that eventually came to the Apostles attention.  They knew that this needed correcting, but also knew they couldn’t stop their ministry of preaching the Gospel.  The Apostles set several godly and Spirit-filled men in charge to see that this problem was rectified (vs. 2-6).

Does this problem still exist in churches today?  Maybe not in the exact specifics, but cliques, snobbery, and a “them versus us”  thinking still does.  “They” don’t look like us, or talk like us.  “They” dress too poorly.  “They” are black or white or some other nationality that “we” don’t like.  That is not right.  Everyone should be made to feel welcomed in God’s house of worship no matter who they are.  In this passage the Hebrew Judean believers looked down on the Greek believers, thinking they weren’t good enough or godly enough because they did not originally live in the Holy Land, speak Hebrew as a native tongue, and lived a “Greek” lifestyle.  We as believers need to look ourselves to see if we are doing the same with how we treat others in our churches.  Are the poor welcomed just as warmly?  How about those of a different race or ethnic background?  Jesus loves and came to save everyone, not just those who are like ourselves.  Don’t let Satan get a foothold by stirring up trouble within our churches, as there is enough coming from without.

We see that as we skip over to Chapter 7.  Stephen was one of the godly, Spirit-filled men that the Apostles had set up to help remedy the problem we just read about.  He was also a very gifted preacher and evangelist, and the Lord was using him to bring many more people to faith in Christ.  This was getting the Jewish religious leaders, those who had opposed Jesus from the start, more and more furious.  People were getting saved, including some of the Jewish priests as we see in verse 7 of chapter 6, and that angered the unbelieving Jews.  They caught and arrested Stephen on charges of blasphemy, and while on trial he used that opportunity to give a final presentation of the Gospel to those in court.  Before this time various believers had been arrested and/or beaten for Jesus’ Name.  Satan was now launching a stronger attack, and he used these Jewish leaders to have Stephen executed, the first Christian martyr.

In various places of the New Testament we read that when Jesus returned to heaven, He was seated at the right hand of God.  As Stephen is being stoned, though, he looks up and says that he sees Jesus standing at God’s right hand (vs. 55).  Standing.  I believe that Jesus was standing up to welcome home the first one who gave his life for Him.

Attacks from within the church and attacks from outside the church.  There’s not much we can do to stop attacks coming from our enemies, those who want to destroy the Church of Jesus.  As long as we are faithful to His Word, and spreading the message of salvation, those attacks will come.  We can do something, though, to stop Satan’s attacks coming from within the fellowship, by showing love for our brothers and sisters in the faith, and obeying Scripture.

Keeping Our Emotions From Blinding Us

Luke 24:13-35

This passage of Scripture tells of two despondent disciples returning to their home in the small town of Emmaus on the third day following Jesus’ crucifixion, should be familiar to many of us.  Let’s take a closer look at the passage and see what message we can glean from this story.  The two main people here were disciples of Jesus who had been present in Jerusalem when He was crucified.  They were saddened and distraught over what happened, and now, three days later, on Sunday, they decide to return to their home in Emmaus, a small town outside of Jerusalem.

In addition to Jesus’ twelve hand-picked apostles there were many other disciples who closely followed His ministry over three years.  These two were among that group.  Verse 21 seems to indicate that these two were expecting the Messiah to be one who would come with some military power, kick the Romans out, and return Israel to her political glory days.  At the very least, they expected him to free them from the foreign oppression they were under.  Now that hope was completely shattered.  Jesus was dead and buried, and all of their dreams were crushed.  So what did they decide to do?  The two of them decided to pack up and get out of town, leave Jerusalem and the other disciples and believers behind.  They wanted to forget the last week of their lives, and perhaps the last few years, as well.  Often when we are depressed and our dreams are smashed to bits we seek to isolate ourselves.  We want to be alone to wallow in our misery.  This isn’t always the best thing.  If these two hadn’t chosen to leave town early Sunday morning, and had remained with the others, they would have seen that it wasn’t just an idle rumor that they had heard.  The Savior had, indeed, risen from the dead, that Mary Magdalene had seen Him, along with Peter, and then the whole group.

As we read further in this passage we see that Jesus meets them along the road home.  Because of all they were going through, their disappointment and sorrows, though, they did not recognize that it was Jesus.  They think He was just another traveler along the road, and the started to share all of what was going on.  Jesus knew that they had doubts, but that they were caused by depression and sorrow, and He was there to meet them where they were and reveal Himself to them.

There have been so many times when I allowed my problems and concerns to blind me to the fact that Jesus was right there alongside of me.  Health concerns, concerns with family, and especially financial concerns have sometimes veiled my eyes to seeing that He is there.  How many times have we all been like these disciples, where we couldn’t see our Savior right there beside us through everything in our lives, and ready to help us and carry us through every trial?

When this happened with these disciples, Jesus took the time to go through the Scriptures with them, showing them verses and passages that showed that He was the Messiah (vs. 27).  That is where the Lord would direct us to go to as well.  When our problems and trials are making it difficult to see Him working in our life, we need to turn to God’s Word, the Bible.  Through reading and meditating on God’s Word, our eyes can be opened to see how many times, when our worries may cloud our vision, that Jesus is right there.  The more we are in the Scriptures, the more our faith and trust will grow.  Just as these two felt, our hearts will burn with the excitement of knowing that Jesus is, indeed, alive and active in our life (vs. 32).

As our passage today concludes, we see that these two disciples returned to Jerusalem and the disciples and apostles there.  Since they were with fellow believers, they all were able to share with each other the experiences they had with the risen Savior (vs. 33-35).  The Lord had risen, indeed, and they all were witnesses.  Let us keep the Word of God in our hearts, and our eyes open to seeing Him alive and active in our own lives.

The Precious Blood of Jesus

I Peter 1:17-23

Think, if you will, of the most valuable things on earth.  The first things that come to my mind are valuable gems - The Hope Diamond in the Smithsonian Institute, or the Crown Jewels held in the Tower of London, all worth many multiple millions of dollars.  There are some very valuable houses around the world, also worth millions of dollars.  How about a person’s blood?   I don’t think blood typically comes to mind when someone talks about valuable things.  Maybe if one is in need of a life-saving transfusion they might think it is valuable, but otherwise it usually doesn’t make the list.  The Apostle Peter would disagree with you, as he states in our passage for today, and I would like to second his argument.

Our key verses from this passage are verses 18 and 19.  Let me illustrate to you how one person’s blood is more valuable than all the jewels in the world.  That Person is the Lord Jesus Christ.  At one time or another most of us have heard on the news about a kidnapping, and the kidnappers will demand from the family a ransom to be paid in order to get the loved one back.  The more famous or wealthy the family is, the higher the ransom amount usually is.  Over 85 years ago the famous Lindbergh family’s baby son was kidnapped, and the ransom was over 1.3 million dollars in today’s money. They were willing to pay that if they could get their beloved baby back.  For most of us no price would be too high to get a loved one returned.

At the time of the Fall, back in Genesis Chapter 3, Satan took mankind hostage.  What would be the price that he demanded of God for the ransom of our souls?  Gold?  Silver?  Diamonds, rubies and emeralds?  God had those.  Everything precious on the face of the earth God could have used to pay for our ransom.  However, none of those could satisfy the debt created by our sin.  To cover this debt, God had to sacrifice something that was much more valuable.  He had to sacrifice the life of His only Son, Jesus Christ.  Yes, His Blood in exchange for our souls.  God paid that price, too.  The Lord Jesus Christ shed His precious Blood on the cross of Calvary to redeem us from Satan’s hands.  Of course, He rose again three days later, thwarting all of Satan’s plans.

Like I said above, most of us would be willing to pay any amount to ransom a loved one.  But what about someone we didn’t care for, someone who had done us wrong, someone who was our enemy?  Would we willingly pay a hefty price for them?  Mostly likely not!  That is exactly what God did for us, though.  We were His enemies, wretched, filthy sinners, when God redeemed us from Satan’s clutches, and paid the price of the Blood of His Son (Romans 5:6-10).  The most valuable thing in the universe, the Blood of the Son of God, paid the ransom for us.

The death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary was not some last minute, last ditch effort by God to win the battle against Satan.  This was something that had been ordained by God since before creation (vs. 20).  God is omniscient, He knows everything.  This plan of the Lord Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity, dying on the cross to pay for our sins, was something decided long before creation.  He thought of each of us long before creation, and loved us enough to decide to die for us to pay for our sins.

There are many people today who take offense when one mentions the Blood of Jesus.  Satan hates the Blood of Jesus, and he has been working for centuries to bring discredit to it in the minds of people.  They think, “Who wants a religion where a bloody sacrifice is needed?”  Or they want a religion where they need to work to be approved by God.  That makes them feel good about themselves.  Either way, the Blood of Jesus is cast aside.  In reality, as we see in this passage, it was the Blood of Jesus, and only that, not gems, gold, or anything else valuable, that could purchase our salvation.

Peter said one thing in this letter that is well worth repeating - in verse 19 he called the Blood of Jesus “precious”.  It is of great value, costly, highly esteemed and beloved.   Is His Blood highly esteemed by us, and beloved?  We should hold it in great value, for it purchased our salvation.

Prayer For Deliverance

Psalm 116

Today’s Psalm selection from Sunday’s lectionary is one of what some people call an “orphan” Psalm.  Several Psalms have been called “orphans” because we do not know the author.  This unknown author seems to have had a very close call with death.  Perhaps he was quite sick, or maybe in some dire predicament where death was staring him in the face.

Have you ever been in circumstances where the spectre of death is lurking in the corner, just waiting to strike?  What do we do when faced with circumstances like this, when life has backed you into a corner, and the end result is looking like it could be death?  It is so easy for fear to wrap its tentacles around us, and then to break down our confidence in God’s goodness.  Our thoughts might drift to thinking whether God still loves us.  Why doesn’t He do something?  Why doesn’t He heal or fix the situation?  The intense stress we feel when death has backed us into a corner can cause us to lash out at everyone, including our loved ones.

So what does a Christian do at a time like this?  Our Psalmist friend here cried out to the Lord in prayer.  We can always reach God with our prayers.  He is near, listening to us (vs. 1-2).  He will answer us with His best.  God answered the Psalmist’s prayers, and that renewed his faith and trust in the Lord, and in His ability to deliver Him (vs. 10).

What can we give to the Lord for all He’s done for us?  This was the question our Psalmist asked in verse 12.  There is nothing we can do to pay for God’s mercy and grace which is shown when He hears and answers our prayers.  Salvation cost God the Blood of His Son, but is free to us, and there is nothing we can do to pay Him back for the love He so freely bestows on us.  The only thing we can give to Him is our obedience and thanksgiving.

One might ask, what about those Christians who do die, either from an illness or accident?  Why didn’t God answer their prayers?  Doesn’t He care about them or love them?  I don’t have any good answer, but one thing I can say for sure is what we see in verse 15 - “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”  We are saddened when a loved one dies.  Gd hurts when we are in sorrow.  Believers are precious to God.  Each life is valuable to Him.  If the one who died is a believer, God rejoices that another one of His children has entered His kingdom.  He, alone, determines when they will be called home to Him.  Death is not an end.  It is the beginning of eternity for them.

As we look back over the Psalm, we need to make sure that we don’t get “spiritual amnesia”, where we forget all the times that God has helped us, coming to our aid and answering our prayers.  Remember back to the times where you cried out to God for help and He answered, whether with healing, or providing finances, restoring a family, or whatever your need was.  When we are facing a dire crisis, rather than panicking and losing all hope, we need to remember how God answered us in the past, and that will give us hope for what we face now.  Then we can rejoice, like our Psalmist here, with a song of thanksgiving to the Lord for saving our life.

Repentance and Baptism

Acts 2:36-47

Our first Bible reading for this third Sunday of the Easter season, we will finish off the first sermon that the Apostle Peter preached to the crowds that had gathered there in Jerusalem.  Peter had preached that Jesus was indeed the chosen Messiah, that he had died, only weeks earlier, for their sins, and that God raised Him from the dead.  Peter’s message, anointed by the Holy Spirit, cut right into the hearts of his audience.  Under conviction, the people asked Peter what they were supposed to do (vs. 37).  When we hear a moving sermon that speaks to us or convicts us, we must then do something about it.   This crowd in Jerusalem didn’t tell Peter he preached a good sermon, and then go home the same as they had come.  No, they made a change in their life.  It’s not enough to just be sorry for our sins.  No, accept God’s forgiveness, and then live like forgiven people.  Like this group did when convicted by a moving message, ask God what He wants us to do, and then do it.

Peter then presented the simple Gospel message - repent, believe that Jesus died for your sins, and accept Him as the Messiah, the Savior.  He didn’t give some long, theologically complex and deep message.  He just presented Jesus, and told them they needed to repent (vs. 38-39).  To be saved one must repent, turning away from their carnal nature and the sins of their past, and turn towards Christ, and depend on Him for forgiveness, mercy, and salvation.  Repentance is more than just fearing the consequences of God’s judgment.  It is a change of mind and of purpose.  One who is truly repentant knows that evil and sin must be forsaken, and Christ embraced.  One turns from sin to God.

Many Bible scholars believe that verse 38 would be better translated “because of the remission of sins” rather than “for the remission of sins”.  Baptism does not forgive sins or save anyone.  We only need to look at the repentant thief on the cross to see that.  This man turned to Jesus and was saved in the last minutes of his life, so he had no opportunity to be baptized.  Yet Jesus said that he would be with Him in Paradise (Luke 23:39-43).  Genuine repentance, and calling upon Jesus for forgiveness of sins is what does save us.  After one has done that, and because of that, one is baptised.  Baptism is an outward sign, an acknowledgement of one’s faith and the inward change in one’s life, and is an act of obedience to the Savior, Jesus.  Through baptism one identifies with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Peter’s salvation message, under the power of the Holy Spirit, brought 3,000 people to salvation that morning as verse 41 indicates!  Their hearts were open to God and His message.  They were saved, then baptized, and they joined the fellowship of the disciples and other believers.  For these early believers this was potentially risky, being baptized in the “Name of Jesus”, as indicated in verse 38.  Practically all of the early believers at this time were Jewish, and to join this group who believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, could be very costly.  The Jewish religious leaders were still very hostile to believers in Jesus, and many of the believers were cast out of the synagogue.  Many of them were disowned by family members.  In a very short while, the Jewish establishment would start putting Christians to death.  

That didn’t stop the Holy Spirit from moving in many people’s hearts, and many more people came to profess faith in Jesus, as the remainder of our passage says.  Witnessing and sharing the Gospel to others was a daily thing (vs 47).  It was not limited to just on Sundays, or when it is convenient to do so, or when the topic came up in conversation on its own.  These early believers knew that they had the best message in the world, the message of salvation, and they wanted to let others know.  Threats from the religious leaders or family didn’t stop them.  Neither did the fear of death.  Are we that eager to get that same message out to those we know?  It is the only message of eternal importance.  Let’s get that message out so that we, too, can see people coming to the Lord daily.  And if you haven’t accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior yet, I urge you to let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart, as He did to those who heard Peter’s first sermon, repent of your sins, and call upon Jesus Christ as your Savior.