Non Gamstop Casinos
April 27

Reading 1 - Deuteronomy 13 & 14

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13 v. 6-11 - The attitude that they were told to have to those who wished to take them away from God was not one of compassion! It was obviously right to separate all such temptations from their thinking - ch.17:2-3. We have similar commandments eg. Eph. 4:14, Col 2:4, 2Pet.2:1 create a situation but 2Cor.6:14-18 sets a clear instruction. We no longer, however, are required to kill for this - simply to make such a person 'as a heathen man' - if they fail to repent after the procedures of Matt.18 have been obeyed - which demonstrates that he has removed his own life voluntarily, but we are not to condone it.
Peter Cresswell
14 v.22 - There is much debate about whether it is appropriate to tithe now. It seems to me it would be a good discipline to give a tenth of both our money and our time to the work of the Lord, but an extremely difficult discipline for most of us, being, as we are, under the curse which says that if we do not work neither shall we eat. Giving a tenth to God was required practice. Traditionally we leave this to individuals and their own consciences. I hope we are right to do this. In ch.26:12 we see the point of this - that the requirements of the needy might be supplied.
Peter Cresswell

13 v. 6-11 False doctrine and practice is not to be tolerated. The fellowship in Christ is more important than family loyalties in this respect. Matthew 10:37 The family of Korah understood this so the sons of Korah did not perish in the uprising at that time Numbers 26:11

14:21 That Israel were not to eat of that which 'dieth of itself' is seen in the following passage. Leviticus 7:24 22:8 Defilement follows from such activity. The spiritual lesson is that death is the punishment for sin. Not that the animals have sinned but they are all suffering change that came over creation as a consequence of Adam's transgression. Therefore to eat such flesh is to associate oneself with the dying nature of creation.
Peter Forbes

13:12-17 Idol worship was a total abhorrence to the Lord. Therefore those who harboured the idol worshippers and those who taught error were to be punished along with those who were in error. This is rather like the way in which the whole nation rose up against Gibeah of Benjamin (Judges 20:9)

14:3-20 This detailed list of clean and unclean things given to instruct Israel as to what they could and could not eat develops the instructions of Leviticus 11. As Leviticus 11 was spoken at Sinai many standing listening to Moses at this time would not have been old enough to understand what was said at Sinai. The laws were not primarily to preserve health. Rather they were to teach holiness (14:2)
Peter Forbes

ch 13 -The whole focus of this chapter is the removal of idol worship. It starts first with the prophets and then the family. There would be no point in ridding the land of the idol worshipping inhabitants if the nation of Israel was not already clear of idol worship itself.

14:21 Whilst Israel could not eat of 'that which dieth of itself' it could be given to the 'stranger' which demonstrates that the law is not primarily concerned with health matters. The prohibition was to mark the point that the nation of Israel was 'holy' - the 'stranger' and the 'alien' were not holy.
Peter Forbes

Reading 2 - Ecclesiastes 6

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v. 12 reminds us that we do not know the future. By contrast, of course God does. In fact he not only knows it but controls it. For this reason we ought always to pray, that we might attune our minds with the Almighty and with our future, both in this life, and in the life to come. ch.12:13
Peter Cresswell
v. 6 - Here Solomon quotes twice the lifetime of the longest living man of all time to emphasise the point that this life is but nothing, and would be even if it were 2000 years long, compared with the glorious eternity which God has promised to those that love (and therefore obey) Him. See also ch.3:20, 12:7, Job.1:21, 30:23, Heb.9:27
Peter Cresswell
6:2 The 'vanity' of another eating one's own wealth was Israel's experience Hosea 7:9 Lamentations 5:2 This was because of their faithlessness. Such calamities were not 'chance' happenings but Yahweh's way of teaching Israel that they were astray from Him.
Peter Forbes
6:7 This is the outcome of the curse (Genesis 3:17-19) that man would labour in the field. The labour in the field was to enable the man to continue living - this would provide an opportunity for the man to seek God. So many see the acquisition of food and other items as an end in itself. This is not the way a servant of God should think.
Peter Forbes
:8 So in terms of material things there is no benefit being 'wise' - material things actually do not provide sustaining benefits. The benefit, then, that comes to the 'wise' is that he understands that God is working in his life through the events that happen to him - including the possession or lack of material things.
Peter Forbes

Reading 3 - Acts 3 & 4

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3 v. 12 - There is an important lesson here. The apostles, Peter and John, were virtually being worshipped, and instead of giving in to their own pride, they turn the situation into a preaching one by giving God the glory. It is very important to give God the glory for all things. ch.14:11-15, Gen 40:8, 41:6, Dan.2:28-30, John 3:27-28, 7:18, 2Cor.3:5
Peter Cresswell

3 v.15 When Peter and John assert that the Jews have killed Jesus he is not simply condemning them.  Rather he is wishing to cause them to appreciate their sins in order that they can repent.  Consider Romans 3:23-24.  Unless we recognise our sinfulness then we cannot appreciate the forgiveness that is available through Christ. Acts 4:11 'The stone which the builders rejected' quotes Psalm 118:22.  The use of Psalm 118 reflects Jesus' use of that Psalm when speaking to the same people as Peter and John.  During the last week of his life, only a few weeks earlier, Jesus used the Psalm to great effect, drawing on the expectations of the common people.
The use of Psalm 118 in the last week - a Passover Psalm
On the way in to Jerusalem Matthew 21:9-10 - Psalm 118:25-26 'Have ye never read?' Matthew 21:42 - Psalm 118:22 'Ye will not see me until...' Matthew 23:39 - Psalm 118:26

4 v.13 Consider what it must have been like to spend 40 days with the risen Jesus.  What is it like to be with a man you know is alive for ever.
Peter Forbes

ch 3 - We ought to realise that when Peter was preaching the resurrection of Jesus he was speaking only a few weeks after the tremendous events of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and he was speaking in the city where Jesus was killed to the men who actually did the deed.

4:21 So the leaders have not changed. They feared the people in the days of Jesus and now, after the resurrection, they are just the same. So whilst the disciples had been changed out of all recognition by the resurrection it had no impact on the Jewish leaders.
Peter Forbes

3:21 'restitution of all things' quotes their earlier comment (Mark 9:12) that they understood that Elijah was coming back but now they understand that Jesus will restore all things even though Elijah has a work to do.

4:13 In taking knowledge that the apostles had been with Jesus the understanding is that the leaders realised that they had been with the risen Jesus.
Peter Forbes

ch 3 - God had said to Abraham in Gen 12:3; that in him all families of the earth would be blessed. The gospel message through which these blessings flowed first went out to the Jewish world. In vs. 25,26; “ Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindred’s of the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities”. Forgiveness of sins is the forerunner of these blessings. The apostles Paul went on to say to the Jewish people in Acts 13: “It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo we turn to the gentiles and this is alluded to by the apostle in Acts 4:

ch 4- As Jesus had forewarned in the Olivet Prophecy Peter and John were brought before the religious leaders. And Peter answered them vs 10-12; “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”.

Why did Peter go on to quote Psa 118: in this way. Well is used a number of times in the N.T regarding their rejection of the Messiah, but it is used here I believe in connection with something Jesus himself had said to the Chief priests scribes and elders after he had spoken the parable of the wicked husbandmen. Jesus saith unto them, “Did ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder”.

Here is a clear reference to the present and later rejection of the word of God. Were any of these religious leaders there when Jesus spoke those words? Well we don’t know for sure from their response. It didn’t seem that they had immediately caught on to what he was saying but what I believe is certain both Peter and John remembered and had in mind what Jesus had said at the end of that parable and the salvation they had in mind wasn’t just related to eternal life but their deliverance from God's destructive judgments coming upon the nation.
Roger and Ruth Sharpe