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March
8
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Reading 1 - Leviticus 15
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Peter Cresswell
Peter Cresswell
Peter Forbes
Peter Forbes
Peter Forbes
Reading 2 - Psalms 117 & 118
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Peter Cresswell
Peter Cresswell
Psalm 117 This short Psalm gives us the reason why we should worship God - He is kind towards us
Psalm
118 On five occasions (v1,2,,3,4,29)
the exhortation is to recognise the continuing mercy of God. This mercy
is finally seen in the way he sent his son who was rejected by the leaders
of his day. This is spoken of in this Psalm (:10-11,22)
Peter Forbes
Psalm
118 - We know that this Psalm speaks of the events in the last week
of Jesus' life because :25
'save now' is quoted Mark
11:9 and :26
'blessed is he
' is quoted Mark
11:9 and Matthew 23:39 amongst other places. It is suggested, therefore
that :10-12
speak of the trials of Jesus before the Jewish authorities on the third
day before the passover when they tried to fault Jesus by asking him about
tribute to Caesar, the matter of who would have the woman to wife in the
resurrection and the question of why was the greatest commandment in the
law.
Peter Forbes
117:2 So the Jews recognise that God, in His mercy, has called the gentiles and so recognises that God has also been gracious towards them. This must be in the kingdom because at this time the call of the gentiles is designed to cause them to be jealous Deuteronomy 32:21
118:6
This verse, also quoted in Hebrews
13:6, shows the confidence that Jesus had during his life - right
up to his death. So, like the recipients of the letter to the Hebrews
we should have the same confidence.
Peter Forbes
Reading 3 - 2Corinthians 10 & 11
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Peter Cresswell
Another
use of 'comfort'
10:1
Beseech
Maybe 'beseech' seems to be a strange translation for a word usually translated
'comfort' or related words. However a little thought will show why Paul
used this word. Paul is seeking to encourage the brethren and sisters
at Corinth so he appeals to the 'meekness and gentleness of Christ; so
that he does not have to be 'bold' (:2)
when he sees them.
Developing
what we saw last year notice the two quotations from Genesis
11:3
serpent Genesis 3:1
subtilty Genesis 3:1
Now we
know that the corruption brought about by the serpent was not sexual but
mental. Eve's and then Adams mind was corrupted by the words of the serpent.
In like manner our 'virginity' will be lost is we are deceived by the
thinking of the flesh.
Peter Forbes
10:17 We saw in 1 Corinthians in particular that there were some in Corinth who were 'puffed up' with their own self importance. This issue surfaces again with the quotation from Jeremiah 9:24 - any glorying has to be in what God has done for us, not what we have done, as we see it, for Him.
11:11
It would appear that there were enemies of Paul in Corinth who wanted
to teach that Paul had no care for the ecclesia at Corinth. Hence the
question ''Wherefore? Because I love you not?' Again character assassination
is seen because his critics cannot fault the teaching of Paul.
Peter Forbes
I once heard the story of a boy who was short for his age and wanted to be taller. All his friends were at least 10cm taller than he was. (No, it wasn't me!) He finally came up with an idea that appeared to solve his problem. His solution was to make a new ruler to measure himself. His ruler meant that he was now 20cm taller than he was before because he had measured himself with a different standard.
As Christians, the standard we should be measuring ourselves against is Christ. He was the model of perfection. Our aim must be to be like him and even though we will never reach his standard, it must be our aim. But sometimes we can loose sight of the standard we should compare ourselves to and set up new standards for ourselves. We may measure our progress by what we were like last week or last year or against our worst day. Or we may look at ourselves and compare ourselves to the people around us. But Paul warns us about doing that. "When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves they are not wise." Our standard is Christ. Let's not fool ourselves with our own comparisons, but reach for the high standard of Christ.
Robert Prins
A.J.Balfour said, "Nothing matters very much, and very few things matter at all." In reality there is only one thing that is important and that is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and to do what pleases him. Whatever else we experience or that happens around us is insignificant unless it concerns the things of God.
The Apostle Paul had a very dramatic life as he traveled around preaching God's word. If there was anyone who could say that a lot of thing that really mattered had happened to him, it was Paul. To be beaten up is a major event in anyone's life, yet it happened to Paul at least eight times. He was put in prison, shipwrecked, stoned, had threats put on his life, gone without sleep, food clothes and shelter. He even spent a night and a day floating in the sea after a shipwreck! But none of those things were important to Paul. His main concern were the people of God. He said, "Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches."
So it is true. Nothing matters much, but the things of God are very important.
Robert Prins