Author: BTP

“I became in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet” (Revelation 1:10 JND).

It is interesting to notice that this verse contains the only reference to the first day of the week as “the Lord’s day.” Also, the words were uttered by a man (the Apostle John) who had been banished to the island of Patmos, and probably had no Christian fellowship there. Yet he recognized the importance of the first day of the week, calling it the Lord’s day, even though he likely could not remember the Lord in the normal way. Notice too that he says that he “became in the Spirit.” Likely there were worldly influences around him, and in order to be in the Spirit, he had made an effort to put those things out of his mind. But it was on that day that the Lord spoke to him, with a voice like a trumpet.

All this is good for us to remember. Most of us are not banished from our brethren, as John was, but do we devote the Lord’s day to Him? Do we recognize His lordship over us, and use the day for Him? Yes, some of us may be compelled to work occasionally on a Lord’s day, but do we treat the day as His, as much as possible? It is a day when we can honor the Lord Jesus, first of all by remembering Him in death, and then by using our time and energy for Him.

“And He [the Lord] said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live” (Acts 22:21-22).

Here we see Paul trying to explain the gospel to that Jewish mob, and trying to show them why he preached the way he did. They listened to him until he spoke about going out to preach to the Gentiles, and then they started a riot. They could not bear to think that God was going to bless the Gentiles, who were outside the nation of Israel. But even back in the Old Testament, God had spoken quite a few times about bringing the Gentiles into blessing too, and the Jews should have realized this. However, they did not want to believe it, and sadly, it is easy to refuse something when we do not want to believe it.

Most of you who read this calendar are Gentiles, and we should all be very thankful that God chose to bring us into blessing in Christ. Yes, the nation of Israel is God’s chosen people, and He has not forgotten about them. But for now, God is forming His church from every race and nation, and both Jews and Gentiles may come and be saved on the same basis.

“And when he [the Apostle Paul] came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him” (Acts 21:35-36).

“But they cried out, Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him” (John 19:15).

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, the Jewish mob cried out to the Roman governor Pilate, “Away with Him,” for they wanted to get rid of the Lord Jesus. It was probably about thirty years later that the Apostle Paul was in Jerusalem, and we find a large mob of Jews crying out the same words. The crowd was all worked up into religious fanaticism, and they wanted to get rid of Paul too. Why was this?

It was because Paul was teaching that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah, and that He had died on the cross to save those same people who were so upset. More than this, Paul was teaching those Jews who got saved that they did not need to carry on with Jewish laws and rules, or Jewish sacrifices, and other things that were only pictures of what the Lord Jesus had done. All this roused the hatred of the Jews, and they wanted to kill Paul too. But there was another reason why they hated Paul; we will see that tomorrow.

We need to remember this too. If this world did not want the Lord Jesus, it will not want us either. We may not always be harmed or killed, but we will not be popular in this world if we are faithful.

“There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord” (Proverbs 21:30).

During World War II, nations on both sides of the conflict tried many different plans and tricks to try and fool the other side, and to get an advantage over them. Sometimes they were very successful, as when the British pretended to be gathering a large army in Scotland in 1944, leading Germany to think that they were about to begin an invasion of Europe in Norway and the French city of Calais. But the real plan was to invade France in the region of Normandy, and this occurred on D-day—June 6, 1944.

However, our verse today reminds us that we cannot plan anything against the Lord, for He knows it all beforehand, and His power will overcome any of man’s designs. Man forgets about that, and thinks that he can make anything happen, if only he is smart enough, and plans well enough. But the Lord always has the last word; we cannot plan against Him.

It is so important to remember this in our personal lives, and to pray about everything we do. If we have the mind of the Lord in our plans, they will not fail.

“And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard…and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden…and finding disciples, we tarried there seven days” (Acts 21:2-4).

If you have studied ancient history, you will remember that Tyre was a very old city, dating from at least 1000 B.C. It is mentioned in the Old Testament in connection with David and Solomon. The Tyrians were a commercial people, and although Tyre had been conquered and largely destroyed by Alexander the Great, it was still an important seaport and commercial place in Roman times. However, Paul does not mention any of this. Rather, he was overjoyed to find believers there, and he stayed with them a week.

We ought to see the world the way Paul and others in the early church did. Nowadays many young people want to visit as many places in this world as possible. Rather than collecting “things,” they want a passport full of foreign visas and stamps. Yes, it is fun to visit various parts of the world, but our aim ought to be to spread the gospel, and to encourage other believers, rather than simply making “tourist” visits. Everything in this world will be destroyed eventually, but we will spend all eternity with our brethren. It is good to enjoy their company now!

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).

There are many things that can be an encouragement and a help to us in our Christian pathway—good Christian friends, a nice assembly where we can go, others who have an interest in gospel work, a nice Christian family, to name a few. However, Paul does not mention any of these things when he takes leave of the Ephesian elders. No, because anything connected with man may fail us. We may find that there are not many Christian friends available to us, or we may find that those in our local gathering do not encourage us much.

However, the Lord Himself, and also His Word, never change. The Lord is always there for us, and when we read His Word, we are built up, and learn more about that inheritance that is ours. We may enjoy the help of others, either from individuals, or collectively, but they are a help only inasmuch as they bring God and His Word before us. We do not need anything else.

“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

It is interesting that it was the Apostle Paul who wrote these words, as he never knew the Lord Jesus when He was here on earth. Paul never heard the Lord Jesus actually say those words. Someone must have told Paul what the Lord Jesus said, and he repeats it here, when he was speaking to the Ephesian elders. But it is a very important truth to remember.

The happiest Christians are those who are givers, for it is being more like the Lord Jesus Himself. God is a giving God, and has given us the greatest gift of all—His own beloved Son. Now He calls us to be givers too.

Naturally we all like to be takers, but there is a special joy in being a giver, and giving glorifies God too. When we have received so much, it is wonderful to be able to give to others.

“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He come” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

If we are true Christians, we have the privilege of remembering the Lord every Lord’s day. Of course, we can do it oftener than that too, but it is especially important to do it on Lord’s day—the day He rose from the dead. However, Paul reminded the Corinthians that it was a privilege they would have only until the Lord comes to take us home.

When we are in heaven, we will certainly remember that the Lord suffered for us, but we will not need a loaf of bread and a cup of wine. We will forever be able to see the nail prints in His hands and the spear mark in His side, to remind us of how much He suffered for us.

However, it is a special privilege to be able to remember Him down here in this world. It is here that He suffered for us, and it is here that we can “show the Lord’s death” to the world. If you are truly saved, are you remembering the Lord in His death?

“And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot” (Acts 20:13).

We all realize the importance of getting some regular exercise, and perhaps some of you like to jog, work out with weights, or play sports, etc. Others, perhaps older people, like to ride stationary bikes or run on treadmills. Here in our verse for today we see the Apostle Paul wanting to walk from Troas (Troy) to Assos. It was quite a distance—about 20 miles, or 32 km. I like to think that he felt the need for some exercise, and perhaps a chance to be alone with the Lord, rather than having to talk to other people the whole distance. So all the others (you can read their names in verse 4) went by ship, while Paul walked.

This is the wonderful thing about the Word of God. It is truly inspired, and every word was written by those who were led by the Spirit of God, yet there is still a “human touch” in it. It is not just a dry record of what happened. All those whose lives are recorded in the Bible were real people, just like ourselves, and they had the same struggles and needs as we have.

“Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?” (Proverbs 20:6).

This verse was true three thousand years ago when Solomon wrote it, and it is true today. If something good happens to people today, they usually take credit for it themselves. But if something bad happens to them, they usually blame someone else for it. They say it was someone else’s fault. When people write a resume, if they are looking for a job, they usually exaggerate their good points, and minimize their faults. Even while speaking to the police, or in court, people often tell wild stories about what happened in, say, a car accident, to try and make it look as if the other driver was at fault.

As our proverb says, “A faithful man who can find”? You and I, as Christians, should be faithful ones who can be depended upon to tell the truth, even if we are in the wrong. This is honoring to the Lord, and although we may suffer in the short term, in the long run we will be honored of the Lord for being truthful.