Young People’s Blog

“Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul” (Acts 27:11).

“And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose” (Acts 27:42-43).

Here we have another centurion. This time the Apostle Paul was on board a ship that was taking him to Rome. The centurion was in charge of all the prisoners, one of whom was Paul. But although he was a prisoner, Paul knew the Lord and was able to give some good advice to those in charge, telling them not to leave the island of Crete. However, at first the centurion believed the master of the ship, and did not follow Paul’s advice.

Later they ran into a lot of trouble because they had not taken Paul’s advice, and the centurion realized that Paul was right. Evidently, he changed his mind, and now wanted to protect Paul. What do we learn from this? Sometimes you and I may speak the truth from the Bible to people, but they do not want to listen. However, let us not be discouraged. If we go on quietly with the Lord, He can work in their hearts, and later they may believe what we have said to them.

“And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto Him a centurion, beseeching Him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy…and Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him” (Matthew 8:5-7).

A centurion was a Roman soldier who was the commander of 100 men and had authority over them. But here was one who recognized who the Lord Jesus was, and who came to Him for help. His servant was very sick, and he wanted the Lord to heal him. But if you read the story, you will see that the centurion asked the Lord Jesus not to bother coming all the way to his house. He had faith that if the Lord Jesus only said the word, his servant would be healed. The Lord appreciated his faith, and when He simply said the word, the servant was healed!

The centurion understood authority, and as a commanding officer, he was accustomed to sending his servants here and there to do various things. He knew the Lord Jesus could speak the word, and it would happen.

There are several centurions mentioned in the New Testament. Only one is mentioned by name. Can you find his story and name?

“The governor [Pilate] answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain [two] will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas” (Matthew 27:21).

When the Jews brought the Lord Jesus to Pilate, they asked that He be crucified. But Pilate knew that the Lord Jesus had not done anything wrong, and he badly wanted to let Him go. It was the custom at the Passover feast for the governor to release a prisoner, and Pilate proposed that he release either Barabbas or the Lord Jesus. When he asked the crowd whom they wanted, they immediately chose Barabbas.

This world made its choice on that day long ago and has suffered for it ever since. Barabbas had done just about everything criminal that could be done, yet the people would rather have him released than have the Lord Jesus set free. No wonder this world is full of crime and terrorism today!

We know that this was the natural heart of man, but God was in it, for we also read, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20). When man did his worst, and asked for a murderer instead of the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus went to the cross, and provided a way that you and I could be saved.

“Lying lips are abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 12:22).

Perhaps some of you have not noticed this yet, but in the world today, lying is very common. When I was growing up it was still regarded as a serious sin, and anyone caught lying was not respected at all. All that has changed today, and it is looked upon as all right to tell lies, especially to get out of trouble.

A few years ago I took my snowblower in to have it serviced. The man in charge promised to deliver it back on a Monday. I waited all day, and when he never came, I called him on the phone. He said that he had promised to deliver it on Tuesday, not Monday. When I reminded him of what he had said, and told him I had written it down, he finally admitted that he had lied to me, and said, “I guess that was not very professional of me.”

Let us be careful not to adopt the attitude of this world toward telling lies, for as we see in our verse, it is an abomination to the Lord. As Christians, we should be recognized as those who always tell the truth.

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye…Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3,5).

If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we are all experts at seeing the faults of others. A mote is another name for a small speck of something, while a beam is just that—a large length of wood or metal that could be used to support a house. Of course we would never actually have a beam in our eye, but the Lord uses the comparison to show us how we can always see the speck of wrong that someone else does, but perhaps do not notice the much bigger wrong that we have done.

The Lord can use us to help one another judge wrong things in our lives, but first we must judge ourselves. As Christians, self-judgment is most important, for we still have an old sinful nature, that wants to do bad things. When this happens, we sometimes try to excuse ourselves, yet still want to help someone else get rid of a very small sin.

If we have done wrong, we need to confess it to the Lord, and then He can forgive us, so that we enjoy happy fellowship with the Lord again. Then we may be able to be a help to others who do not realize what they are doing wrong.

“Love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave…Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it” (Song of Solomon 8:6-7).

Love and jealousy are some of the strongest emotions in the human heart. Down through the ages many people have died for others because of the bond of love between them. Husbands have died for wives, and wives for their husbands. Parents have died for children, and soldiers have died for their comrades. On one occasion during World War II, a hand grenade was thrown into a concrete bunker by the enemy. Several men were in the bunker, including their commanding officer. Had the grenade gone off in the normal way, all of them would have been killed. But the commanding officer immediately fell on top of the grenade and took the force of it himself. He died of course, but all his men lived.

The love of the Lord Jesus led Him to give Himself for us, not when we were His friends, but when we were His enemies. There is no love like His!

No man of greater love can boast,
Than for His friend to die.
Thou for Thine enemies wast slain:
What love with Thine can vie?

“And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated” (Deuteronomy 34:7).

Moses’ life can be divided into three sections of forty years. He was forty years growing up in Pharaoh’s court, then forty years keeping sheep in the backside of the desert, and finally forty years leading the children of Israel through the desert towards the land of Canaan. In our verse today, we read that at the end of his life, he was just as strong and healthy as ever. His eyes were good, and his natural strength was the same. Why was this?

Normally as people get older, they get weaker, and their bodies start to fail. For example, by the time Isaac was one hundred and twenty years old, his eyes were dim and he could not see very well. But the Lord had a work for Moses to do, and in order to do it well, he needed good eyes and full strength. The Lord gave that to him and preserved his health.

The Lord can do that for you and me today as well. If He has something for us to do, He will give us the strength for it. We may not live to one hundred and twenty years with our full strength, but the Lord will see to it that we have the strength to do what He wants us to do.

“My Beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away” (Song of Solomon 2:10).

The Song of Solomon is a short but very beautiful book of the Bible. You probably know that Solomon wrote three books of the Bible—Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. In Proverbs, God is almost always addressed as LORD, written in capital letters. This is really the word for Jehovah. In Ecclesiastes, God is referred to simply as God. But in the Song of Solomon neither God nor Jehovah are mentioned. Why is this? It is because the Song of Solomon speaks of a relationship between a bride and her bridegroom, and it uses more endearing language. She calls Him, “My beloved,” and He calls her, “My love.”

I live in Canada, and, as of this writing, we recognize Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state. When she was a little girl, her grandfather, King George V was the king. Whenever she went in to see him, she first had to bow and recognize him as king. But then she could run and jump up on his knee. Did she call him “Your majesty” then, or call him “king?” No, she called him grandpa! That is the way it is in the Song of Solomon.

You and I who are saved recognize Jesus as Lord, but then we can enjoy our relationship with Him as Savior, and as our Bridegroom, who is waiting to call us home.

“Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Two days ago we were noticing that when we get old, the pleasures of this life often do not have much attraction for us. Both our minds and bodies are failing, and we do not have the interest or the energy to do the things we did when we were young. However, if we know the Lord, we find the truth of our verse today. The outward man may be slowly going downhill, but the Lord renews the inward man day by day.

I remember having lunch a few years ago with an older man who had Alzheimer’s disease. I had known him well for many years, but as I tried to have a conversation with him, I found that much of what he said to me did not make sense. However, when I spoke to him about the things of the Lord, I found that he responded quite normally, and everything he said concerning spiritual things made perfect sense. Why was that? It was because the Spirit of God that was in him was renewing his inward man, and he was enjoying those things, even if his mind was not totally clear on natural things. He had indeed remembered his Creator when he was young, and he was getting the benefit of it when he was older.

“And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire…Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire” (Exodus 12:8-9).

When the Israelites ate the Passover, they were to make sure that the lamb was roasted with fire. It could not be eaten raw, nor were they to boil it in water. It must be roasted with fire.

We know that the Passover is a picture of the Lord Jesus and His death on the cross. On the cross, during the three hours of darkness, He bore the full judgment of God for sin. The fire that roasted the lamb speaks of the judgment of God, and it could not be lessened in any way. Of course the lamb did not feel anything, for it was already dead, but the fire is a picture that shows us the suffering of the Lord Jesus for sin. He had to bear the full judgment for sin; it could not be lessened in any way, if our sins were to be put away. Today is the Lord’s Day, and He wants us to remember Him, and all that He suffered for us.