The Trumpets Sound

Exeter Temple Message notes: Sunday 11^th October 2015

Bible Reading: Numbers 10

The two trumpets were for the quick relay of orders to the camp of Israel. In Israel there were set days when trumpets would sound.  The people could prepare for those times but the call to move camp or the call to battle could come at any time.

For us there are prescribed things that are laid down in the Bible that we need to obey but we need to be alert to what God is leading us to do in the times in which we live.

1.      A Call to Community

 “Make two trumpets of hammered silver and use them for calling the community together.  V 2

In our highly individualistic culture we need to recognise that whilst Christian faith is personal it is not lived out in isolation but in community. 

One of our Corps values is “Engage in authentic Christian fellowship.”

It is a call was not just to meet with one another but with God,

“to assemble at the Tent of Meeting” v 3

This tent was the place where the people met to seek the presence of God.

When one or two people come into corporate worship with a holy expectancy it can change the atmosphere.  We imagine that it is the content of a gathering, music, numbers, preacher’s skill etc. that matter most but what is offered in a worship meeting is just a doorway.  We all need to come with a willingness to seek God’s presence.

The unique thing about the people of Israel was that they had a God who could and would communicate with them. Of other communities it was said:    

“idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. The have mouths and cannot speak.” Psalm 115:4

 “Like a scarecrow in a melon patch their idols cannot speak.” 

(Jeremiah 10:5)

In contrast Jeremiah says, “But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God.”   (Jeremiah 10:10)

This is why Jesus often said, “He who has ears, let him hear.” (e.g. Matthew 13:9)

 “He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 2:11)

2.      A Call to Action

A distinction was made between simply blowing the trumpet and sounding a blast. When the blast was sounding it was a signal to break camp.

 “The blast of the signal for setting out.” V 6 

All the tribes moved in response to the trumpet blast. It would have been disastrous for the unity of the nation and for the strategy for the conquering of the Promised Land if each tribe did their own thing, regardless of the direction of the leadership.

Similarly as God’s people today it is important that our activity is based on more than personal whim but is a reaction to God’s particular will and purpose.

 “Action without meaning is futile just as thinking without action is sterile.” (Anon)

Sometimes we rush ahead of God with doubtless sincere enthusiasm but this is not the gravest danger.  More often than not we talk about going on with God but never go. We dream of launching out but we don’t. We soak up the experiences of others but fear taking the kind of risks they took. 

“O God our Father, let us not be content to wait and see what will happen but give us the determination to make the right things happen. Whilst time is running out save us from patience which is akin to cowardice. Give us courage to be either hot or cold, to stand for something lest we fall for anything.”  Peter Marshall

More often than not the blast of the trumpet for the Israelites meant they would soon be immersed in battle. Theirs was a physical fight to gain occupation of a land. For us there is a spiritual implication. Christians are called to go and win over those who are opposed to Christ.

 “We are sent to war! We are not sent to minister to a congregation and be content if we keep things going. We are sent to make war and to stop short of nothing but the subjugation of the world to the sway of the Lord Jesus.   (William Booth 1878)

Many things oppose that aim. There is a war against selfishness, apathy, division, pride, greed, materialism, despair etc. Just as ISIS is behind so many terrorist attacks is a power behind all of these things The Bible calls this enemy the devil and we are not just expected to ignore him.  Paul tells us to stand against his evil schemes (Ephesians 6:11) and Peter tells us we should resist him. (1 Peter 5:9)

In the Old Testament the trumpet was blasted to send the troops into battles and then another was sounded to call them home when the battle was over. One day there will be a trumpet call to tell us that it is time to lay down our arms.

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven and with a loud command with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first after that. We who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Whilst Paul goes on to say we should comfort ourselves with these words there is no sense of inactivity whilst we wait in hope for the glorious day. Instead there is advice to be alert, self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. That sounds like the action of soldiers to me. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8)

That’s fighting talk.  The final trumpet has not yet sounded.

3.      The Call to Repent and Rejoice

Trumpets were used to alert people that Fasts and Feasts were about to start.

Also at your times of rejoicing-your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals-you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God." (Numbers 10:10“)
One feast was actually called the Feast of Trumpets.  It called God’s s people to gather together for spiritual awakening, repentance, judgment, and his enjoyment.

This Feast was held on the first day of the seventh month and ushered in the new civil year. Unlike our modern New Year's Day celebrations, the Jews used the first day of their new year for prayer, meditation, and confession. They sought to make a new beginning with the Lord.

It afforded the people an opportunity to review where they were with God and if need be make a new spiritual beginning at the start of a new year. 

"The victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings."

(Alexander Whyte)

It was on the Feast of Trumpets that Ezra read the Law to the Jews that had returned home to Jerusalem.  As God spoke through his word, the people began to weep they were so touched by what they had heard and so began a period of repentance and consecration to put God first in their lives again. (Nehemiah 8)

We do not have to wait for New Year to make a new beginning with the Lord today.

There were battles to be won and at times a need to get on their knees in confession, repentance and consecration there was also always much to celebrate. God had done marvellous things for them which they must always remember. Even when life was tough, God was tougher and that was something to celebrate.

Jesus used the imagery of feasting to describe his rule. New life in him was as full of blessing as a sumptuous banquet.  

Human beings are very choosy about who they celebrate but the Bible makes it clear that God’s blessings should be shared.

In the OT festivals many festivals included in the invitation to the poor, the widow, the orphan, the traveller and the foreigner despite their ability to contribute much. (Deuteronomy 16)

Jesus makes it clear that the life he offers with all its blessing is not just for those of us who think we deserve it but for everyone who will come to him.

There are some bugle calls that some soldiers can ignore.  They are particularly for officers and sergeants, but others when they are sounded are for everyone.  The call of the trumpets we have thought about this morning are to all people.  They mean you and they mean me.

Blessings 

Alan and Carol 

Exeter Temple Message notes: 20th September 2015

Theme: Jump in

Bible Reading: Ezekiel 47:1-12

Water in the Bible is representative of the Spirit of God and in this vision  the water flowing from the throne of God represents the Holy Spirit being poured out into the world and transforming it. The Spirit of God is a Spirit of grace and love. Wherever the Spirit goes, grace and love will flow too. 

The river flows out of the temple from the south side or the right side of the altar. In the Bible the right hand side was seen as the anointed side, the side of power and strength. The right hand of God is where Jesus is right now.

“After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:7-8)

Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”  

(John 7:37)

The water began as a trickle, like water being poured from the neck of a small flask or bottle.  As it runs from under the Temple threshold the trickle became a stream, then the stream became a creek, then the creek became a river then the river became a torrent, a mighty flow of water to deep and strong to wade across.

History shows us that this is the way the Holy Spirit was received by the world.  In the Old Testament the Spirit came in a limited way and touched a few people, like prophets, priests and kings to fulfil a task; we see an increase in the activity of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people around the birth of Jesus and then with the day of Pentecost, the Spirit is poured out to all who would receive him.

This fulfilled the promise that God gave to Joel that “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28)

Spiritually speaking we live in a time when the river is in flood.  The river is flowing, the river is here.

1. Jump in

Ezekiel first saw the waters but he did not go into the water alone. He says “The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple.”  (v3b)

Who was the man in Ezekiel’s vision?

Look back to Ezekiel 40:2-3 “In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a high mountain on who south side were some buildings that looked like a city. He took me there and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing on the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.”

The apostle John had a similar vision on the island of Patmos, “And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet, with a golden sash round his chest. His head and hair were white like wool as white as snow and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace and his voice like the sound of rushing waters.”  (Revelation 1:13-15)

It is generally agreed that the man is a vision of the victorious Christ leading people into immersion in the life of the Spirit.  This is about being led to some new style of worship or denominational emphasis.  We can’t have Christianity without the Holy Spirit.  We can’t have revival without him and we will never be free, full or fruitful until we get into this gracious river.

It’s no good as Salvationists that the outward ceremony of baptism is not a necessity because Jesus came to bring the inward reality of baptism in the Spirit if we don’t claim it ourselves.  Our stance on sacraments only stands if we live a baptised in the Spirit life and our life really is Christ’s broken bread and out-poured wine!

2. Go deeper 

So often we have become too afraid to give our all to Jesus Christ. We reason within ourselves that, if we don’t commit to the work fully then we won’t be found guilty of failing in our commitment to Christ.

Many step into the water, get their feet wet. At this point in our walk with the Lord we still behave the way we want to but Ezekiel gives a picture of a person who had gone so far from the shore that he could no longer walk back. The current was so strong and the volume of water was so great that Ezekiel was in over his head. Still God was carrying him and there was no danger of the Prophet drowning. God was still in control of the water and of the life of the prophet.
Most Christians will never experience the joy, fulfilment, trust and love for God that comes with this kind of commitment because they love the safety of the shore too much. Revival isn’t for the ankle-deep people, because they will never catch the vision for what God wants to do. They will never have complete trust and faith in God to accomplish those things that seem so impossible. They will only sit by and grumble because the corps isn’t growing or because they don’t “feel anything” as though it was God’s fault, the corps fault, their families fault, the officers fault.

Revival isn’t even for those who will get knee-deep. There are some who may sense that God wants to accomplish something great in their lives. They may even catch a glimpse of the vision that God has for their ministry, but they won’t take the step towards what they see.  The church will experience revival and the individual Christian will only become all that God has intended for them to become when they give up to God in total surrender and commit their lives to Him without reservation.

At the swimming depth, the river takes us wherever the river flows. The river controls us. We do not control the Holy Spirit. It is a picture of a Christian yielded to the Holy Spirit.
“The greatness of a man’s power if the measure of his surrender.” (William Booth)

3. See healing

When the Lord had taught this lesson of surrender and dependency to Ezekiel he asked him to look at the river again.  “Son of man do you see this? (v6)

The picture of the river is set in the Jordan valley and the river flows east through the desert into the Jordan Valley, where it enters the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea lies about 16 miles in a straight line to the east of Jerusalem. It has no outlet. The water of the Sea is much heavier that other seas. The weight of the water is due to the very large quantity of mineral salts which it holds in solution. This means nothing living can exist in this sea and yet in Ezekiel’s vision, the River of God can bring life to even its dead waters.

There is no spirit so dead, no life so sin-filled, there is no soul so depraved, there is no life so separated from God that it cannot be revived by encountering the life-giving love of God.

When the river of God met the sea it turned salt water to fresh.  If we don’t hold back but flow in the river of Holy Spirit anointing then when our lives touch others, it will help them change their attitude.

When there was healing then there was also growth. 

 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
A river not only has a source but a work to do.  Rivers with the aid of   weathering and mass movement wear away the land and re-deposit the eroded material lower down in their valleys and ultimately in the sea.   Geologists call this the energy of the river.  It is the amount of work a river can do.  For us there is a great deal more work that the River of God wants to do in our lives.  Like the pebble in the stream God wants to smooth off our rough edges, he may want to re shape us,

We need the river.  The river stands for the power of the Spirit today.  If we trust in our own resources we will put all our energy into survival, so we cannot spare any to give fruit.  We become dry, with nothing to give.

What is more, when God moves close in times of blessing, we cannot benefit from it, we cannot enjoy it, we cannot receive the blessings that God wants to give us, because we have so adapted ourselves to living on our own resources that we struggle to receive from him. We can sit here while others are being moved by God, experiencing his blessing and we spend our time thinking about what we are going to do next, or what has happened in the week just gone and the blessing of God does not touch or move us in the slightest. We do not need to be afraid or get out of the river because God’s river only ever flows into the ocean of his love. 

God bless

Carol 

Wake Up

Exeter Temple Message notes: 13th September 2015

Bible Readings:  Ephesians 5:8-20/Revelation 3:1-6

There are numerous calls in the Bible for God’s people to wake up

Ephesians 5:14 “Wake up O sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.”  

Isaiah 60:1 “Arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”

Romans 13:11 & 12 “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber because salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost her. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.”

1 Thessalonians 5:6 “Therefore let us not be like others who are asleep but let us be alert and self- controlled.”

1.      God’s people need to admit that we have been asleep

Churches that are in need of new life, will often deny that they are sleeping.  The Church in Sardis would have been surprised to be accused of being asleep as they could point to the work they were doing for the kingdom of God. Today they would be the kind of church where there is a diverse programme of activity, enjoyable worship, interesting preaching and good organisation.  Yet Sardis had lost vitality, was content with mediocrity and were not making an impact in the community. It was a model of inoffensive, complacent, nominal Christianity. The church in Sardis was also showing signs of spiritual decay, and was not on its guard.

2.      God’s people need to wake up in time.

So often the church is playing catch up.  By the time we realise that there are spiritually hungry people waiting for us to give them the bread of life, they have gone elsewhere to find something to satisfy them.  The body of Christ is often so backward in understanding and discerning the moral and spiritual condition of the world around it. For example, changing attitudes to marriage, the sexual revolution. We fail to understand what is presently shaping history.  Paul says “wake up and rise from the dead and to make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is.”  (Ephesians 5:15)

 We also what time it is in the church.  The Sardis Church did not realise how close they were to judgment and to extinction.  The angel warns them, "If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you."  (Revelation 3:3b)

This is not a reference to the Second Coming, but a coming in judgment. Whilst nothing can ultimately prevail against the Church capital C, history is sadly littered with local churches that have become extinct and with Christians who lost their way.

Spiritually speaking, sleeping is as neglectful as a sentry closing his eyes on duty.  He fails to protect himself or others. It is as dangerous as allowing someone who has taken an overdose to doze off. They may go into a coma. It is as deadly as a lorry driver having forty winks at the wheel. There will be a crash.

This church was warned because it wasn’t quite too late. According to Revelation 3:4, there was a godly remnant at Sardis, who hadn’t been polluted by the world.

Questions:

-          Has there been a wake-up call in my life recently that I’ve missed?

-          Is God trying to tell me something today?

-          Will I answer His wake-up?

-          Will you be part of the godly remnant that stays awake?

-           

3.      How do we wake up and stay up?

 “Remember, therefore what you have received and heard; obey it and repent.”  (Revelation 3:3a)

This includes recalling that they were once lost sinners without hope, the salvation they had received and the joy of their first love for Jesus.

It is remembering that they do not need a reputation to make them powerful.  They had forgotten the fundamental of faith, prayer and reliance upon the Holy Spirit.

It is all too easy, to wake up but then to turn back over and go back to sleep.  The angel here is not criticizing a people who are taking Sabbath rest. It is right to rest, to sleep when we have laboured hard and we need to recuperate and regain our strength. 

It is understandable that at times we might get a bit tired with the simple physical, mental and emotional effort of living a Christian life in what the Bible calls a “wicked and perverse” generation.” But we don’t always sleep because we are tired. Sometimes we sleep because we are too warm, too full up from a heavy meal, or become drowsy by the rhythm of a car or a train or we are simply bored. If we were out in the fresh air, walking or engaged in something that interested our minds and our hearts sleep would be the furthest thing from our thoughts.

The Greek words that are translated “wake up” in both Ephesians and in Revelation it means not just a one off action but implies becoming wakeful or watchful.  It refers to a continual condition.

This passage shows us that waking up should be followed by obedience and repentance.

If we just make a mental or emotional assent to the idea that we ought to wake up, we will drift back into slumber.  The alarm clock is also a call to obey. It implies - Get up.

The Spirit’s call to wake up is a call to get up and actually do what God’s word says we must do. We must stop thinking that we have the option to pick and choose what we will and will not believe or obey. We cannot bend the word of God to fit our lifestyle. Instead we must conform and go His way.

God Bless

Alan

What is revival?

Exeter Temple Message notes: 6^th September 2015

Bible Reading: Psalm 85

All of us, throughout our lives and throughout our Christian walk will need personal revival at various times. Every church that has survived more than a generation or two will require times of revival if it is to continue to represent and serve Christ in a powerful way.

Psalm 85 was written sometime after exiled Jews had returned to Jerusalem. They found that their land has been wasted, the temple had been destroyed; there was rubble piled up around the holy places of God and the people who had remained behind were spiritually weak and corrupt. They engaged in a sudden rush of activity to address the problems and the foundations of a new temple were laid. However years went by and they had not built God’s house again, there had been poor harvest and not much food about and some enemies attacked them.   In desperation one of them writes this psalm as a prayer.

 It was obvious to the psalmist that God’s people of God needed restoration and a revival not only in their fortunes but in their worship, in their devotion to God, in the strength to carry out their God given mission to the world.

 “Revival is God at work, restoring His church to health.  (Walter Boldt) 

1. Look back

Psalm 85:1-3 recall the way God worked in the past history of Israel: “You showed favour to your land, O LORD; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger.”

It is because the writer remembered what God had done in the past and thought about previous acts of God's power that he was now crying out for God to do it all over again.

“Restore us again O God our Saviour.  Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?" (v4)

It is a remarkable fact that when people begin to take an interest in revival, they immediately start to pray for it all over again. We can look back on times in the history of the Church in the UK when God has brought renewal and restoration after a period of decline.  We can be inspired by our history.  We are not asking for something that has no precedent.

“Lord, you can revive us again. We are not so deep in the mire but that you can’t lift us out. We are not so dead but that you can make us alive. Will you not revive us again? It is impossible to us, but it is possible to you. Lord, one touch of your hand, a breath from your blessed lips, and it is done. Brothers, Sisters, we believe in God, do we not? And if we do, we believe that whatever state a Church is in, God can bring it out of it! Do not run away from it and say, “God can never bless it.” He can bless it! Pray it up into a blessing and make this the essence of your prayer, “Lord, You can revive us. We believe it, and we look for it.”  (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

2.  Look up 

The Psalmist looked back for inspiration and looks up for an answer to his present need.  He recognised that the turning around of Israel’s fortunes would take more than everyone making an effort, or for the great minds of the day to come up with a scheme. We need God to move among us. God is not obligated to give us revival just because it is needed.  While it is ultimately a supernatural act of God, revival begins with our earnest cry and desire to receive it.

QUOTE: “The single greatest need in our land today is heaven-sent revival! Revival comes at the sovereign, gracious decision of God to send a fresh movement of His Spirit among his people… (but) Revival will not come unless it is desired. It is an invasion from heaven at the request of the saints on earth.” (Raymond Perkins, Sermon Central).

The psalmist prayer consists of:

Praise                                                                                                                               v1-3 He remembers that God is good. He rehearses what God has done.  Even when things are bad it is good to remember that God is worthy of our praise.

Penitence                                                                                                                       v4-7 He recognises that God has cause to be angry with his people.  They have grieved him with their lack of love, their disobedience, their lethargy.  In Ephesians 4:30 Paul warns not the sinners but the saints not to “grieve the Holy Spirit.”

True revival always involves the acknowledgement of sin and the forgiveness of sins. As he asks God to be merciful towards a people who have grieved him and caused him displeasure, he does soon the basis of the character of God.  “Show us your unfailing love O Lord and grant us your salvation.”  

He sees that repentance is linked to joy.  We connect repentance with tears but not joy but the one leads to the other. To confess our sin and to turn around and set off again knowing that you are now on the right road is to know a tremendous release.  It is sin, not the process of repentance that is the burden.  Revival may begin in tears, but it proceeds to joy.

Pledge                                                                                                                             V 8-9 “I will listen to what God the Lord will say. Let them not return to folly, salvation is near to those who fear him that is glory may dwell in the land.”

Revival is not just about emotional moments. True revival is on-going; not a spur of the moment trip to the mercy seat.  When we pray for revival we need to count the cost and examine our motives. The motivation of the psalmist is that God’s “glory may dwell in our land.”

If we want revival because we want our church to survive and we think revival means we won’t need to do any more embarrassing evangelism then we had better forget it.  If we are looking for revival so that we don’t have to work so hard in the church because there will be more people about to do the jobs, forget it.  In Revival the voice of God is more clearly heard and will call us to greater challenges.  And we need to remember that alongside revival there is often also an outbreak of persecution. 

But to walk with God, in harmony with his will and with his approval has to be worth any cost. 

3. Looking Forward

Finally, in v 10-13 the psalm expresses confidence in God and paints a picture of what revival will look like. There is expectation.  There is belief in the promises of God.  Restoration and revival is not a wish that the writer has plucked out of the air. It is something that God has already said he will do when God’s people seek his face.

He may not do it in the way we think he will or in the timing we expect but he will do it.

 V10-13 “Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth and righteousness looks down from heaven. The Lord will indeed give what is good and out land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.”

Blessings 

Carol 

                       

Unsung Hero: Titus

Exeter Temple Message notes: 30^th August 2015

Bible Readings: Titus and 2 Corinthians 7:13-8:21

Titus spent some of his time as a travelling missionary as part of Paul’s team but also became the pastor of a local congregation. He may have eventually been a bishop with oversight of a region. Even if we are not like Titus in personality, role or circumstance we can learn from his own godly attributes and those he was encouraged to pursue.

1. Be ready                                                                                                              

Paul took Titus with him to the Council of Jerusalem where he used Titus as a test case in the matter of whether Gentiles needed to adopt Jewish customs in order to find acceptance in the church.  (Gal.2:1-3).

Titus was sent to the problem filled church at Corinth where he also was expected to challenge the congregation to fulfill a financial obligation. He is then dispatched to Crete, a place with bad reputation. Paul had visited the island of Crete briefly on his voyage to Rome as a prisoner and returned later with Titus after his release but then asked Titus to go back there on his own to build up the church.  From there Titus was asked to re-join Paul in Nicapolis and then moved again to Dalmatia.  Titus may have stayed with Paul during his second imprisonment in Rome and at some point returned to Crete where he probably ended his days.

Why say yes to such difficult tasks?

Titus would have learned from Paul that the true motivation for any ministry is service. Paul often used the word servant to describe himself and he opened his letter to Titus with the words, “Paul a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.”

The thought of servitude does not rest easily with our modern ideas of freedom and independence. If service is an attempt to somehow measure up and earn the acceptance of God it will appear too demanding.

The Greek word often simply translated as servant, can also be translated as “bond-slave. In ancient culture if a person got into serious debt the outcome was often  enslavement to their creditor. In Jewish law this could not be for more than 7 years. However some slaves would voluntarily become permanent bond-slaves of a master they loved and respected. (See Exodus 21:5-6)

The servant of Christ confidently and voluntarily gives their life over to a master who is as wise as he is kind. Titus seemed to have grasped the whole concept of being a Servant of Christ which is not just a tick list of duties that have a beginning and end. It is a lifestyle.

Do you see yourself as a servant or just a volunteer? There’s a world of difference between the two. A volunteer picks and chooses when and even whether to serve. A servant serves no matter what. A volunteer serves when convenient; a servant serves out of commitment.

1 Peter 2:16 challenges us to “…live as servants of God.”

2. Be realistic                                                                                                              

Paul quotes a Greek poet who said the people of Crete were always liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons.” (Titus 1:12)Paul agrees and adds that they are also people who “claim to know God but by their actions they deny him. They are they are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” (Titus 1:13)

Titus was put into  in a difficult circumstance and there is no use pretending otherwise.  Sometimes we are put into such positions because God knows that is where we are most needed. Paul says to Titus, “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order.  In other words, Crete is a mess that is why you are there. (Titus 1:5)

It was not just Crete that needed help but the Church there had been affected by the culture around it. It seemed to be beset by a rise in false teaching and declining morality.

The Greek behind that phrase straighten out in v 5 is linked to the idea of a broken bone being reset.  Titus is there to help this church walk again. Another adjective that Paul uses 4 times in this letter is the word “sound”   He links the word with doctrine in chapter 1:9 and “2:1. And with faith in chapter 1:13 and chapter 2:2.  It is used to describe that which is whole or healthy, strong, not defective. 

The = English word "hygiene" from the Greek.  

There is a part of us that would prefer to avoid a health check-up but good sense tells us that having an evaluation of our condition means that poor health issues can be addressed.

So Paul calls Titus to not be afraid of facing up to what is wrong but gives him lots of advice about how to help this church get healthy.

If our spiritual health is going to be good it has to be based on truth. Titus 1:9 stresses the importance of holding firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught and encouraging others by sound doctrine. One of the reasons our lives are spiritually unhealthy at times is because we have listened to and followed the wisdom of the world above the wisdom of the Bible.  In our communication saturated society, it might be a good idea for each of us to evaluate what percentage of time we spent absorbing the word of God and Christian teaching in comparison with our time spend watching TV, surfing the internet, reading magazines, newspapers or listening to the opinions of our peers. 

3. Be reliable                                                                                                                 

 It is possible to know all the right things and not put them into practice.  The other word Paul uses a lot in his letter to Titus is the word good. There must be a correspondence between creed and deed.

Titus is encouraged to live out that maxim in his own life. Titus 2:7 “In everything set them an example by doing what is good.”             

Paul shows us that Titus did do that.

-          Integrity and faithfulness                         (2 Cor. 12:17-18)

-          Genuine love for God’s people                 (2 Cor. 7:13–15 & 8:16-17)

-          Enthusiastic and used his own initiative    (2 Cor. 7:6).

Possessing both strength and tact, Titus calmed a desperate situation on more than one occasion. He is a good model for Christians who are called to live out their witness in trying circumstances. 

Healthy, godly lives are rooted in the person of Jesus and what he has done.  Titus’ own healthy spiritual life was an outcome the operation of the Holy Spirit, given by God through Jesus Christ.

The inspiration to be ready, realistic and reliable in our service comes from a response to all Jesus has done for us.

Read Titus 2:4-8

God Bless

Alan

Unsung hero: Ebed Melech

Exeter Temple Bible Message notes:  Sunday 9^th August 2015

Bible Reading: Jeremiah 38-39

Many people have heard of Jeremiah but the name of Ebed-Melech is not so familiar. Yet, without him Jeremiah would have died a slow and painful death.

Background

The Northern Kingdom of Israel has already fallen to the invading Babylonian army. The same fate now awaits Judah, but King, Zedekiah has allied the country with Egypt and they had already sent troops to support  the Judean army  and as a result they had pushed the Babylonians back. Jeremiah, had continually prophesied any hope Judah had of staying free, was to return to God. Jeremiah could see that Egypt would only defend Judah whilst it was in its own interests. Jeremiah counselled that the Babylonians would have their day, but all would not be lost for Judah, if she learned from this lesson returned to the Lord and forsook worshipping other gods. His advice sounded like treason to the Jewish leadership desperate to cling on to power.  On an innocent family business trip Jeremiah was arrested, beaten up and imprisoned. 

Secretly King Zedekiah knew that Jeremiah was right but was too weak to challenge the decision of his officials to issue a death warrant on Jeremiah, Jeremiah was taken and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the kings son which was in the courtyard of the guard where without help he was sure to die.

Who was Ebed-Melech? 

This was not his name, but a title for what he did.  It literally meant “Servant of the King.”  He came from the land of Cush, a general term for regions of Africa south of Egypt.  Some modern translations state that he came from Ethiopia.  The NIV lists him as an official in the palace of King Zedekiah, other translations say that he was a eunuch. If he was this possibly indicates he was a guard of the women’s quarters. It is also possible he was a slave.  His was a very different status to that of the four officials in Jeremiah 38:1 who opposed Jeremiah. They were members of the royal family and were very powerful. Ebed-Melech, the man with no

name, was a foreigner and a lowly back-room servant, just doing his job. But despite his position he became a key figure in Jeremiah’s rescue.

One commentator describes him as “a moral man in tune with God”

1. He heard v 7

How Ebed-Melech heard about Jeremiah’s plight is unknown.  Jeremiah had not had a trial; he was not to be executed publicly. He was kept hidden away in the private drainage system within the confines of the palace.  The point was to get rid of Jeremiah, whilst letting the world think he had defected to the enemy.  

Zedekiah should have protected Jeremiah but he claimed he could do nothing.

v 5 “He is in your hands. The king can do nothing to oppose you.”

We are prone to saying, “Somebody should do something about this.”  Sometimes we wish somebody else would go – but God says, I want you to go.  Sometimes we wish somebody else would do the task needing to be done but God says I have placed this in our hands; no one else is going to pick this up. This is yours.

Christian speaker Ruth Hill likens the situation to being at baggage collection at the airport.  Dozens of bags pass before your eyes on the conveyor belt. You don’t pick them all up but you do step forward and you do collect those with your name on. Most of the time, if you don’t pick it, it becomes lost luggage.

When we don’t really want to do something, many good reasons surface in our mind to justify our passivity. It is easy to be absorbed in the endless busy-ness of our small worlds: my study, my family, my home, my job, my local church, my comfort, my future. 

But Ebed-Melech’s sensitive heart would not allow him to remain indifferent. He has been called the Good Samaritan of the Old Testament

2. He went      v8 

Ebed-Melech could have brought Jeremiah bread every day to keep him alive until the fall of the present regime. This would still have been an act of sacrifice because in the current crisis they were in bread was difficult to come by and it would have been an act of faith because it showed that Ebed-Melech believed Jeremiah’s prophecy.   This would be all very commendable and sensible; helping but not risking too much; caring but not compromising your own position.  But this was not what faith in God was calling Ebed-Melech to do.

Instead he had a two-fold mission.

1. - to expose the truth of what had happened to Jeremiah, clear Jeremiah’s name so that the word of God would not be discredited.

2. to show some compassion for Jeremiah personally and literally get him out of a hole.

It would take great faith and courage for Ebed-Melech to go to the king and plead for Jeremiah.  He went to see Zedekiah when he was in a court outside the palace where, as the king he listened to appeals for justice.  Ebed-Melech made Jeremiahs plight public and shamed the king into acting more justly.  

Ebed-Melech’s words are bold. Kings usually don’t like to be corrected and especially not on moral matters. Yet King Zedekiah knew EbedMelech was right and he commissioned him to lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies”

Even with King’s permission, it was still a risky act to go and get Jeremiah out of the cistern, given the power of the men who had put Jeremiah there in the first place.  Ebed-Melech didn’t need the 30 men provided by Zedekiah to pull one man out of a well. He needed them as body guards!

3. He used what he had

When Jeremiah prayed for deliverance he probably did not think that a bag of jumble would be a sign of hope.  It is obvious that without the ropes Jeremiah could not have got out of the cistern but the old rags made it possible for him to get out without further injury.

Ebed-Melech was in the right place to hear about Jeremiah’s need, he knew where the king was to be able to bring the truth to light and who else but someone who knew the palace as well as a servant would know that there were worn out clothes in a room under the treasury!

For Ebed-Melech, serving the Lord, being the hero God asked him to be, simply depended upon him being himself and using the opportunities and the resources that were already his. 

, “Just thanking God for making ordinary people like us indispensable co-workers with himself in his plan of redemption for those who are near to us and of course further afield. “ Commissioner Harry Read- Facebook

1 Peter 4:10 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in various forms.”

4. He held on

Amazingly, Ebed-Melech had stayed at his post. He hadn’t gone over to the Babylonians, he hadn’t run away back to Ethiopia or escaped to Egypt but this meant that the outlook for him now was very bad indeed. His very title  gives him away as a member of the deposed king’s staff.  Prison, forced labour or execution is the most likely outcome for him.

In the midst of the chaos Jeremiah starts to prophesy but his message is not for the nation, it is not for the new governor or for the exiles in Babylon, it is a personal word for a faithful servant of God, with no name who was alone and terrified. 

“I am about to fulfil my words about this city through disaster not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes but I will rescue you on that day declares the Lord; you will not be handed over to those you fear. I will save you and you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust me.”   (Ch 39:16-17)

God doesn’t always choose to physically protect the people he is pleased with but he never overlooks them, even if others do. Notice too, that even though he was afraid, God talks in the present tense of Ebed-Melech’s trust.

We can be assured that whatever it is that God calls us to get involved with, he knows us and he is aware of our fears, our battles  and  temptations.  

“And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted^[b] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,^[c] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”  1 Corinthians 10:13

Ebed- Melech may never be in the Top Ten of biblical heroes but it is unlikely he ever wanted to be, his main concern being to do what was right.

God Bless

Alan