Kingwood House Church

Learning from Acts – Salvation of the Philippian Jailer

Acts 16:25-28 - About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

Paul was on his second extended missionary journey.  Originally, he planned to revisit the churches in planted on his first tour and assess their progress (Acts 15:36-41).  The churches back then had no means of communicating with each other regularly, and there was no centralized management or control.  Each church had to learn to follow the Holy Spirit’s direction, receiving only occasional visits or letters from Apostles or other leaders.

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Learning from Leviticus – Sprinkle the Altar on All Sides

Leviticus 1:5 – “He is to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.”

This verse describes what they had to do with the blood when they brought a burnt offering – before the burning it, they would drain the blood and sprinkle it on all sides of God’s altar.  In the same way, we need the blood of Jesus to touch EVERY AREA of our lives – all sides.  Everything must be consecrated, every area of sin forgiven, every facet of our lives under its protection.  This is the opening passage of Leviticus, a book entirely about priestly sacrifices and other priestly duties – all of which foreshadow the work of Jesus, our Great High Priest.

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Learning from 2 Samuel 15 – David Flees from Absalom

2 Samuel 15:14 – So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come on!  Let’s escape!  Otherwise, no one will be delivered from Absalom!  Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring disaster on us and kill the city’s residents with the sword.”

The kingdom of David in the Old Testament is a prophetic foreshadowing of the spiritual kingdom of Jesus.  David followed God with his whole heart.  He did not exalt himself, but let God raise him to the kingship in due time.  The Scriptures later compared all the other leaders who followed David to him — particularly regarding if they followed God with their whole heart.

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Learning from 1 Kings 22 – Ahab, Jehoshaphat, and Micaiah

1 Kings 22:6-8 - So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”  ”Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?”    The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

“The king should not say that,” Jehoshaphat replied.

This is a lesson about hearing from God and knowing God’s will for our lives.  This story occurs during a period when the Israelites were divided into two kingdoms – a northern kingdom, usually called “Israel” or “Samaria” (Samaria was the capital), and a southern kingdom, called “Judah,” headquartered in Jerusalem.  Sometimes the northern and southern kingdoms were at war, and sometimes they were allies, as in this chapter.  The kings of Judah, the southern kingdom, were physical descendants of David, and a few of them (not the majority) were righteous, godly men.  Jehoshaphat was one of their most godly kings.  The kings of Samaria, the northern kingdom, were all bad, except for a mixed character named Jehu.  Ahab was one of their worst kings.  Jehoshaphat apparently felt intimidated by Ahab, and was willing to do almost anything to forge a deeper alliance between their kingdoms.  During a summit between the two leaders, Ahab proposes that they launch a war against  Aram (a people group from modern-day Syria and Iraq), to retake part of Israel’s territory (Ramoth-Gilead in modern-day Jordan) that the army of Aram had occupied.

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Learning from Psalm 119 – “Open My Eyes That I May See Wonderful Things in Your Law”

Psalm 119:17-19 -

Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word.

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me.

Psalm 119 is an extended song about God’s words – his law, his commands, his ongoing revelation in our lives, and the Living Word (Jesus).  Each verse teaches the believer something about how God intended us to interact with his words and assimilate them into our lives.

“Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word.” – Notice how the response to God’s blessing is OBEDIENCE.  Many churches recite the slogan every week that says, “God is good – all the time!”  We cannot stop there, merely reminding ourselves of God’s goodness.  God’s “kindness leads us to repentance” (Romans 2:4).  He extends his mercy with a purpose, to transform our lives.   Continue reading Learning from Psalm 119 – “Open My Eyes That I May See Wonderful Things in Your Law” »

Learning from Isaiah – “He Gently Leads Those Who Have Young”

Isaiah 40:11 - “He gently leads those who have young.”

There are several ways to increase how much we hear God speak to us.  God is never obligated, of course, to any man, but the Bible shows us some circumstances in which people are more likely to receive personal, direct revelation from Him.  This verse describes one of these special circumstances.

The chapter overall declares God’s protection over His people, and the first part of this verse portrays Him as a gentle Shepherd who gathers us in his arms.  “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart…”

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Learning from Psalm 119 (Ps. 119:1-8, “Aleph”)

¹ Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.

² Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.

³ They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways.

⁴ You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.

⁵ Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!

⁶ Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.

⁷ I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.

⁸ I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.

INTRODUCTION – Psalm 119 is unique.  It is the longest psalm, the longest chapter in the Bible, and is located in the middle of the Bible – like a “user manual” or operator instructions for the rest of the Scriptures.

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Learning from 1 Kings – Rehoboam’s Sin

1 Kings 12:12-15 – Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier.  My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

Rehoboam made an egotistical decision that ended the unity of the Israelite nation for hundreds of years.  As a result, God’s chosen nation splintered into a northern kingdom called “Samaria” or “Israel,” and a southern kingdom called “Judah,” which actually included the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Levi, and Simeon.  The Lord foretold this catastrophe, however, years before through a prophet.  It was a punishment for the disobedience of the leaders and the people during the later years of Solomon’s reign.

“Three days later” is a common occurrence in Scripture.  Prophetically, it points to God’s eternal time, moments in God’s Project of Salvation.

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Learning from Philippians – Is Material Prosperity a Sign of God’s Approval?

Philippians 4:12 – “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

A heresy of modern Christianity is the notion that material wealth is a sign of God’s approval.  God indeed blesses his faithful servants, and the Bible promises provision (Matthew 6:33).  Even so, there are churches today that preach a gospel of greed, and teach that the pastor’s wealth signals the strength of his spiritual anointing.  The Bible teaches riches are spiritually neutral.  Both the evil and the righteous accumulate riches, and poor people can be either wicked or upright.  Wealth or poverty is never a reliable indication of God’s approval of the person.

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HOLIDAY BREAK – Tuesday Meetings Resume January 5

We’re taking a break from our Tuesday night meetings for the next two weeks while many of our regular members are traveling to visit relatives for the holidays.  We will resume with our regular Tuesday schedule on January 5, 2010.  Our Sunday morning meetings will continue during this time as usual.