Epaggelia

Boldness, Acts 4:23-31, Hebrews 4:16. Peter is arrested here and kept in custody for a day, then when released he and all the other Christians ask for more boldness. Later on, Peter is arrested and jailed, but miraculously released (Ac. 12). Boldness in prayer obviously comes from real faith growing stronger. We know that faith comes from hearing the word of God, Romans 10:17, but once we have been given a measure of faith, Romans 12:3, how can our faith grow stronger? We must know the power of God, Mt. 22:29 & Mk. 12:24. Boldness in prayer comes from God, Jude v20. What does the phrase “pray in the Holy Spirit” mean to you? Ephesians 6:18. I do not believe in prayer, I believe in God, therefore I pray! When we pray, we are not relying on the power of prayer, we are relying on the power of God. This is only true, if we are praying a prayer instead of just saying a prayer.  

Perseverance, Luke 18:1-8, Romans 12:12, 1Thessalonians 5:17. Every mature Christian with any life experience knows how valuable it is to make prayer a daily part of your lifestyle, Acts 6:4. The persistence of the begging neighbor in the parable of Jesus, (Lk. 11:5-8) is to teach us that God wants us to do more than express our concerns, He wants us to express how deeply and genuinely we are concerned! Why? Not because He wants to make us beg!, but because, enduring prayers help us to grow in our understanding of God’s will, which is what we are supposed to be praying for. So the more the child asks for a particular present, the more the same child learns whether or not they really want it. Every good parent judges their children’s desire by the number of times they ask. A Christmas present requested for once on a list, isn’t likely to be found under the tree, like the present the same child begged for everyday in December. Lastly, never forget that the begging widow in Luke 18, was shown to us, as a reminder of how perfect God’s timing is, He gives us exactly what is best, more of Himself (Lk. 11:8-13) A consistent prayer-life creates a more Christ-like Christian!

Providence, Acts 4:29 & 12:5, 11-17, James 1:6-8, 16-17 & 4:3, 13-15. If God wants to work a miracle today, He will, regardless of our prayers & faith. But if we pray in faith about the problem, and God surprises us with what we want. Why do we say it was going to happen anyway regardless of our prayer? What did our prayer do? Our prayer made us acutely aware of God working and even greater, our prayer was expressing faith in a God who can answer and work beyond anyone’s expectations. Prayer helps faith grow! Jude v20. Without praying, we are not made aware of the providential and powerful grace of God. If God does not ‘fix the problem’ the way we prayerfully suggest in faith, He is answering an obvious ‘no’, but does that mean God doesn’t care and isn’t fair? We must learn to adopt the attitude of Paul when we believe God has said ‘no’. Read and memorize 2Corinthians 12:6-10. God’s will is to be prayed for in faith, with the objective of PROVING HIS WILL, not just learning about it. Romans 12:2.

In learning how to pray and sing joyfully, it is very useful to examine the way other people have expressed their rejoicing. Some good examples to view are Hannah, Mary and of course Jesus (Lk. 10:21).  Although Christ was truly a man of sorrows, he also rejoiced. Paul emphasized this part of Christ’s character when he wrote, ‘rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!’, Php 4:4. James emphasized it saying, “is anyone cheerful, he should sing praises! Jas. 5:13. But even when we are sad, it is wise to look for a reason to rejoice, Jas. 1:2. Why does God put such an emphasis on rejoicing? What makes God’s children rejoice?   

Hannah: (1Sam.1:27) She was convinced God heard her prayer and answered it positively! “Samuel” means “God hears”. Do we really believe this? After Samuel had been born, she considered the event as her ‘salvation’ 2:1. Do we come through life threatening events with a stronger faith in the Lord’s mercy or grace?  The holiness of God (2:2) was made personal in Hannah’s life, she saw her pregnancy, labor and weaning as God’s work, it was all holy and she felt she was privileged to be used by Him. Do we count the Lord’s work in service to each other as holy and a special divine privilege? She knew God was omniscient and was in control of the future, Samuel’s birth seemed to prove to Hannah that God knew (2:3) exactly how events would transpire to exalt his maid-servant and the baby’s future. Are we equally confident about God’s knowledge and control of our own future? James 1:5. She saw how God humbled the mighty and exalted the lowly (2:4-8) and it made her happy enough to sing about it. See Matthew 23:11-12. This is exactly what makes Jesus happy too, Luke 10:19-22. Oddly enough, he is only recorded as actually singing just before his betrayal during his last night with his closest disciples, Mt. 26:30. But we know Jesus must have sung during the Jewish Feasts he attended throughout all his life on earth (Psalms 108-118). The joy of Jesus is taught upon in John 15:1-12, and it is founded upon growing the fruit of His Spirit like a branch should do being grown from the true vine that provides divine love. In order for us to experience the joy of Jesus we must be more than acquainted with God’s love, it must be growing from within our heart so much, that it spills out in service to one another, Galatians 5:22-23. Hannah couldn’t hold her happiness in because she was certain of God’s care for His children, (2:9) See Psalm 37:23 & Jer. 10:23. Jesus taught us that we should pray that we will not be led into temptation, Mt. 6:13. When we fully realize that our happiness depends on God’s direction of our steps in daily life, then His happiness will overflow in praise and prayer. 

Mary: (Luke 1:46-55) In some ways, Mary’s song is almost verbatim repeating Hannah’s song. The holiness of God is reiterated because Mary is overwhelmed by the privilege of her position in giving birth to the Messiah. Mary must have had knowledge of Isaiah 7:14 and could rejoice in the insight of seeing herself helping God fulfil prophecy, Matthew 1:18-23. Mary reasoned that if God could bring baby Jesus into the world through her as a virgin in poverty and risk, then He could easily help her and Joseph to raise Jesus into the acclaimed Messiah God wanted for the world. This filled her with joy! She was convinced that her baby was the seed promised to Abraham, Gen. 15:1-6, Gal. 3:16-18. Do we really believe that God uses us to exalt the lowly and humble the proud? When we see this as Jesus does, we will experience the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Key Text, Prv. 30:1-9. 

Every disciple needs the strength of God to maintain his discipleship, or else we as disciples become slow and distracted in following God and learning more about Him. God has always provided access to His strength derived from His word or message of truth. How can Solomon or any Jewish father such as Agur expect his son to grow in wisdom and use it in his daily lifestyle without providing God’s strength to accomplish it? The answer is God’s word itself. In this case, prophecy & fulfilment, or hope & an answer. This is why so many prophecies of the Old Testament writers had a two-fold fulfilment. See Isaiah 7:14 & 8:3-4 & Mt. 1:23.Judaism has taught from the earliest times that the Messiah was pre-existent (especially in view of Micah 5:2 and Daniel 7:9-18), and the claims of Jesus in the Gospels reflect this clearly. It is best to say that there is a hint in Prv. 30:4 of the nature of the Messiah as Son, a hint that will later be revealed in full through the incarnation of God in baby Jesus. Would it not bolster the faith and feed the hope of any Jewish boy, to know that His Creator has a son? Yes of course, but why, you might ask. Because Agur’s clear implication in this passage is that His creative power is within His son’s name. 

Could we use this name? God’s name was and is used in many powerful ways, and of course should never be used in a vain, common or senseless way. Immediately following this prophecy concerning the name of the Son of God, we have a prayer from Agur which is concerned about stopping God’s name being used in a shameful way, 30:7-9.  Why is it sinful to use the name of Jesus in a sense of exasperation, frustration or even fright? Because other people hearing it, have the very clear understanding that you do not really respect Him, nor do you treat Him as being present and powerful enough to help us with whatever problem that caused you to use His name in vain.Prv. 30:4 begins questioning how we can know more about God, by learning of our expectation of his coming into our reality on earth, from his transcendent existence in heaven.  The Son of the “Holy One”, being the Creator was somehow letting Agur know that His knowledge can not grow unless there is MORE than communication from Heaven, there must be a transmigrating Presence from Heaven to earth. This gave the first readers of Proverbs hope of learning more, and since Jesus has made the fulfilment clear, it gives us today real answers and strength.

God’s strength should be used to bolster our determination to follow Him no matter what happens to us. John 3:13 is the record of Jesus making this clear and further elaborates in 6:35-39. His transmigration and presence was for the searching and finding of lost souls within Israel, and His Spirit is here for the same purpose wherever you are located now! The reason Agur was so ‘dull’ and uneducated was because he simply didn’t know how much and how long God wanted to save people worse off than him!  Do you know how big God’s love is for the lost? If yes, then how much love has he lavished on you? Does this strengthen your resolve to follow Him? If we have the faith the size of a mustard seed in the truth revealed through Jesus, we will do amazing things for Him, not ourself. His freedom is worth all costs we may need to pay in our discipleship, Mt. 17:20. His truth will set you free to move that mountain and share your faith! Jn. 8:32

Can our prayers change the mind of God? Moses changed God’s mind when he prayed to save Israel from being destroyed. Hezekiah’s prayer changed God’s mind from his death to adding 15 years to his life. Abraham interceded for the wicked city of Sodom & Gomorrah with the hope of saving it, if God could find just ten righteous people in it. God already knew their outcry of sin was great, but He did not know HOW GREAT until He sent the angels into the city to discover, Gen. 18:21. After the angel’s visitation, He couldn’t even find 10, so it was destroyed. Not even Abraham saw fit to save it, if 10 couldn’t be found. So what was the point of his intercession? Abraham was concerned about his nephew Lot’s abode & family, he loved Lot and had raised him as a son, and delivered him from warring kidnapping Kings. Gen. 12:4-5, 13:8-11, 14:12-16. Even though God’s promise to Abraham would not be fulfilled through Lot, Abraham still wanted to save him. As events happened, only Lot and his two daughters came out alive. Remember Lots wife, Luke 17:32. This was the necessary point of Abraham’s intercession. Do we make intercession in prayer for our neighbors salvation in the context of impending judgment from God’s wrath, they rest under? Colossians 3:5-6. If Abraham had not interceded, then Lot and his daughters would have certainly been killed along with his wife!

The church practiced a devotion to prayer (Ac.2:42), and when a problem arose to be solved, (Ac.6:3-4), the apostles devoted themselves to prayer. Why? So that the Message would be spread and received into the hearts of men, (2Ths.3:1 & Mt. 9:38 & Rm. 10:1). Most people assume that it was for the problem to be solved, or that God would grant strength and wisdom for the ‘deacons’ in charge of solving the problem, but that is a superfluous assumption because God’s answer to the problem lay in the Apostles’ appointment and instruction. What the Apostles then prayed about was for God to give them the opportunity to spread the Word and that the truth would be received into the hearts of lost people, Mt. 13:18-19, Acts 15:7-9.

 When Jesus interceded in prayer, why did He intercede? John 17:17-26. For the apostles sanctification, our unity and to share in His glory. Without this being answered, there is NO WAY for the world to know who Jesus is and why He came!,v21. A million more Bibles can be printed and distributed, but if they are not PRAYERFULLY read, no salvation results! Today He is our mediator to the Father, so therefore He is still interceding for us, with the same intent. 1Tim. 2:5. This is the will of God! Luke 18:1-8, Persevere in prayer so that the Kingdom will increase!

Key Text, 2nd Samuel 1:17-27. 

Have you ever viewed worldly people as dead, and felt sadness? See Ephesians 2:1, 5, & 5:14, 1Tim. 5:6. If yes, you have probably felt the need to let God know. Why do we experience this and what is God’s will for us concerning death? What is the Christian’s response to loss when in reality we are more than conquerors? Romans 8:37. David was certainly a conqueror, yet he really felt great loss. He is called a man after God’s own heart, and you can see that in his prayerful mourning for Saul & Jonathan. If we learn to mourn, lament or express our sadness to God in a similar way, we will receive the same kind of blessings from God, that David received. Cooperating with God’s word and will in submitting our many different emotions we experience as humans, Php. 4:6-7.

Why did David mourn for Saul & Jonathan? David mourned for Saul because Saul was the anointed of God before him, and Saul was mighty for God’s people. 1Samuel 10:14-16 & 15:1-9. He mourned for Jonathan because of their love for one another, 2Sam 1:26. There are 5 parts to David’s lament, we can learn from:

1. Sadness, v20: There is nothing to rejoice about, in the fact that people are lost spiritually. When Israel lost Saul & Jonathan, they lost a leader and great potential on earth for God’s will to be accomplished. The church is weaker when we lose family members that are not Christians, they are the saddest funerals to attend. We have a right to mourn. See Luke 19:41-45. Consider the constructive yet critical response Jesus had.

2. Justice Requested, v21: There is a sense in which we should ask God to execute justice on the cause of loss.  Most often, we know clearly why someone is lost, or dies. How many times have we heard an inpatient or immature Christian condemn someone at church for not wanting to be baptised or go to another denomination? Some of us have seen spiritual damage done by Christians acting hypocritical or over-judgemental, and it has caused an obvious pain and loss. Should we not ask God for action? 2Tim. 4:14-18.

3. Praising the Positive, v22-23: Even though Saul was a real enemy of David, he praised the positive attributes of Saul, which were numerous. In our sadness for the lost, we should accentuate the good they have done and build a common ground of thankfulness for them. Perhaps God will use our thankfulness to help bring about a change before it is forever too late. God’s goodness to people who cause problems in the church or are lost is a reality we can not afford to ignore! See Romans 2:4-6. Remember even Paul had to count Mark a blessing. 2Tim. 4:11.

4. Weep with those that weep, v24. Christians should have hearts that can empathize with current losses and problems of other Christians, Romans 12:15. This attitude enables the unity God gave us to grow and make our fellowship deeper, and our cause for Christ unstoppable! See Hebrews 13:3.

5. Do something which proves your love, v25-27. The strong ‘phileo’ love David had for Jonathan in their friendship went beyond the grave. It is healthy to express your sadness in a memorialising act. Jonathan’s only surviving son is Mephibosheth. He was 5yrs old when Jonathan & Saul were slain, he was living in charge of a nurse possibly because his mother was dead. His life is a series of disasters. His nurse carried him to Lo-debar amoung the mountains of Gilead, where he was brought up by Machir, son of Ammiel (2 Samuel 9:4). There he evidently married, for he had a son Mica when he returned later at David’s request. When David had settled his own affairs and subdued his enemies, he turned his inquiries to Saul’s descendents to see whether there were any survivors to whom he might show kindness for Jonathan’s sake (2 Samuel 9:1). He gave Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth a permanent place in His Court to live!

Hezekiah & Isaiah, see Isa. 37:14-20. During King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib the evil King of Assyria literally threatened to destroy Judah. In the past before Hezekiah, Assyrian Kings named Sargon & Shalamanezer had already destroyed Israel, now the new Assyrian King Sennacherib was about to conquer the rest of God’s people in Judah. Judah’s King Hezekiah was faithful to God and had remodelled the Temple and restored the Altar, 2Chr. 29-31. Hezekiah had also stopped idolatry and destroyed the bronze serpent from Moses’ days which had become an idol called “Nehushtan”, 2Kg. 18:4. In the face of paying tribute to Assyria, Hezekiah refused Sennacherib the tax (2Kg 18:7), and even established his military strength in defeating neighbouring Philistines. This was the first show of arrogance from Hezekiah, because in this act, he was trying to bolster a relationship with Egypt and other countries other than Assyria, so they may help him fight off the oncoming assault from Assyria. This was not God’s will, Ex. 23:31-33 & 34:12-15. At this point Hezekiah fell gravely sick and Isaiah rebuked him, foretelling of his death. Immediately Hezekiah prayed in repentance, and before Isaiah even left his palace, God replied through Isaiah and healed Hezekiah giving 15 more years to his life, Isa. 38:1-21.

Sennacherib King of Assyria, understood King Hezekiah to be making ties with Egypt and other countries, 2Kg. 18:19-21. Sennacherib then set out to attack the southern part of Judah and then Jerusalem. The archaeological evidence is abundant today, proving this as real and Lachish was part of Sennacherib’s victory in southern Judah, 2Kg 18:13-14. When this happened, King Hezekiah went to God in prayer at the Temple in Jerusalem. He spread Sennacharib’s threatening & blasphemous letter out before the Lord and asked for deliverance. Isaiah brought God’s answer, saying “For His own name’s sake”, 2Kg 19:19, 34, God will deliver him & the city. This happened miraculously and was entirely dependent on Hezekiah asking God to prove that He was the only all-powerful true God, 2Kg. 19:32-37.

This fact proves that if we truly have only God’s interest, power and will at the center of our desires, even in sickness, God will do whatever it takes, to prove that His will is best and He will be glorified as the one and only true & living God. Whether we die, or live, if our aim is to prove God glorified, it will be done. We learn from Hezekiah’s life and prayer that we are destined to sin and nothing we are or have done can motivate God to deliver us, it is only our faithful submission to His glory & power that helps us get God’s will done for us. Christians are sinners, 1John 1:7-2:2, and we should pray accordingly, to help God’s fight over sin in our life to win. We should give others prayerful support and try to help them grow, Mat. 7:1-5, Romans 15:1.

Cornelius & Peter, see Acts 10:1-8. Deliverance in the life of Cornelius seemed to be more important to God than Cornelius himself. In all the piety and prayers of Cornelius, we see he is called a  “God-fearer”, v2. This means he was giving homage to the God of the Jews, but he was not a proselyte in Judaism in submission to circumcision. He was not in a covenant relationship with God. His deliverance or salvation was at stake, and that is exactly how God responds to him. Why? Because although Cornelius was not wholly in submission to God’s law in obedience, he was indeed acknowledging the Jewish God as the one and only true God. Therefore Peter was sent and the Kingdom of Christ entered the Gentile world. 

The Lost & The Christian, 2Tim. 2:25 & Rom. 10:1. We are to teach people to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, the one and only true God. This will bring about their salvation. Only God can do this, but He insists on using us as little “Isaiahs & Peters”. Grow therefore in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, so we can see God work to save the lost we live amoungst. Do we love them?

Key Text: Proverbs 10:12 & James 5:20 & 1Peter 4:8 

Love is the most important part of the fruit of God’s Spirit, 1Cor. 13:13. Since love grows as fruit, we should be patient with ourselves and God in creating more love in our heart. God has been trying to grow love in his children’s heart for centuries, Duet. 6:5. He has always known and shown us that we need our hearts circumcised in order for love to grow, Duet. 30:6. With other worldly things growing in our heart, there is no room for God’s love to grow in our heart. Even a human love is a threat against the growth of God’s love, Matthew 10:37.

The nature of God’s love is that it needs a determined place in our heart to grow. Once it starts to grow, it covers a multitude of sins by initiating forgiveness. God is love, 1John 4:8, and He is rich in mercy, Eph. 2:4, therefore honest Christians will find a natural inclination to desire it and imitate it. Because it iss by God’s great mercy we are being saved and made heirs of eternal life, Titus 3:5 & 1Peter 1:3. Christ extended mercy to the prostitute in John 8:1-11 and also to Peter, John 21:17, so we know His Spirit can extend mercy to others through ourselves who have tasted His mercy.    

Forgiveness cannot be experienced without some amount of mercy being present in our heart. The nature of love is to make mercy shown. This is exactly the character of Christ right now as our High Priest, mediating for us before the Father, Hebrews 2:17. We need to look for this in our self and other Christians as we look for Jesus and his mercy, Jude v21, so we can more easily imitate it. This helps love grow. Actually mercy is indeed akin to the part of the fruit of the Spirit called, goodness & righteousness, James 3:17-18.  

Even in the worst of time and in the midst of tragic heinous sinfulness, we can see mercy in the actions and words of victims offering forgiveness. If it were not for the love of God, this wise expression of love would never happen in a human heart. To remain bitter and shut out a love that can grow, is to harm our self even more than the sin itself hurt us in the first place! Therefore we know it’s foolishness to neglect growing love & mercy, and it’s wise to give God everything He needs in our heart, so forgiveness can happen. But, sometimes forgiveness is impossible. Why? Because sometimes some people don’t want to be forgiven. Forgiveness only takes place on two way streets between people who will communicate and consider the love of God. Both the offender and the offended are obligated to try and let God’s love grow, in their understanding of why sin is so prevalent in our lives of the offender, Mt 5:23‑24, and the offended, Mt 18:15‑17. It is God’s will that one of us takes the initiative!