[2] Open thy Mouth Wide - 2014 March 5th, 2013, Kichijouji Bible Study Gotthold Beck As the first example, let’s look at the sorcerer Elymas from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 13. We can see from this chapter 13 of the Acts, Paul described Elymas this way; Acts 13:10 and said, You are full of every form of deception and trickery, you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right! You will never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord, will you? It was because Elymas was a man who contended the truth of God with clear intentions. A characteristic of the true words of God is that they are just as they are spoken, and are completely straightforward. However, Elymas contended this truth knowingly. This man called Elymas was totally the opposite and was said to be full of deception and trickery. The second example concerns the people living in Nazareth who appeared in Luke, Chapter 4. When Jesus preached the gospel to the people living around the border, their first reaction was favorable as we can see from the verse 22; they “began to speak well of him and to wonder at the gracious words that flowed from his mouth.” However, the moment Jesus started to talk directly about them, that is to say, when Jesus candidly pointed out their wicked minds that were filled with vice, their att itudes changed abruptly. Luke 4:22 All the people began to speak well of him and to wonder at the gracious words that flowed from his mouth. They said, This is Josephs son, isnt it? but, later... 4:28 All the people in the synagogue became furious when they heard this. 4:29 They got up, forced Jesus out of the city, and led him to the edge of the hill on which their city was built, intending to throw him off. These verses tell us what happened. The people of Nazareth became so furious and filled with anger that they drove Jesus out of the city and even tried to slay Him. They believed that they were religious and sincere people. They never failed to gather in the churches on every Sabbath to listen to the words of God, but they totally lacked the strength of mind to look straight into their own hearts and repent. As a consequence, their hearts were filled with fury instead of joy from being in t he presence of God. The third example is the couple that appears in Acts, chapter 5: Ananias and Sapphira. Acts 5:33 Peter asked, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you should lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back some of the money you got for the land? In the Japanese Bible we use, it is said, your soul was stolen by Satan, but in the original language, it is written that your soul was filled by Satan. Ananias and Sapphira belonged to the early church, and they were willing to abandon most of their property to serve the Lord. Nobody forced them or demanded it of them. They may have taken the attitude of offering up all their possessions and serving Jesus, but after all, they were just pretending. Their attitude was that of hypocrites. And thus, they gave Satan the chance to slip into their minds. It was not the truth of Jesus but Satans hypocrisy that filled their hearts. Consequently, the punishment of the Lord God was instantly inflicted upon them. We too always have to be examined by the words of the Lord. Is there any discrepancy between our words and our deeds? What are we filled with? Arent our hearts filled with bad thoughts, impurity, immorality, envy or some other loveless ideas? When we read the Bible, instead of reading it from a force of habit or a sense of obligation, do we have a sincere attitude such as this; “Speak, Lord, because your servant is listening”? As I just mentioned, “your servant is listening. Speak, Lord and please reveal your intention to me.” This is the attitude we have to take, isnt it? Are we prepared to humble ourselves before the Lord? Are we willing to be broken into pieces? So far, we have seen how the Lord God judges us humans. Let us read again the verses where it is summarized. Actually, most of these words were collected from the Old Testament. Romans 3 10 As it is written, “Not even one person is righteous. 11 No one understands. No one searches for God. 12 All have turned away. They have become completely worthless. No one shows kindness, not even one person! 13 Their throats are open graves. With their tongues they deceive. The venom of poisonous snakes is under their lips. 14 Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. 15 They run swiftly to shed blood. 16 Ruin and misery characterize their lives. 17 They have not learned the path to peace. 18 They don’t fear God. Without the fear of God, there can be no blessing. Let us look at ourselves. Do we fear the Lord in the true sense? Unless you fear the Lord, there will be no blessing, no peace and no joy.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 04:26:36 +0000
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