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Singles Ministry will be heading out to the desert for some target practice on Saturday, February 25th. They will meet at 7:00 a.m. in the lower parking lot. Contact Dan Frost or Donald Flanagan for more information
LUKE CHAPTER 15.
I have found my sheep which was lost (Luke 15:6)
I have found the piece which I had lost (Luke 15:9)
Thy brother was…lost, and is found (Luke 15:32
Many have concluded that Luke chapter 15 must be one of the great chapters of the entire Bible. It is among the mountain peaks of Biblical literature not only for its pictorial truth but for its focus on God’s eternal truth concerning God’s love for man who has gone away from Him.
Some times we refer to this chapter as having three parables however in verse three the verse reads, “And he spake this parable unto them, saying.” Then the three-fold parable is given to us in this great chapter. In each of these touching stories we see something that is lost then found and because of being found there is joy and rejoicing.
Biblically the word “Lost” is a word that is powerful and profound in our study of Scripture.
There are a number of ways one can study this wonderful chapter. There are several degrees in the relationship of each to each, leading us up to a greater appreciation of the loss: The sheep—one out of a hundred; ninety-nine left behind. The Silver—one out of ten; nine kept secure. The Son—one out of two—a far greater loss. With the sheep there were 99 that were safe, with the coins there were 9 that were secure and with the son only one was left.
Someone has suggested that of the three lost things they were all lost in a different manner.
The sheep was lost heedlessness. One hundred sheep were in the field grazing the grass and this sheep just heedlessly wondered from the flock and became lost. Many people do not mean to go away from God but nevertheless one day find themselves separated and wondering from the Lord they so desperately need. Sad to say they do not realize that God is seeking them to bring them back to the flock and the fold.
The coin was lost through sluggishness or neglect. The coin had been there for who knows how long. It was covered up or knocked from its position because the lady was neglecting it and its importance. How often we allow those who are important and valuable to us to just slip away from us because we think they will always be there.
The son was lost through willfulness. We know the story of the lost son. He made plans to go away. He was lost willfully. What a sad part of this story of Luke chapter 15.
The beauty part of this story is the fact that in the case of all three each was found because each was sought after. The first word is Lost, the second is Found and the third is Joy or Rejoice. Praise the Lord that He loves each of us enough to search for us and bring us to his fold. Another verse states, “There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repentance.” In each case in this chapter there was one that was lost but there was joy when it was found…
Thank you so much for praying for the Leadership Conference! It truly was an incredible week in both English and Spanish!
Please pray for Pastor Fisher this week as he travels to Santa Clara, CA and preaches for Pastor Jack Trieber at the North Valley Baptist Church. Pastor Fisher will be preaching Sunday night (2/12).
David was so full of love for the Lord, and with an appreciation of the Lord’s greatness and goodness, that he said, “Seven times a day do I praise Thee.” David did not say I would like to be able to do this, or I will try to do this but he said “do I” yes he said I do this. Would it not be exciting and rewarding if you and I would find something to praise the Lord about every two or three hours of our day? To praise God means to ascribe glory and worship to Him who is the object of the believers’ praise—look up Psalm 50:23 and Revelations 7:9-14.
Consider why we, as believers, should be full of praise to the Lord:
1. PRAISE THE LORD THAT GOD IS OUR HEAVENLY FATHER
Of course, we need to remember that only those that are saved and born again are the children of God and can call Him Father. We have a heavenly Father who cares for us, watches over us, provides for us and understands us—look up and compare Psalm 103:13 and Matthew 6:25-34.
2. PRAISE THE LORD THAT JESUS CHRIST IS OUR PERSONAL SAVIOR
What a thing this is to praise the Lord for. Without Christ we are lost, we are dead, we are condemned and we are under God’s wrath. Yes and there are many more Scriptures that point to our lost and sinful condition without Christ. However, when we trust Him as our Savior we now have so much to praise Him for. Acts 4:12
3. PRAISE THE LORD THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR INDWELLING COMFORTER
The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Godhead. He is one with the Father and the Son in the Holy Trinity. Where is He in relation to the believer? He lives within every true believer. “Christ in you the Hope of Glory.” John 14:17
4. PRAISE THE LORD THAT THE BIBLE IS OUR CHART AND COMPASS
God has not only Himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit, to dwell within us, but He has given us His word to guide us in all matters relating to faith and practice. Praise the Lord for God’s Word, which shows us what to believe and how to live for Him. Ps. 119:105
5. PRAISE THE LORD THAT ALL GOD’S PEOPLE ARE OUR PEOPLE
There is a wonderful verse in Ephesians 3:15. From this statement we learn that God’s family is in two locations: it is on earth and it is in heaven. Look up the last seven words in Galatians 3:28 and the last six words in Ephesians 4:25. Praise the Lord that all God’s people are our people.
6. PRAISE THE LORD THAT THE WHOLE WORLD IS OUR MISSION FIELD.
Matthew 28:18-20 is one of the five times the Great Commission is given to us in the first five book of the New Testament. 11 Corinthians 5 tells us that Christ has given to us the message of reconciliation. Yes, He has given to us this great blessing and responsibility of sharing the Gospel with all people everywhere. Surely this is something to praise the Lord for.
7. PRAISE THE LORD THAT HEAVEN IS OUR HOME John 14:1-3
We should never get tired of reading John 14:1-3, which is the Savior’s promise to His own that He has gone to prepare for us a place. And He promises to personally return to take us to this prepared place. What a thing this is to praise God for.
As David states that seven times a day he praises the Lord, perhaps we could take these seven things and try praising Him also on seven occasions in a day.
Due to the Leadership Conference meetings, the mid-week service on Thursday, February 9 will be held on Wednesday, February 8.
Please continue to pray for the Leadership Conference here at the Lighthouse next week. Conference starts Monday night the 6th and goes through Wednesday night. Then the Spanish conference starts Thursday night and continues through Saturday noon.
PART THREE…THE WORKER’S POSTURE. Key verses are, “David sat before the Lord” 1 Chronicles 17:16 and,” Mary sat at Jesus’ feet”. Luke 10:39.
When we look at these two verses together, we are at once presented with our theme: the Worker’s Posture, or attitude, in the presence of the Lord. What should it be? It should be the attitude or posture, of sitting. There are two places where we sit before the Lord—privately, when we are alone; and publically, when we meet with His people to worship Him and to serve Him. It is very easy, of course, just to sit, and not really to sit before the Lord—look us Matthew 15:8 for an indication of this terrible possibility. The trouble with most of us is that we are so much on our feet—hurrying, rushing, and working. What we need to do is to sit quietly before the Lord on occasions. This like David and Mary is to be our posture. We need to do this deliberately, by setting aside time for it, and we need to do it regularly and frequently. Psalm 46:10 encourages us to, “Be still and know that I am God…” Look up and compare Matthew 6:6 and Hebrew 10:25.
This attitude of sitting before the Lord suggests three things.
• Relaxation. When we sit, we are in a relaxed position; and what need there is for every one of the Lord’s servants to know how to relax—physically, mentally and, above all spiritually. This is true with regard to our bodies, and our minds, and it is also true in regard to our souls and spirit.
• Submission. In the case of David and Mary, their attitude of sitting before the Lord indicated submission. They were “at His feet”. At whose feet? At the feet of the King, their Lord and Master. How great He is and how small we are. Look up a great verse in Isaiah 57:15.
• Expectation. When Mary and David sat before the Lord they were expecting that something would happen: and of course, something did happen. The very fact that they sat in the presence of the King meant that they were never quiet the same. Stop and think of other Bible characters that have entered God’s presence and what the results were like.
When we sit before the Lord three wonderful things happen:
We realize His presence. Try to picture David as he sat before the Lord and spoke to Him and Mary as she sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to His words. When we come to sit before the Lord it is to worship Him, to recognize His greatness, His glory and His grace; and when we look to Him the Scriptures say we are “being changed into His likeness”. But someone ask, “How can this be?” The answer is that you must come and sit at his feet (humble ones self) and present ones self before Him to experience His presence.
We hear His Word. Of course, when David and Mary sat at the feet of the Lord they spoke to Him; but what is important is the fact that He spoke to them. And surely this is our great need, to hear what the Lord has to say to us—look up Psalm 86:8. We need to be still and be quiet to hear what He has to say to us. Amen.
We receive His grace. King David did—read 1 Chronicles 17 and sees. And Mary did—read Luke 10:38-42 and see. And Paul did—look up 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, and see what He says there. And you may receive His grace; indeed, you must if you are to be the Christian Worker God wants you to be.
This study impresses upon us the importance of cultivating a holy walk with God and it emphasis the essential requirements in the life of a Christian worker.
Please pray for Pastor Fisher this week as he travels to Corona, CA and preaches for Pastor Tim Shanks at the Grace Baptist Church. Pastor Fisher will be preaching at the West Coast Bible Believers Conference Monday (1/30) @ 6:30 pm PST, Tuesday (1/31) @ 2:30 pm & 7:30 pm and Wednesday (2/1) @ 7:30 pm PST.
Also, please continue to pray for our Leadership Conference on Feb. 6th-8th and the Spanish Conference Feb. 9th-11th.
The Singles will be having a bon fire fellowship following the Sunday evening service (1/29) at Mission Beach. Please see Dan & Carrie Frost or Donald Flanagan for directions or more information/.
Most of us are aware that in our English Bible we have the Bible divided into 66 books. There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. However, of late it has come to my attention that 23 books in our Bible books have 5 chapters or less and 32 books have 10 chapters or less. I mention this as a means to encourage one early in the New Year to plan to read and study the Word of God. One can as a normal reader read 10 chapters in one hour or less. By this standard one can read one of the 32 books of the Bible in one hour or less at a setting. With 66 books in the Bible and 32 of them 10 chapter or less would allow one to involve himself in almost one-half of the Bible books with only about one hour at a setting. Not only that, one could take one of these small books and reread them each day for a number of days. In this way, one would be becoming much more acquainted with a particular book. Stop for a moment and think that many people are deterred from Bible study because of time and the seemingly magnitude of the Bible. Now we have discovered that almost one-half of the Bible books are only 10 chapters or less and 23 books have 5 chapters or less. This dispels many fears regarding size and excuses regarding the time factor. In a few minutes, we are able to involve ourselves and complete a study of an entire book of the Bible. Make plans now to explore many of these 32 very short books in this New Year of 2012.
In the remainder of this study, let us look at four things that will aid us as we attempt to involve ourselves in these 32 short books of our Bible. Many say, “I read the Bible but I do not get much from the Bible.” Someone has rightly said that the important thing is to know the author of the book. In Luke 24:32 Jesus appeared to some of the disciples and opened their eyes to an understanding of Scripture. “Open thou my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things, out of thy law.” (Ps. 119:18)
The first step is to PRAY for understanding. Sometimes it come quickly and sometimes more slowly.
The second key to getting truth from Scripture is SEARCH. The word search is a great word in Scripture. We could even take it to the level of “finding a needle in the proverbial haystack.” We are encouraged to search the Scripture in two ways. First of all, we are to search daily Proverbs 8:34 and Acts 17:11. Then we are to search the Scripture diligently according to 1Peter 1:10-11.
The third word that enhances our Bible study is the word MEDITATE. On three separate occasions God speak of the value and blessedness of meditation on His Word. (1) In Joshua 1 it is said to be the secret of prosperity; verse 8. (2) In Psalm 1 it is said to be the secret of fruitfulness; verse 2. (3) In James 1 it is said to be the secret of blessedness; verse 25.
The fourth word is OBEY. This word no doubt is the most important of all. It cannot be too frequently emphasized that the key to understanding the Scripture is, not scholarship, but obedience.
Hopefully we have discovered that the Bible is not only approachable as to time and size but God has given us a few steps as to the gathering of understanding of His Word.
Please be reminded that almost one-half of the books of the Bible can be read in @ one hour or less. Remember also that the Scripture is for the purpose to allow us to get to know Him as the Author of the Book. What are your plans for Bible study in 2012?
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