Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
500 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678106
Isaiah 28:11-12 was a judgment pronounced by the prophet Isaiah upon the nation of Israel for rejecting the counsel of God’s Word. And because they were stubborn and rebellious, God will send a nation upon them that will deliver His judgment upon them in a foreign tongue that they do not understand.
Hymns: RHC 87 I Know Whom I Have Believed, 91 The Lily of the Valley, 104 All That Thrills My Soul
Psalm 121:1-8
1 A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. Psalm 121:1-8 (KJV)
Whence Cometh Your Help
(1) The Christian’s help is from the LORD (v1-2a)
(a) For He is Creator (v2b)
(b) Faithful Protector (v3-6)
(c) Saviour (v7-8)
The Apostle Paul exhorts the believers to move toward spiritual maturity. He uses the metaphor of “children” to motivate and provoke them to grow up quickly in this matter. Have a correct focus on the imbibing and understanding of God’s Word for their spiritual advancement. He observed the skewing toward the spectacular sign-gift of speaking in a foreign language is not useful to the strengthening of the assembly of God’s people.
The English Reformer William Tyndale resolved when he said to a clergyman, “… I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost!” In his lifetime, he translated the Bible into the language of the English people, so that the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ and eternal life in heaven is made known to his people even after his death by execution.
It is unprofitable for one to say amen at the end of a prayer uttered by someone although he does not understand. It is better to say “amen” when one understand than to say “amen” to a prayer that one does not understand.
Ephesians 2:1-10 (KJV)
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians Knowing Your Privilege in Christ “Husbands Love Your Wives” Ephesians 5:25-33 (KJV) 25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with …
When a man prays publicly in the church in a language that the congregation does not understand, it is an unfruitful spiritual endeavour. This is because the hearers were not edified. As such, the believer praying in the spirit must seek to also help others understand his prayer.
There’s Within My Heart a Melody
-From a Calamitous Loss of Wife and Children
Luther Bridges, a successful young evangelist, accepted an invitation to hold two weeks of revival meetings near his wife’s home in Horrodsburg, Kentucky, in 1910. His wife, whom he had met and married at Asbury College, stayed with their three boys at his in-laws while he conducted the meetings, at which many accepted Christ.
Near the end of the campaign, he received a late-night phone call. The person at the other end conveyed the tragic news that his wife’s parents; home had burned to the ground with his wife and three sons all lost in the fire. At the age of twenty-six, he was bereft of his precious family.
With the advent of modern technology, messages can be recorded in audio and video format and the availability of “live” webcast, God’s Word can be brought to the home via the internet. Some may be in beds of affliction and are too weak to come to church, they may be strengthed through following webcast services. Praise God for such access to His Word. And the intent focus on listening to God’s Word with prayer is vital for one’s spiritual growth.