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in the time of old age
Funerals and Feasts

It seems that Providence has brought me to more funerals than feasts lately. We thank God for those wedding feasts and monthly social gatherings of friends. Births of children and grandchildren bring great joy to the hearts of the living and memories of our aging generation.

But now that I have surpassed three score years and ten Solomon’s reminder returns my thoughts near to home more often.

Better to go to a house of mourning
Than to go to a house of feasting
Because that is the end of all mankind,

And the living puts this in his heart.
Ecclesiastes 7:2 Legacy Standard Bible

Heaven and earth – Glory and dust

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Psalm: 19:1 לַמְנַצֵּחַ מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד׃ (WLC 19:2) הַשָּׁמַיִם מְסַפְּרִים כְּבוֹד־אֵל וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו מַגִּיד הָרָקִיעַ׃

Consider both the mourner and the reveler: they are without excuse in acknowledging that their flesh will wither and fail. All men and all women will bow down to our Maker, even those who fail to repent in dust and ashes during our brief days of glory.

תְהִלִּים (Psalm) 71

We are about to sing a Psalm – a plea to Almighty God:

O God, Do Not Forsake Me

Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come;

You have given the command to save me,

For You are my rock and my fortress.

.. For You are my hope;

O Lord Yahweh, You are my trust from my youth..

My mouth is filled with Your praise
And with Your beauty all day long.

Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
Psalm 71:9 Legacy Standard Bible

O God, do not be far from me;

O my God, hasten to my help!

.. O God, You have taught me from my youth,

And I still declare Your wondrous deeds.

And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,

Until I declare Your strength to this generation,

Your might to all who are to come.

For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens,

You who have done great things;

O God, who is like You?
Psalm 71:18-19 LSB

You, who have shown me many troubles and evils,

Will revive me again,

And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

My lips will sing for joy when I sing praises to You;

And my soul, which You have redeemed.

My tongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long;

For they are ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek to do me evil.

Mourners and Scoffers

Observe three types of souls destined to live and breathe their last one day:
- The worshiper of God who lives out their days remembering the blessed ones of God.
- The scoffer who denies the One God, Creator of all things and Judge of all mankind.
- The Redeemed in Christ Jesus, the Son of Man, sacrificed for sinners (like us) that those who believe will be granted the resurrection of everlasting life.
Psalm 71 – Proclaimed as Gospel

GOOD News: Preached by Charles Spurgeon
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Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), often known today as the Prince of Preachers, began his pastorate at London's New Park Street Church in 1854.. 
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A strong emphasis in Spurgeon’s preaching was God’s grace and sovereignty over man’s helpless state. He also knew well the terrible joy that comes only through suffering as he lived quite afflicted (both by illness and slander).

C.H. Spurgeon left this earth for his heavenly hope in 1892.
BlueLetterBible.org
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Just a few brief points from Spurgeon:
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- “In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.” Jehovah deserves our confidence; let him have it all. Every day must we guard against every form of reliance upon an arm of flesh, and hourly hang our faith upon the ever faithful God. Not only on God must we rest, as a man stands on a rock, but in him must we trust, as a man hides in a cave.
- “Cast me not off in the time of old age.” Old age robs us of personal beauty, and deprives us of strength for active service; but it does not lower us in the love and favour of God.. To be forsaken of God is the worst of all conceivable ills, and if the believer can be but clear of that grievous fear, he is happy: no saintly heart need be under any apprehension upon this point.`
Spurgeon commentary – Verse 20.

Here is faith’s inference from the infinite greatness of the Lord. He has been strong to smite; he will be also strong to save.. and though I have been almost dead and buried, he will give me a resurrection, and “bring me up again from the depths of the earth.”

A Lament of Job

If a Man Dies, Will He Live Again?
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Job 14 LSB
“Man, who is born of woman,

Is short-lived and full of turmoil.
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“Like a flower he comes forth and withers.

He also flees like a shadow and does not stand.
Job 14:2
- “Who can make the clean out of the unclean?
- Man breathes his last, and where is he?
- “If a man dies, will he live again?
These are the QUESTIONS of a righteous man.

ARE you so right before Almighty GOD – Remembered, REDEEMED or simply a scoffer soon to be JUDGED?

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
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Lent 2024 C.E. #1 in preparation for Easter 
+ To be continued, God-willing
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Talk of JESUS .com
March 6, 2024
The Heart-piercing POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT!
The POWER of the Holy Spirit in ACTS

What have we observed most in Luke’s early accounts of Acts?

Clearly, the further power of the Holy Spirit, which Luke also notes in his Gospel as having descended on Jesus.

And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased… And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil.
Gospel of Luke on the Holy Ghost 3:33, 4:1-2b KJV
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"Holy" AND "Spirit"
occurs 111 times in 53 verses in your custom selection ' in 'Luke-Acts'' in the NASB20.
Source: BlueLetterBible.org
READ ALL fifty-three verses recorded by Luke and you will be convinced not only of the Trinity, but also of the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT of the Lord God.
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https://talkofjesus.com/acts-of-the-holy-spirit/

ACTS 1 opens with Jesus’ Promise of the Holy Spirit.

Acts of ALL with one accord

Before Jesus ascends to the Father, He commands the Apostles to WAIT for the power of the Holy Spirit

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

Pentecost – a narrative of the fifty days fulfilled

On the day of Pentecost the crowds in Jerusalem witness with wonder the AWESOME power of the Holy Spirit!

Although the HEADING for ACTS 2 in one of my Bibles refers to The Coming of the Holy Spirit, from the next HEADING, Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost, we learn of the convicting POWER of the Holy Spirit in Peter’s words.

Miracles, Wonders & Signs: Peter’s Amazing Answer

NOW, we will look to the POWER of the Holy Spirit to pierce the hearts of Peter’s audience.

‘I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND‘

“This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
ACTS 2:32 NKJV

ACTS 2 – Peter’s Sermon continues

Lord and Christ

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Acts 2:36 NKJV

A pall of silence most likely falls upon many in the massive crowd listening to Peter as he stands with all the Apostles and preaches Christ crucified and risen from the power of death.

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart,
and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,
“Brothers, what are we to do?”
Acts 2:37 NASB

J.B. Phillips paraphrases this passage following Luke’s account of Peter’s sermon:

When they heard this they were cut to the quick, and they cried to Peter and the other apostles, “Men and fellow-Jews, what shall we do now?”

They were ‘cut to the quick,’ ‘pierced to the heart.’

Sounds painful, reminding us of reference to Jesus’ gruesome crucifixion on a Cross preceding the previous Passover ‘festival’ of the Jews.

Yet one of the soldiers pierced His [Jesus‘] side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
Gospel of John 19:34

Perhaps some of these Jews hearing Peter’s sermon were sadly present during the storm of Jesus’ death and the piercing of His side with a Roman spear.

The Prophet Isaiah had said (as the Jews well knew):

But He was pierced for our offenses,
He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed.
וְהוּא מְחֹלָל מִפְּשָׁעֵנוּ מְדֻכָּא מֵעֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ מוּסַר שְׁלֹומֵנוּ עָלָיו וּבַחֲבֻרָתֹו נִרְפָּא־לָֽנוּ׃
Yeshaiya (Isaiah) 53:5 NASB20 :: Westminster Leningrad Codex (WLC)

Luke uses a word for ‘pierced‘ which implies ‘wounded in conscience,’ a conviction of the power of the Holy Spirit in Peter’s preaching from the word of God which the crowds in Jerusalem knew well. Later, the letter written to the Hebrews reminds the faithful:

For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 NASB20

YES, Peter’s sermon pierces their hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit.

HOLY SPIRIT POWER

Because the HOLY SPIRIT is so important to Luke’s continuing account in Acts of the Apostles, before we proceed with Peter’s brief answer I would like to quote the powerful nineteenth century English preacher, Charles Spurgeon.

The Power of the Holy Ghost

Charles Haddon Spurgeon June 17, 1855 Scripture: Romans 15:13 From: New Park Street Pulpit Volume 1

Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Please note Spurgeon’s brief outline about the Third Person of the Trinity.

One. Comforter

When Christ was on earth, He must have been the consolation of all those who were privileged to be His companions.
Spurgeon – Holy Spirit Power opening paragraph

This certainly would include Peter and the eleven now at his side on Pentecost – RH

In speaking of the Resurrection, from John 16 & 14, Spurgeon relates:

He would not leave those few poor sheep alone in the wilderness. He would not desert His children and leave them fatherless. Before He left, He gave soothing words of comfort.
Spurgeon then goes on to introduce the paraclete or comforter

Jesus had told them that the Father would give them ‘another comforter‘ [helper or advocate] to be with them forever.

Peter, our Pentecost preacher today, certainly felt this comfort once Jesus asked him if he loved Him AFTER the Lord once again appeared to them. Jesus commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, with His Power to convict.

First, God the Holy Spirit is our very loving Comforter.
C.S. Spurgeon

Two: THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
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Our focus for Peter's Pentecost Sermon response
Quoting Spurgeon Chapter 2, pg. 27
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All power is the special and peculiar prerogative of God and God alone.

(Quoting Psalm 62:11 KJV)

God is God, and power belongs to Him alone.

He delegates a portion of His power to His creatures, yet it is still His. (Quoting Psalm 19:4-5)
C.S. Spurgeon – Holy Spirit Power
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Just take this in for a moment .. before we return to the crowds converted by Peter's Pentecost Sermon. - RH
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Spurgeon goes on to explain three ways he will look at the Power of the Holy Spirit.
1. The outward and visible displays of it,
2. the inward and spiritual manifestations of it,
3. and the future and expected works of it.
Three: THE HOLY SPIRIT – THE GREAT TEACHER
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We will not get there today as we observe the crowds of Pentecost, but the teaching of the Apostles will become immediately evident as the church grows throughout Acts.

To READ HOLY SPIRIT POWER click here to order.
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Repent!

“Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Acts 2:37b NKJV

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is for you and for your children,
and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Acts 2:38-39 CSB

IT’S AN AMAZING PROMISE!

But this is not the promise of Peter, nor is it an appeal to those who have NOT ASKED ‘What shall we do?’

Peter’s promise of the Holy Spirit is from the Holy Spirit Himself.

Next: We will see evidence of the Spirit growing the Church from the moment of Peter’s sermon on Pentecost.
October 15, 2021
Psalm 34: Like-minded with Peter – 5
We might describe Peter and David as like-minded, that is, men after God’s own heart.

Of course, Psalm 34 is a Psalm of David. So what does this Psalm have to do with a letter from Peter (where we left off previously by asking, ‘Why Submit?’)?

Psalm 34 would have been familiar to first century believers and Peter quotes David’s message as a unifying foundation of hope for these new believers in Christ.

1 Peter 3:

8 Finally, all of you be like-minded and sympathetic, love one another, and be compassionate and humble, 9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing.

Stick with this short list of characteristics of relationships between believers.
- like-minded
- sympathetic
- love one another
- be compassionate
- be humble
- do not return evil for evil
- never insult
- bless your brother or sister in Christ.
Remember the church’s persecution as exiles and their hope from many familiar stanzas of this Psalm Peter does not even mention. We have much to unpack from Peter’s instruction to the church here.

For now, because he moves on to the Psalm and we most likely lack the familiarity of the first century believers, I will attempt to open the scripture of Psalm 34, returning later to Peter’s letter.

Psalm 34

Introduction to Psalm 34

Charles Spurgeon provides some helpful insight into this Psalm.

Although the gratitude of the psalmist prompted him thankfully to record the goodness of the Lord in vouchsafing an undeserved deliverance, yet he weaves none of the incidents of the escape into the narrative, but dwells only on the grand fact of his being heard in the hour of peril…
David in view of the special peril from which he was rescued, was at great pains with this Psalm, and wrote it with considerable regularity, in almost exact accordance with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
C.H. Spurgeon

Spurgeon also helpfully points out that this Psalm of David divides into two parts: a hymn [vs.1-10] and a sermon [vs.11-22].

Have you ever been in such a situation as David when your life as you know it is at stake? Did you praise the Lord for saving you?

Perhaps this hymn was sung by the persecuted first century church. And maybe the church receiving Peter’s letter already knew well the sermon David preaches. From this context the Apostle’s recalls Psalm 34 in his first letter to the church.

I will bless the Lord at all times

[[A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.]]

לְדָוִ֗ד בְּשַׁנֹּותֹ֣ו אֶת־֭טַעְמֹו לִפְנֵ֣י אֲבִימֶ֑לֶךְ וַֽ֝יְגָרֲשֵׁ֗הוּ וַיֵּלַֽךְ׃ אֲבָרֲכָ֣ה אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה בְּכָל־עֵ֑ת תָּ֝מִ֗יד תְּֽהִלָּתֹ֥ו בְּפִֽי׃
Psalm 34:1 WLC

I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth. – Psalm 34:1 NKJV

Most contemporary Christians know that David was a man after God’s own heart. Certainly the newly founded and persecuted church to whom Peter wrote knew the same. Bless the LORD at all times! It is a good start.
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3 O magnify the Lord with me,
 And let us exalt His name together.
 4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me,
 And delivered me from all my fears.

6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
 And saved him out of all his troubles.
 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
 And rescues them.
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Spurgeon commentary – Psalm 34:6

Once again Spurgeon relates David’s verse from from the Psalm in a way Peter also knew would resonate with Christians in fear for their lives.

Verse 6. “This poor man cried.” Here he returns to his own case. He was poor indeed, and so utterly friendless that his life was in great jeopardy; but he cried in his heart to the protector of his people and found relief. His prayer was a cry, for brevity and bitterness, for earnestness and simplicity, for artlessness and grief; it was a poor man’s cry, but it was none the less powerful with heaven, for “the Lord heard him,” and to be heard of God is to be delivered; and so it is added that the Lord “saved him out of all his troubles.”

Peter then refers to this next stanza [in 1 Peter 3:10]:

8 O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Psalm 34:8 NASB

Peter’s Psalm 34 Sermon

Peter urges the men of the church to whom he writes:

1 Peter 3:

10 For the one who wants to love life
and to see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit,
11 and let him turn away from evil
and do what is good.
Let him seek peace and pursue it,

Keep your tongue from evil, Peter urges. Also turn away from evil to do what is good. Pursue peace (with each other, between members of the church).

12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are open to their prayer.

This too is from the Psalm [v.15].

Do you, beloved believer, pray to the Lord? His eyes look toward the righteous.

Are your actions now righteous because of Christ? His ears are open to your prayers; therefore pray to the Lord in whom you now take refuge. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

And a reminder from Peter as he continues quoting from Psalm 34 [v.16]:

But the face of the Lord is against
those who do what is evil.
1 Peter 3:12b CSB

This is actually encouraging to those who have turned to the Lord. For in Christ we no longer want to do what is evil.

The vengeance of the Lord will prevail against the enemies of God, as when David called on the Lord for help. Again, this Psalm of David will be familiar to the persecuted church of the first century.

Psalm 34 beyond Peter’s quote

9 O fear the Lord, you His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is no want.

Do we realize that all like-minded servants of the Lord are referred to as saints?

11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may see good?

Like Peter, the Apostle John also encourages the church. We are called to be like-minded faithful, ‘children of God.’

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name
John 1:12 NASB

When Peter earlier referred to ‘not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult‘ his advise came from Psalm 34 and other scripture.
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13 Keep your tongue from evil
 And your lips from speaking deceit.
 14 Depart from evil and do good;
 Seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
 And His ears are open to their cry.
 16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
 To cut off the memory of them from the earth.
 17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears
 And delivers them out of all their troubles.
 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
 And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
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Like-minded believers

What do the faithful do with Scripture?

Peter’s readers applied Old Testament Scripture to the promises of their faith in Christ Jesus.

The Lord has done this before and the Lord promises these things; therefore we have faith.

David, a man after God’s own heart, preaches the sermon of Psalm 34 to the church. Yet first century persecuted followers of Christ probably seemed just as crazy to others as David had when he pretended madness before Abimelech.

The Psalmist assures us that God hears the cries of the righteous and sees our suffering. Furthermore, the Lord prevailed and saved David.

The Lord also saves us in spite of humanly impossible circumstances many times; therefore the faithful hear:
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Psalm 34:21 Evil shall slay the wicked,
 And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned
22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
 And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned
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Is your soul saved?

The Lord redeems the soul of His servants.

Are you a servant of the Lord? Will you become like-minded with Jesus in suffering?

Do you take refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Once again, turning to the preaching of Spurgeon:

“The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants”—with price and with power, with blood and with water. All providential helps are a part of the redemption by power, hence the Lord is said still to redeem. All thus ransomed belong to him who bought them—this is the law of justice and the verdict of gratitude. Joyfully will we serve him who so graciously purchases us with his blood, and delivers us by his power. “And none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.” Faith is the mark of the ransomed, and wherever it is seen, though in the least and meanest of the saints, it ensures eternal salvation. Believer, thou shalt never be deserted, forsaken, given up to ruin. God, even thy God, is thy guardian and friend, and bliss is thine.
Charles Spurgeon commentary Psalm 34:22

Peter continues

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, Peter asks, are you all these things in Christ?
- like-minded and sympathetic?
- Do you love one another?
- Are you compassionate and humble?
Peter will continue by asking the church to be Christlike.
- Do not return evil for evil and never insult anyone.
- Bless your brother or sister in Christ.
Do good, even if you suffer for it.

If we are in Christ we must be like-minded. For we are now children of the Living God through Christ Jesus!

Do not fear what they fear; do not be terrified.
Isaiah 8:12b;1 Peter 3:14b CSB
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To be continued...
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September 5, 2019