A SPECIAL MEETING

“Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD” (Joel 1:14 NKJV).

Joel was commissioned to call the people back to the worship of the true God. And so we have a call for a special meeting. Thus we want to note the prompting of the meeting, the place of the meeting, the people for the meeting, and the program for the meeting.

Prompting of the meeting - The conditions of the land of Israel prompted this call for a special meeting. Israel had suffered devastation to their land - locusts had devoured the crops, the grain bins lay empty, the cattle had no pasture, and on top of that a great fire had devoured everything that the locust had left. It was not a good time for Israel. What should they do? The answer was to call a special religious meeting.

Place of the meeting - “The house of the Lord.” The place for this special meeting was the “house of the Lord.” In time of trouble, men need to seek the Lord. Going to the house of the Lord emphasizes this need.

People for the meeting - “Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord.” This special meeting called for all the people of the land to be present; no one was exempt. The same is true today when a church has special meetings. Yet there are some folks who always feel that they are exempted from attending these meetings. Failure to attend makes them part of the problem, not the solution.

Program for the meeting - “Cry out to the Lord.” This was a prayer meeting, not a time of food and fun. It was a meeting where people were to cry out to God in repentance and seek His help in those troublesome times. God never inflicts without cause, and the problems that came to Israel were because of Israel’s sin. Our society is facing the same situation. Evil is consuming our society. We need to call solemn assemblies to repent of our sin and cry to God for help. Few things will help our society as much as these meetings.

(Adapted from Butler's Daily Bible Reading 2)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer!”

Frederick Brotherton (F.B.) Meyer (1847 – 1929)

English Baptist Pastor, Author and Evangelist

Word Study

Enlighten (bring to light)

In Eph. 3:9 we read, “And to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things!” (NASB).

Enlighten (bring to light) is the Greek word phōtízō (φωτίζω =fo-tid'-zo). It means to give light or to cause light to shine upon some object, in the sense of illuminating the object. Figuratively, it means to illuminate, instruct, teach, throw light upon. In classic Greek phōtízō means shine or give light. In the Septuagint, phōtízōis almost always used figuratively in the sense of “throw light upon” in order to reveal and make clear. In the New Testament, phōtízō means to be give light, or to enlighten morally or spiritually.

“Fear Nots” Found in the Bible

“And Isaiah said unto them, thus shall ye say to your master, thus saith the LORD, be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me” (2 Kings 19:6 KJV).

Did You Know…

Solomon’s name means peace. But he was also called “Jedidiah” which means “Beloved of Yahweh” (2 Sam. 12:24-25). “Jedidiah” is related to the name “David” which means “beloved.”

Bible Quiz

According to the Book of Hebrews, in whose order did the Lord Jesus become a high priest?

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz: What did the Israelites do while Moses was on the Mountain receiving the Ten Commandments? They made and idol, a golden calf (Deut. 9:16).

Names For the Lord Jesus in the Bible

“APOSTLE”

"Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus!” (Heb. 3:1 NKJV).

1. Meaning – APOSTLE speaks of the Lord Jesus as the One sent by God the Father.

2. Insights – The word “Apostle” means a person who is sent forth as an ambassador on a special mission with a special message. He is empowered with the authority of the one who sends him. Furthermore, he could only speak the words his superior gives him. He was forbidden to utter his own opinions when they are at variance with those of the one who sends him. The Lord Jesus, then, is the “Apostle” of all apostles. He proclaims the very Word of God. He represented the realm of Heaven and was sent forth by God the Father to do the Father’s will. He represented God for He is God. His message has authority for it is true.

Did You Know – Christian History

Elizabeth Gaunt was an English woman sentenced to death for treason after having been convicted for involvement in the Rye House Plot. She was the last woman executed for a political crime in England.

Gaunt was an Anabaptist shop-keeper who lived with her husband in London, England. She was known as a kind Christian who gave shelter to persecuted people, such as victims of religious and political oppression. It is said that she spent her life in acts of charity, visiting the gaols (prisons) and looking after the poor, no matter who they were.

In 1863, several members of the Whig party plotted to assassinate King Charles II as he passed by the Rye House. Although they abandoned the plot, they were betrayed to the government. James Burton, one of the men implicated in the plot pleaded with Gaunt to hide him from his pursuers for the sake of his family. Believing that it was what God would expect, she not only helped him escape but gave him her precious savings.

However, after his arrest in 1685, Burton implicated Gaunt as an accomplice in the hope of saving his own life. She was in fact not involved in the conspiracy and the trial against her was seen as a show trial. Judge Jeffreys, a brutal and unjust man, had made a career of handing out cruel sentences against the king’s enemies. Everyone could imagine what level of justice Gaunt could expect. Further, being one of the hated Anabaptists, mercy would probably not be shown to her. The Anabaptists taught pacifism and, contrary to the practice of most denominations, rejected infant baptism. They believed that only someone old enough to know the meaning of baptism should be baptized.

Gaunt was sentenced to death for treason on October 19, 1685. She considered the trial to be a martyrdom. She was denied strangulation, and was to be executed by burning. Gaunt arranged straw around herself to speed the flame so that her misery would be as short as possible. When the people saw this, many burst into tears. Few of the onlookers felt that Gaunt’s sentence was just. Although she had no part in the treason, Gaunt was to burn alive for it. It was said that, “He received a pardon as a recompense for his treachery and she was burnt alive for her charity.”

Gaunt died in the flames on October 23, 1685. She died bravely, the last woman burned alive in England for treason. William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, was at the scene and saw her die. He recorded some of the details. Afterward, a furious storm burst upon England, which many considered to be a sign of God’s anger at the burning of the innocent woman.

A Little Humor

Said Daniel to his real estate agent, “I am in the market for a house, but I would prefer a house with no den.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“We always pay for the pleasure of sin with the coin of sorrow!”