Exodus 1:8-14. 22
...Yet the more they were oppressed, the more they
multiplied and spread. The Egyptians, then, dreaded the Israelites ...
Today's psalm reading reminds me of several occasions in my
life when I almost got bitten by a dog. So I know exactly how it feels to be in
that situation when you are face to face with some kind of danger and don't
know what to do but just wait for that impending doom. And I am also aware of
the unexplainable feeling of joy and relief when you are spared from it. It is
of greatest consolation knowing that we have a God who is always ready to
rescue us in times like these. Time and again, history has always displayed the
undeniable mighty power of God in each and every generation from the time of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David and up to the present time. We should be
able to see how God is working in us in the same way that He did for our
ancestors. The life of the patriarchs and the prophets should serve as a
constant reminder that God is faithful and always come to our rescue. We are
challenged by God to always conduct ourselves according to what is pleasing in His eye. It is important that we
always reflect in our lives the righteousness that the Lord God expects of us.
Though, hard let us always equip ourselves with the Word of God and be
constantly reminded that in Christ we can do everything, Today's psalm speaks of the fowler's snare
and stumbled on this sermon in the internet and felt the need to share some of
the important points I got from it.
Satan is the fowler who betrays
unguarded souls. He is the arch-enemy of souls, the great deceiver and prince
of the power of this world who always attempt to destroy us. The devil of this
day is a well-spoken gentleman: he does not persecute—he rather attempts to
persuade and to beguile. There are several ways a fowler attempts to take his
birds. First, the fowler's snare is
intimately connected with secrecy. The fowler, when he goes after his birds, is
very careful. Therefore the fowler carefully covers up his trap so that it is
utterly ignorant of his intention to take it in the trap, little thinking that
the food laid there for its banqueting is really placed there for its
enticement and destruction. The temptations of the world are of this secret
sort to a Christian and could often hear them say, if I were perfectly
convinced of its wrongfulness, I would give it up. Sin is usually hidden, and
the snare is not often made apparent. We have to take care of things that are
secret and the common doings of the world.
In the second place, the snare of
the fowler is generally noted for its adaptation. You do not find a fowler
setting the same snare for one bird as for another; he knows his bird and he
adapts his bait to it. The fowler is wise and he adapts his snare to the
condition of the bird which he desires to take. Satan the fowler does just the
same. He will always adapt his trap to his man, and his bait to his bird. He
will not tempt you all with the same temptation he would tempt me with; nor me
with the temptation with which he would naturally assail another. "The
snare of the fowler." A cunning enemy we have to deal with; he knows our
weak points; he has been dealing with men for these last six thousand years; he
knows all about them. He is possessed of a gigantic intellect; though he be a
fallen spirit and he is easily able to discover where our sore places are, and
there it is he immediately attacks us. If we be like Achilles, and can not be
wounded anywhere but in our heel, then at the heel he will send his dart, and
nowhere else. He will find out our easily besetting sin, and there, if he can,
he will attempt to work our ruin and our destruction.
In the next place, the fowler's
snare is frequently connected with pleasure, profit, and advantage. In the
bird's case it is for the seed scattered on the ground that he flies to the
snare. It is some tempting bait which allures him to his death. And usually
Satan; the fowler, uses a temptation wherewith to beguile us. "O!"
says one, "I can not give up such-and-such a thing, it is so pleasant.
Sir, you never knew the charms of such-and-such a pursuit, otherwise you could
never advise me to relinquish it." Yes, my friend, but it is just the
sweetness of it to you that makes it the more dangerous. Satan never sells his
poisons naked; he always gilds them before he vends them. He knows very well
that men will buy them and swallow them, if he does but gild them beforehand.
Take care of pleasures; mind what you are at when you are at them. Many of them
are innocent and healthful, but many of them are destructive. It is said that
where the most beautiful cacti grow, there the most venomous serpents are to be
found at the root of every plant. And it is so with sin. Your fairest pleasures
will harbor your grossest sins. Take care; take care of your pleasures.
Cleopatra's asp was introduced in a basket of flowers; so are our sins often
brought to us in the flowers of our pleasures. Satan offers to the drunkard the
sweetness of the intoxicating cup, which rejoices him, when his brain is
rioting in frolic, and when his soul is lifted up within him. He offers to the
lustful man the scenes and pleasures of carnal mirth, and merriment, and
delight, and so he leadeth him astray with the bait, concealing the hook which
afterwards shall pain him. He gives to you and to me, each of us, the offer of
our peculiar joy; he tickleth us with pleasures, that he may lay hold upon us,
and so have us in his power. I would have every Christian be especially on his
guard against the very thing that is most pleasing to his human nature. I would
not have him avoid every thing that pleases him, but I would have him be on his
guard against it. Just like Job, when his sons had been feasting in their
houses. He did not forbid them doing it, but he said, "I will offer a
sacrifice, lest my sons should have sinned in their hearts, and should have
cursed God foolishly." He was more careful over them at the time of their
feasting than at any other season. Let us be the same. Let us remember that the
snare of the fowler is generally connected with some pretended pleasure or
profit, but that Satan's end is not our pleasing, but our destruction.
In the next place, sometimes the
fowler very wisely employs the force of example. We all know the influence of
the decoy-duck, in endeavoring to bring others into the snare. How very often
Satan, the fowler, employs a decoy to lead God's people into sin! You get with
a man; you think him to be a true Christian; you have some respect for his
character; he is a high professor, can talk religion by the yard, and can give
you any quantity of theology you like to ask for. You see him commit a sin; ten
to one but you will do the same, if you have much respect for him; and so he
will lead you on. And mark, Satan is very careful in the men whom he chooses to
be decoys. He never employs a wicked man to be a decoy for a good man. It is
very seldom, when Satan would decoy a Christian into a snare, that he makes use
of an open reprobate. No; he makes use of a man who is pretendedly religious,
and who looks to be of the same quality as yourself, and therefore entices you
astray. Let a bad man meet me in the street, and ask me to commit sin! The
devil knows better than to set him at any such work as that, because he knows I
should pass by directly. If he wants his errand well done, he sends one to me
whom I call brother; and so through the brotherhood of profession I am apt to
give him credence and pay him respect; and then if he goeth astray, the force
of example is very powerful, and so I may easily be led into the net too. Take
care of your best friends; be careful of your companions. Choose the best you
can; then follow them no further than they follow Christ. Let your course be
entirely independent of every one else. Say with Joshua, let others do what
they will, "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord."
Note, once more, that sometimes the
fowler, when he faileth to take his bird by deceit and craft, will go a hawking
after it—will send his hawk into the air, to bring down his prey. It often
happens, when the devil can not ruin a man by getting him to commit a sin, he
attempts to slander him; he sends a hawk after him, and tries to bring him down
by slandering his good name. Do with the slanderous hawk what the little birds
do, just fly up. The hawk can not do them any hurt while they can keep above
him—it is only when they come down that he can injure them. It is only when by
mounting he gets above the birds, that the hawk comes sweeping down upon them,
and destroys them. If any slander you, do not come down to them; let them
slander on. By the grace of God, let them say what they please against you,
never answer, but go straight on. All shall end well, if the character be but
kept clean; the more dirt that is thrown on it by slander, the more it shall
glisten, and the more brightly it shall shine. The surest way in the world to
get rid of a slander is just to let it alone and say nothing about it, for if
you prosecute the rascal who utters it, or if you threaten him with an action,
and he has to apologize, you will be no better off—some fools will still
believe it. Let it alone—let it keep as it is; and so God will help you to
fulfill by your wisdom his own promise, Let us bless God that it is written,
"Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler."
We should stop doing the sinful
thing that we really don't want to do because we have already been saved. We
are no longer bound to the yoke of sin and death, we are free. Amen.
Hallelujah!
P S A L M
Psalm 124:2-3. 4-5. 7b-8
R: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
2 Had not the LORD been with us —
when men rose up against us, 3 then would they have swallowed us alive. When
their fury was inflamed against us. (R) 4 Then would the waters have
overwhelmed us; the torrent would have swept over us; 5 over us then would have
swept the raging waters. (R) 7 Broken was the snare, and we were freed. 8 Our
help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
There are several kinds of figure of speech and one of them
that can really catch our attention and will surely bring our focus to
something is hyperbole for it uses exaggeration in order to emphasize a point
or put a stress into the message that we want to convey. In today's gospel,
Jesus was trying to use this strategy in order to catch our attentions and
really make a point. Our love for God should come first place in everything not
because God is selfish and wants to be the priority for the sake of His ego. Of
course Jesus doesn't want us to turn our backs on our families and abandon the
things that we hold dear. He didn't mean it that way but instead wanted us to
realize that the love for God is encompassing and is sure to bring about all
other things. All we have to do is make a decision and stand by it believing
that if we put God first in our life everything will follow. Sometimes trials
and difficulties tend to affect our disposition in life or it could be the very
people who are dear to us that affect our conviction and stand in life or
sometimes we go on with life without realizing that we do not have anything
that we are willing to make a stand for or even live for. We have to first be
clear on this important area of our life so it is in consonance with our
thoughts, words and actions. An example is what's going on nowadays with the
economy, people really want to get what their money is worth and are very wise
when choosing a particular commodity over the other. Some sales agent would
even go as far as offering a bundle or package where everything goes with it
over something that is of less worth in order to sound more convincing. The
same with Jesus if we choose Him above all things for He is the best deal ever.
So whatever major or minor things we are confronted with, before we make a
decision and really stick to it we've got to be sure that Jesus is in the
center so that it will be all worth it. Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 10:34–11:1
...“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of
me; 38 and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy
of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for
my sake will find it...
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