5. 5.15-God’s people are tempted to want the things the worldly centered people have without realizing what it will cost them.15-

5.15-

Old people suffer as their body breaks down, but Satan uses suffering to be a trail to some of God’s servants.

Prophets such and Jesus and others have suffering as a part of their calling in life.

God’s people are tempted to want the things the worldly centered people have without realizing what it will cost them.

1 Samuel 8.

8 In his old age, Samuel retired and appointed his sons as judges in his place. ² Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba; ³ but they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and were very corrupt in the administration of justice. ⁴ Finally the leaders of Israel met in Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. ⁵ They told him that since his retirement things hadn’t been the same, for his sons were not good men.

“Give us a king like all the other nations have,” they pleaded. ⁶ Samuel was terribly upset and went to the Lord for advice.

⁷ “Do as they say,” the Lord replied, “for I am the one they are rejecting, not you—they don’t want me to be their king any longer. ⁸ Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually forsaken me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. ⁹ Do as they ask, but warn them about what it will be like to have a king!”

¹⁰ So Samuel told the people what the Lord had said:

¹¹ “If you insist on having a king, he will conscript your sons and make them run before his chariots; ¹² some will be made to lead his troops into battle, while others will be slave laborers; they will be forced to plow in the royal fields and harvest his crops without pay, and make his weapons and chariot equipment. ¹³ He will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. ¹⁴ He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his friends. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your harvest and distribute it to his favorites. ¹⁶ He will demand your slaves and the finest of your youth and will use your animals for his personal gain. ¹⁷ He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. ¹⁸ You will shed bitter tears because of this king you are demanding, but the Lord will not help you.”

¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning.

“Even so, we still want a king,” they said, ²⁰ “for we want to be like the nations around us. He will govern us and lead us to battle.”

²¹ So Samuel told the Lord what the people had said, ²² and the Lord replied again, “Then do as they say and give them a king.”

So Samuel agreed and sent the men home again.

Mark 9.

^30-32 Then they left that district and went straight through Galilee. Jesus kept this journey secret for he was teaching his disciples that the Son of Man would be betrayed into the power of men, that they would kill him and that three days after his death he would rise again. But they were completely mystified by this saying, and were afraid to question him about it.

Acts 9.

¹⁶ And I will show him how much he must suffer for me.”

Acts 9.

He stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days ²⁰ and went at once to the synagogue to tell everyone there the Good News about Jesus—that he is indeed the Son of God!

²¹ All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who persecuted Jesus’ followers so bitterly in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And we understand that he came here to arrest them all and take them in chains to the chief priests.”

Acts 9.

²² Paul became more and more fervent in his preaching, and the Damascus Jews couldn’t withstand his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Christ.

²³ After a while the Jewish leaders determined to kill him. ²⁴ But Paul was told about their plans, that they were watching the gates of the city day and night prepared to murder him. ²⁵ So during the night some of his converts let him down in a basket through an opening in the city wall!

²⁶ Upon arrival in Jerusalem he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They thought he was faking! ²⁷ Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Paul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus, what the Lord had said to him, and all about his powerful preaching in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ Then they accepted him, and after that he was constantly with the believers ²⁹ and preached boldly in the name of the Lord. But then some Greek-speaking Jews with whom he had argued plotted to murder him. ³⁰ However, when the other believers heard about his danger, they took him to Caesarea and then sent him to his home in Tarsus.

³¹ Meanwhile, the church had peace throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria, and grew in strength and numbers. The believers learned how to walk in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.