FBC Daily Devotional – May 21, 2021

Well, here we are last day of the work week, I think for most of us anyway this Friday and I trust you're

Wrapping up the week. Well looking forward to the weekend looking. I am looking forward to the

Lord's Day gonna be a good day have Guests with us this

Lord's Day. Scott will acquit is one of our Supporting missionaries our church supports and he's gonna be with us in the morning

Teaching giving us really an update on his ministry in the Sunday school hour at 930 and then he'll be speaking in the morning service and sharing with us in that time, so it should be a good day on the

Lord's Day and As you anticipate that I hope you'll be Be praying for the

Lord to bless you richly on that special day Well in Mark chapter 15

It's a sobering chapter because it's the chapter that recounts the crucifixion and all of the events surrounding it

But but let me just let me just share a few thoughts on three words. One is appointment determination number two and lamentation number three appointment you know, nothing really happens by mere chance or coincidence we can think of things as Is as divine appointments instead and what

I'm getting at is this This man Simon of Cyrene who just so happened to be walking by in Jerusalem as Jesus is

Carrying his the cross beam and he falls beneath the weight of that and Simon is compelled

To carry the carry that cross beam for Jesus That's not a coincidence.

It wasn't just happenstance that Simon was walking by this was a divine appointment one of the little hints of that is that Mark tells us that this

Simon us the Cyrenian it was he's from Cyrene He was the it said

Mark says he's the father of Alexander and Rufus as he was coming out of the country and passing by He was compelled to bear the cross the father of Alexander and Rufus now now

Mark just Mentions that in passing that here's this Simon Cyrenian If he had said

Simon a Cyrenian was compelled to he was passing by was compelled to care Then then you could easily conclude

Well boy, you know He just happened to be at the right place at the right time or wrong place at the wrong time

Depending on how you look at it, but no he adds that little detail That Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus which tells you

That those who are reading this record the original readers

Would have understood who those men were they would have recognized the names Alexander and Rufus Which leads us to wonder?

Was this the divine appointment that resulted in? Simon coming to faith in the one whose cross he carried and that faith

Also found its way in the hearts of his sons Alexander and Rufus who also came to Christ and followed him

I Suggest that so this was a divine appointment. It wasn't just a sheer coincidence that Simon was there at that time appointment the second word is

Determination so you have these blind Not literally spiritually blind priests and scribes

Who in verses 31 and 32 is Jesus is on the cross

They were mocking Jesus and they said they said to him and it's among themselves

He saved others himself. He cannot save and then they said let Messiah let Christ Let the

King of Israel descend now from the cross that we may see and believe Well, they're making fun of Jesus because Jesus remains on the cross.

But what these blind Religious leaders failed to see was that Jesus chose not to save himself

So that he could save others He was determined to see this through He was determined to come to that point where he said

Into thy hands. I commend my spirit and Then the third word is lamentation

You think of all that Jesus endured the betrayal that betraying kiss of Judas then the mock trial the lies that were leveled against him the physical abuse that he suffered with the beatings and the spitting and the crown of thorns and and then of course the excruciating pain of The nails driven into his hands and his feet

The the shame of the nakedness as he hung there on that cross and The the people who seem to have so little empathy

For this one whose life is being This is ebbing away from him

Mocking him Making fun of him and in all of that treatment that Jesus received.

He did not he did not Utter one word of lament not one

Yeah, one time he said he thought he was thirsty that wasn't a lamentation that was a statement of fact, but no lament the only statement of lament

Comes when he says my god My god, why have you forsaken me?

The one thing that caused him the greatest agony Was the loneliness of the cross that even the father

Could not look upon his sin -bearing son the

Savior on that cross the only word of lament was that alienation from the father

Wonder what it is that causes us to lament How easily we complain about the little inconveniences of life and some of the difficulties that we face some pretty severe to be sure and We're very quick to lament those things but How's our how's our soul with God?

Do we lament when we feel a distance when we sense that? Things aren't right with our

God. Oh All that we all that we would lament then especially then

Well, I trust this chapter is a blessing to you as you read what our

Savior determined to endure in our behalf even even the forsaking of the father as He bore our sin in his own body on the tree

So our Father and our God we do thank you today for our sin -bearer for Jesus and for all that he did in our behalf and I pray father that even as he lamented

The the turning away that you could not look upon him because of the sin that he was bearing in our place.

I Pray that we too would truly lament When sin has separated us from you and we would make short account of such things and Repent, we would be quick repenters turning back to you

May we lament over the right things we pray we thank you also father that you arrange divine appointments as you did for Simon and And we thank you that we can trust you in the affairs of life

Even for these unusual things that we may not enjoy but may bear much fruit

So father, thank you for these lessons today And we pray you bless them to our hearts and we ask in Jesus name and for his sake.

Amen All right again, have a good rest of your Friday and a wonderful weekend

And I I hope you can make it to the Lord's house on Sunday Gather together with God's people hear from his word