May 29, 2005
Scripture:
Scripture:
Can we turn to Luke 15; a very well known chapter. Whether it’s a trilogy of parables or 1 in 3 parts, it brings the Lord before us as a Shepherd; then the woman with her light seeking silver, signifying the Holy Spirit; and lastly, “The parable of the Father’s heart”. The Son has returned and in v. 22 the Father is speaking: But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:, and this is the part that came before me, And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. We know there was joy in the other parables. The joy in the 3rd parable is not the same; it is joy of continued communion between the Father and Son. The fatted calf is slain, and the joy commences; we don’t hear of a finish, it’s eternal. O Beloved, this reminds us of Calvary, the time of the greatest shame and supreme suffering, when the Lord bore God’s wrath and died. Yet out of that has come the greatest joy, eternal joy. Yes, the sorrow was just for a night, “joy cometh in the morning”. The morning of resurrection brought full joy for the Father. Of Jesus it could be said, “For the joy that was set before Him…” the joy of obedience. WE can enter into the joy of forgiveness, to be brought into the presence of God as His Sons. We can worship the Father in spirit and in Truth. The Son seeks the lost, the Father seeks worshippers. We can dwell on this joy of communion with the Father.
EG Hymn 130 – To God be the glory, great things he hath done, Prayer • Sneezing is a sign of life. 2 Kings 4:11 – Elisha’s special room vv.17 - 36 • It is possible to be spiritually dead. • An older brother was once told of a young man who had been saved not too long before. He asked, “Has he sneezed seven times yet?” What are some sneezes? The fruit of the Spirit, obedience, reading the Bible, serving others are a few. We can learn from this boy that we should show signs of life.
Hebrews 3:12-19 • Some have used the warning of doubting to create the false doctrine that says you can lose your salvation. This was written to people who were not saved. Right now there is a great body of not only Christians, but also professors. • In the parable of the sower, the sower and seed were both good, but there were different results. On the stony ground, there was the appearance of roots, but it wasn’t real. There are many who appear to be saved, who appear to enjoy the gospel, but some trial comes along and they give up. These are the ones who didn’t sneeze 7 times. Instead they had an evil heart of unbelief. Ten of the spies that went to Canaan, made an evil heart come into the children of Israel. They could have gone into Canaan in a couple of days, but they had an evil heart of unbelief. Only Joshua and Caleb were willing Old Testament stake their lives and their all on God’s mercy. They had sneezed 7 times. The others made excuses: the walls, the people, etc. If that happened to Israel, it could happen to us today. We are in a wilderness, going to a promised land. How many of us are just willing to check it out and walk away! • Today is the day of grace; it is the only day we are promised. We are to exhort, or encourage, each other every day. One definition of exhort is to stimulate another to do something good. This is not a do-it-yourself project; we need others to encourage and to be encouraged by. We have a responsibility to each other; we don’t want anyone to fall by the wayside. Satan is always trying to discourage us. But “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world”. • V. 14 – We are companions of Christ. The writer is encouraging us to continue steadfastly because we are companions of Christ. • Vv. 15-17 – Everyone but Caleb and Joshua were unbelieving. Kelly and Darby say that all the people provoked God on different occasions. When we act in the flesh we provoke the Lord because He has given us a new nature, and we go against it. • V. 18 – God cannot rest until all his purposes have been completed. • V. 19 – We can enter into the hope of heaven, our portion on earth. We can only enter into it if we are saved. EG Hymn 166 – In hope we lift our wishful, longing eyes, Prayer