September 11, 2005
Scripture:
Scripture:
There are two verses that came before me at this time: They are the first two verse of Psalm 103. We’ve been thinking of the Lord, remembering His work causing us to praise Him. The Psalmist writes “Bless the LORD, O my soul.” It says, “O my soul”; the soul is the part of you that shows love and affection. Remembering his work makes us bless the Lord for what He has done. “All that is within me, bless his holy name.” My whole body, everything in me, can join in blessing the Lord for His work. What is His holy name? A person’s name tells you what he has done and who he is. He was the holy, spotless, heavenly man; he died for our sins so we wouldn’t have to. Then it says “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” What are His benefits? He took our punishment, and he showed us love. He didn’t restore us to Eden, that was not good enough for Him; he said in John 17 he wants us in glory with Him. Unfathomable love; we love Him too. Praise His name!
Hymn–Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see, Prayer • What we put into ourselves is what will come out. Two of the things mentioned in our hymn were to take things in; the other three put things out. • To take things in we can use
Hebrews 6:7–15 • V. 7—The writer uses an illustration we can all relate to: a gardener plants seeds, it rains, the seeds grow to plants and bear fruit. But the same garden, with the same rain will also bring a good crop of weeds. Of the two crops, we take one as a blessing from God, but we get rid of the weeds. The garden is a picture of the Christian Arena; called Christian because it acknowledges Christ as God’s Son, uses the Bible, realizes the privilege of prayer. Some of the people in it hear God’s truth, accept it and bear fruit; but some don’t respond to it. They still grow, but not the right way and they will be rooted up and burned. If you don’t accept the Lord as your Saviour, there is no other way to heaven. This validates the fact that vv. 4–6 are not saying you can lose salvation. Judas Iscariot would be a good example of both vv. 4–6 and this illustration. There was probably no one much closer to the Lord than His 12 disciples, of which Judas was a part. He would have seen the miracles, heard the discourses, and listened to the parables. He might even have done miracles himself, when the Lord sent them out. However, he still betrayed the Lord, and ended up hanging himself. He saw everything mentioned in vv. 4–6, but ended up as a weed. • Vv. 10 & 11—The writer didn’t want to frighten those who were the real Christians, the possessors. They were doing things for God, bearing fruit. He said that God is not unrighteous; he won’t forget their work and labour of love. They also were ministering to the saints. There are many ways to minister; a brother can stand up in a meeting to minister, and there are also ways for a sister or young person. Prayer is a way to minister. Colossians 4:12 tells of Epaphras, a fellow-prisoner of Paul’s (Philemon 23) who was “always labouring fervently for you in prayers.” God remembered their works and labour of love; he does not forget anything (except our sins and iniquities). For God to forget would be unrighteous. Even a cup of cold water, or anything done for the Lord’s people, is remembered. • V. 11—Diligence was one of the qualities of Ruth. God wants us to be diligent, not “slothful” (v. 12) or “sluggish” (Darby). • Full assurance—This is also mentioned in Hebrews 10:22, full assurance of faith. In our chapter, it is the full assurance of hope, something very real to a Christian. It was very real to the Jews, when they were travelling through the desert, going to the Promised Land. We have a hope, not just a “hope so”, and we have full assurance that it will come to pass, I Peter 1:3–5. EG Hymn 221–I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice, Prayer