September 25, 2005
Ministry:
Can we turn to Luke 22; we had a reference to this chapter this morning. Our first hymn was “Gathered to Thy name, Lord Jesus.” Our brother made reference to the upper room, with the Lord in the midst of the disciples. “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (vv. 19 & 20). Here we have the Lord instituting the Lord’s Supper for His own to be reminded of His death. Another instance of the Lord in the midst of His own is in John 20:19 & 20: “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.” Here again we have the disciples gathered together with the Lord in the midst. “He shewed unto them his hands and his side”; these were the emblems of His death. We too have the emblems of His death before us this morning. The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. We can think of how glad we would be to be with the Lord. We read Matthew 18:20; that is a promise and He never had failed it. We sang “faithful to Thy promised word.” Is he here with us any less than He was with them? They saw Him by sight, we see Him by faith; that is the only difference. We can be glad because of His presence. Another promise is “I will come again” (John 14:3). In I Corinthians 11, the verses about His death end with “til He come.” We remember Him “til He come.” We have the privilege of seeing Him here by faith this morning, maybe for the last time.
EG Hymn 210—On Calvary’s brow … my Saviour died, Prayer Acts 16:10–15 • Paul was on a missionary journey. In the story, He was in Philippi and went to a prayer meeting by a river. Paul told the people there the gospel and Lydia heard it and opened her heart to God. The door of your heart is a door with a knob on the inside only. You are the only one who can open your heart to the Lord. Is the Lord in your heart, the place of your love? Hymn—Open your heart, open your heart,
Hebrews 6:16–20 • God swore to Abraham. When you have to do jury duty, they have a Bible, Catholic Bible, Koran, and Talmud all strapped together. You have to put your hand on top of this and swear to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me, God.” They swear by God. There is no one higher than God, so God has to swear by Himself when He wants to swear. God swore to Abraham in Genesis 22:16 & 17. In chapter 23, when Sarah died, Abraham possessed only a burial plot, but God was promising Him all of Canaan. On Abraham’s part, there was great faith. On God’s part, there was a promise, a hope. • V. 17—immutability (Darby, unchangablness)—Nothing could change the oath God made to Abraham. It was “carved in stone.” Only the death of God could break that divine promise. This is because God himself is unchanging. He is the same “yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8); he has “no variableness” (James 1:17). What He was to Abraham, he is to us today. V. 18 tells us that it is impossible for God to lie. Out of the billions of books printed in this world, the only one you can build your life on as bedrock truth is the Word of God. Because of this we have a strong consolation, or encouragement (Darby). We are encouraged by God to go to Christ for refuge and lay hold on the hope set before us. Peter writes about our inheritance: “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” There are many Christians who have fallen asleep, but they still have the same hope (I Corinthians 15:51–54). Death looks like the end of things, but through this hope, we will see all these dear ones again. • Divine promises—The Bible is full of promises for Christians, but to get the full benefit of them, we have to claim them. For example, you could go through an open heart surgery with more peace if you have claimed the divine promise in Isaiah 43:1–3. We who have fled to the Lord for refuge can have a strong encouragement through the promises we can lay hold on. • V. 19—This is a picture of a boat on a sea with high waves, being driven towards a rocky shoal. A ship can have a sure anchor, but if the water is too deep, or the bottom is solid rock, it will just drift along when cast out. The Lord can be our anchor, both sure and steadfast. We need an anchor, a hope. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We were hopeless, but we fled to the Lord for refuge and received a hope, Romans 8:24. But what holds the anchor to the ship (the soul)? It is a cable of faith. • We have these promises to hope for, but the people in the world do not; they have no promises, no hope, no anchor. People commit suicide for that reason. They feel they have no reason to live and want be put out of their misery. For most of them, their real misery is just starting. EG Hymn 92 – Have you any room for Jesus, Prayer