April 23, 2006
Can we turn back to the Song of Solomon 5; we have been thinking of the beauties and merits of the Lord. Sometimes we see it through what He did for us on the cross. Sometimes we sing, ‘There from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flowed mingled down.” In this description in Song of Solomon 5, let’s look at his head, hands and legs—it does not have feet—and see if there is a similarity. Vv. 11, 14, & 15: “His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven … His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.” We can see a repetition here. His head, hands, and legs are made of gold, pure gold, with no dross. It brings before us such value and splendour. The head shows His infinite wisdom; His hands typify his power; His legs, or feet, show his ways and patterns. It’s all gold, precious. As we gaze upon it, we, too, can rejoice in the value of the fine gold of His head, hands, and feet. His merits are so radiant. We should burst forth with praise.
EG Hymn 341– Jesus bids us shine, Prayer Genesis 37:28–33 • To show us how Joseph is a type of the Lord, let’s turn to Matthew 26:15. Joseph was sold for less than the Lord because he is a lesser type. Joseph’s brothers stripped off his coat and dipped it in blood. We said before that Joseph’s coat is a picture of the glories of the Lord. When Jesus went to the cross, he was stripped and degraded there. Genesis 39:1–8, 19, & 20 • Joseph was put in prison for something he did not do. The Lord Jesus also was arrested and crucified for sins He did not commit. Even in prison, Joseph prospered and was put in charge of all the other prisoners; so the Lord, when he was on the earth, prospered in everything he did. Joseph is not only a picture of the Lord, he is also an example to us. He was prosperous in life and by following his example, we can be, too. The formula for success is given in Psalms 1:1–3. We will be blessed if we do not have ungodly friends. We should delight in the scriptures all the time. If we do so, we will be like a tree planted by a river. We will thrive and bear fruit spiritually. So we can follow Joseph’s example and prosper.
Hebrews 10:25–31 • These exhortations come out of the first part of this chapter. We have been looking at having boldness, entering the veil, drawing near, and not forsaking. We are also to exhort one another. To exhort means to urge earnestly. We can warn, encourage, stir up, and so on. We don’t want to be like a lone coal that goes out because he is not touching other coals. We cannot stay away from meeting on purpose without getting cold. We need each other even more as the day, the Lord’s appearing, approaches. V. 26 brings us into another subject, a warning on the perils of despising. Some people have said that these warnings imply that we can lose our salvation. But that is not possible, scripture makes that very clear. This is a warning to those who are not saved but have seen all the truths from this chapter and yet decided not to take part, not to be saved. The “sin” in this verse does not mean the act of sinning, but the state of being a sinner. To wilfully sin is to say, “I am not going to change my position, even though I know the truth.” People who do so are called adversaries, and are looking for judgement and fiery indignation. The apostle, then, is saying there were—and there still are today—people who have seen the important truths about salvation clearly, and have decided to walk away from it. But who would do that? Well, the Hebrew people might be tempted to because they had a God-given law. They could argue that God gave them their law and if he had changed his mind once, he might do it again. However, God did not change His mind; he had it all in mind from the beginning. He knew that the law was just a shadow of good things to come. He did not reveal it all at once, but slowly, over time, he showed different people different aspects of his plan. Now, in the day of grace, everything has been revealed. That is why it is a fearful thing to walk away from the truths we now know. Through Church History, there were times of great darkness, where only a few people had a small ray of truth. When we see this, we should be thankful for the truths God has given us. The consequences of rejecting these truths can be called a position of apostasy. One of the things that can be difficult to understand in this verse is the pronoun use. Why does the writer say “we” instead of “they”? It seemed as though he is speaking of those in the Christian circle; but he is not writing to an assembly. He is writing to a community of Hebrew “Christians”, where there would be those who had a position among them, but had not actually been saved. They did not have the hope that we spoke of in verse 23. Yet they do have an anticipated future: “a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” Can you imagine the consequences of being a rejecter of known truth? We can see what God has done when he brings judgement in the form of cataclysms, but this judgement will be forever. Many people today are under the delusion that you go to Heaven when you die. This is obviously not true. V. 26 shows us the despising of God’s grace; v. 28 shows us the despising of God’s law. V. 29 sums it up when it says, “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God?” There is definitely a price for despising God’s grace; this points out God’s holiness. Many say that God is love and he wouldn’t punish people. Yes, God is love, but He is also light, and if we do not avail ourselves of God’s love, he will have to use the alternative. EG Hymn 201–When we walk with the Lord, Prayer