May 7, 2006
Scripture:
Can we look at a few words taken from Ruth, chapter 2; we know this story well and I felt that it fit so much with what we have had this morning. V. 10: “Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?” Why? Boaz was the owner of the whole plantation and had a large staff of young men and maidens. He had his valid pedigree and an inheritance in the land. This poor stranger, who comes from outside of the boundaries God had set, asks why. She had found grace; why? We know the answer; there was grace, but more than that, Boaz was in love. He had a love that could cross boundaries; a love that could see beauty; a love that desired to have the one whose faith had brought thus far and whose diligence had impressed him. He paid the price and she became his bride. We also were “strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” But we have been looked upon by grace and love and have been “brought nigh by the blood of Christ.” “So nigh, so very nigh to God, I cannot nearer be; for in the person of His Son, I am as near as He.” Wondrous grace!
EG Hymn 333–Come to the Saviour, make no delay, Prayer Exodus 40:1–23 • Here again we can see that Joseph is an interesting type of Christ. Here in prison, there are two other people with him, the butler and the baker. On the cross, Jesus had two people with Him, one on each side. We know that one of Joseph’s prisoners was hung, but the other was restored. With the thieves on the crosses, one went to Heaven, the other to Hell. In verse 14, Joseph says, “But think on me when it shall be well with thee.” Jesus has asked us to remember Him also and it’s wonderful to be able to do it. Then we have Pharaoh’s birthday; he decided to restore the butler, according to his dream. But the baker had dreamed that birds ate the bread in the baskets on his head and Joseph told him he would be hung. That is just what happened. At the end of the chapter, we see that the butler forgot Joseph. After all the Lord has done for us, we should not forget Him. The butler was restored to his previous position, but through the work of Christ, we have gained much more than the Garden of Eden, we are destined to glory. So we see that the Old Testament type falls short of shadowing the fulness of our blessings through the Lord. Joseph should also inspire us to live for God as he did.
Hebrews 10:32–39 • The last while we have been looking at the warning of despising. The way it comes across, it seems it may be written to Christians, implying that we can lose salvation. It is actually written to those who refuse salvation after having seen the complete work of Christ; these people are called adversaries. In Israel, unfaithfulness to the law would mean death; but people who “hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace” will be avenged by God only. Having that behind us, we have a big “but” in verse 32. “Illuminated” here is “enlightened” in Darby. It is so amazing to be able to have the light to show you what you need to know. We were in darkness until God revealed it. The Hebrews, too, to whom the law was given, receive this truth. At Pentecost, many were enlightened and saved, these were Jews. They were then filled with the Spirit. Yet along with the blessings there was persecution to face. Through the last part of this chapter, the theme of endurance is brought forward. The Jewish Christians in Acts would be conflicting with the elders, Pharisees, Sadducees, and so on. It is part of the path of faith. Endurance is still needed today. It takes faith and the help of the Holy Spirit to find the endurance we need to face life. There will always be those who oppose those who are willing to endure. It could even be in our own families, as it probably was for many early Hebrew Christians. We have not been called to suffer as they did, but we still do need to endure. In business, you sometimes need to do endurance tests to see how long a device will run before it wears out. We are being tested too, but we don’t have to wear out; we have a resource to go to. In chapter 11, we will see some of those who endured and did not fail. We can endure if we trust the Lord. Endurance requires patience. Our flesh does not want to be patient, but through the Spirit we can be. Joseph, when in prison, patiently endured his sufferings until God got him out. Contrastingly, Saul did not have the patience to wait for Samuel and he lost the kingdom because of it. All enduring strength comes from the Lord. Paul wrote to Timothy that when he first stood before Nero, “no man stood with me … Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me.” King Nebuchadnezzar threw three men into the furnace, but he saw four walking around. “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee,” (Isaiah 43:2). It is remarkable to see what a testimony those who do endure are for others. In history we can see that many times the witness of a few faithful ones resulted in the salvation of many more. Enduring will not only be to our own benefit and comfort, but to the benefit and comfort of others as well. Yet in all this we are looking at the earthly, temporal aspect. The spiritual part is so much better. All we have here, we could lose tomorrow. But our “better and … enduring substance,” will be forever ours, and no man can take it from us. “The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,” (I Peter 1:7). Those who refuse God’s grace are waiting for His judgement, but we, as those living in the joy of God’s grace, will have great recompense of reward. We should do as Moses did, when he was “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward,” (Hebrews 11:26). Endure! • EG Hymn 10– Faith is a very simple thing, • Prayer