June 11, 2006
Ministry:
Can we take a moment to turn back to Luke 22; I’ve already read it, so I won’t read it again, but I just want to think about what is happening here. Who is this speaking about? It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the one we read about in Psalm 40, the one who knows the end from the beginning. He knew that He would go to the cross, He knew that it would traumatize his disciples whom He loved so much. He knew that He would complete a work that the Passover was a type of. So here He introduces something that is more intimate, more personal, more vital. But He had not gone to the cross yet; if you or I were in His place, we would be perturbed about what was ahead. But the Lord Jesus puts Himself aside and showed the disciples this new remembrance, even though they could not fully understand it, because they did not have the Holy Spirit. Now let’s look at John 14; they are still in the upper room: “Let not your heart be troubled …” He knew it would be a troubling experience for them, “… ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (vv. 1–3). They probably did not enter into all that this meant, but it is a promise, and one that we can claim. Through faith, we can be anchor-sure that it will happen. They would see Him die, so He gave them this promise. V. 16, He had been with them for three years and they had learned to depend on Him. Now He was going away; what would they do? “The Father … shall give you another Comforter.” In v. 26, we find out that the Comforter is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead. As we think of this, may it affect our ways and actions. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can enter somewhat into what He suffered. “With joy and sorrow mingling we do remember Thee.” We remember His death with sorrow that it was for our sins, sorrow that God forsook Him. But there is also joy—joy that His work was completed and that God is satisfied with this sweet-smelling savour. We can rejoice to find the joy that the Holy Spirit gives us by showing us this. And because of this we have the remembrance. It is not a commandment, we do it out of love. We should not read it in the Bible and do it mechanically. But as the Lord Jesus tenderly and passionately introduced it, we should realize we are in the presence of our living, loving Saviour. May it not become an ordeal, but be filled with love. Read Acts 1:10 & 11; the disciples had two witnesses to what Jesus promised them: Himself and these angels. What a wonderful promise! Now read Acts 2:42; the church had been formed and the Holy Spirit given, and the disciples are going on with the Breaking of Bread. Two thousand years later, we are still observing it. But when the Lord comes we will no longer need to hold it: “til He come.” We will have no loaf or cup in Heaven, because we will have the Lord Himself in our midst. What joy! What rapture! May it be precious to us now.
EG Hymn 335 – I am so glad that our Father in Heaven, Prayer Genesis 42:1–38 • We have been noticing the similarities between the lives of Joseph and Jesus. Before we begin, I want to point out at the end of verse 18 that Joseph said, “I fear God.” That is not an afraid fear, but a reverence. Joseph’s brothers were afraid of God. We should not be afraid of Him, but have a reverence for Him; that is the beginning of wisdom. So when Joseph’s brothers came to him, he recognised them and loved them right away. This reminds us of how the Lord Jesus loved the Jews even though they hated Him for no reason. Also, Joseph realized that God was bringing his dreams to pass. But could Joseph open his arms and accept them after what they had done? No, he had to make sure they realized they had done wrong first. So he accused them of something, to see what their reaction is. They denied his charges, saying they were true men, all brothers. But what they had done—deceived Jacob into thinking that Joseph had been torn apart—showed that they were not true men. Joseph put them in prison; but then on the third day, he let all but one go home with corn. However, he commanded them to bring their younger brother back with them next time. This was going to be a hard thing to do. As they left, they said, “We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.” Now Joseph is starting to get through to their consciences. But they didn’t know that Joseph could understand what they were saying because he had been using an interpreter. After hearing what they said, Joseph wept. This reminds us of how the Lord Jesus wept at Lazarus’ grave; both had compassion for those around them. Unbeknown to his brothers, Joseph had commanded that their money be put back in their sacks. They were probably a very poor family; could they really afford to pay Joseph? No they couldn’t, and we cannot pay the Lord for salvation. But when they found their money, they said, “What is this that God hath done unto us?” What a change in attitude from when they sold Joseph! When they got home, they told Jacob what had happened and tried to persuade him to send Benjamin with them. But Jacob does not have the faith to trust God to take care of his son. Yet although Jacob’s response is not one of faith, we will soon be reading about him in Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11:4–7 • Cain and Abel were brought up in the same household, so they must have had the same teaching. But Cain’s offering had no blood, and Abel’s did. In the Garden of Eden, it was clear that God required blood when He killed an animal to make coats of skins. Abel had faith, and that was the major difference. Cain must not have believed what Adam must have told his sons. These people are good examples to us, but their stories also hold important principles. The first one was in verse three, where we see that everything, including man, was created by God and we are responsible to Him. Once that is established, we have principle two in Abel: God is someone who can be approached. Both Cain and Abel wanted to approach God, and that was good and right. But they did it differently. Some would say that differences are alright, but the way of faith is the only right one. It gives us a way to draw near to God and be counted righteous. Both men have an offering. Abel brings a lamb; Cain, a probably very eye-pleasing display of what he had grown. Yet it did not appeal to God. Abel was accepted because his sacrifice had blood. This is the first time a person we read of was accepted because of his offering. We are counted righteous before God because of our Offering; we are “accepted in the Beloved.” In the sin offering, the offerer put his hand on the goat’s head, transferring his sins to the goat. In faith, that is what we do. But we are “accepted in the Beloved”; we are close to God’s heart. Hebrews 4:2 is exactly the case of Cain and Abel: both heard, but only one had the faith. Because of his sacrifice, Abel was counted righteous and is an example to us. He was accepted because of the death of another, like we are. Now what can we learn from Enoch? He is an interesting case because we only have a few lines about him in Genesis. But he is mentioned here, and in Jude we are told that he was a prophet of judgement. The principle to be learned here is that, through our Sacrifice, we have been made fit for Heaven. We are made “meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” We who are unfit for even earth are now made fit for Heaven. With Enoch, it seems that each day he would walk with God a little farther, until one day God said, “Enoch, come home with me.” Abel’s story looks to the cross, while Enoch’s looks to the rapture, where Christians still living will be translated. But as we saw, there was not much written about Enoch; there might be brothers who walked with God for a long time, but there is not much written about them. Maybe they were Enochs, undistinguished followers, but “he pleased God.” We must remember though, that, “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” If we want to walk with God, we must agree with Him. EG Hymn 201 – When we walk with the Lord, Prayer