July 9, 2006
Scripture:
Scripture:
Ministry:
A little passage in Genesis comes to mind: Genesis 8, and I was thinking of verse 20. We all know that Noah was a builder, and he built an ark, a major project. Noah built the ark because of what God had told him: there was going to be global judgement and Noah should build an ark for deliverance. In chapter 8, the judgement is passed and Noah and his family are out of the ark. But now Noah starts building again. This time, it is not for deliverance: he makes an altar. Having been delivered from the deluge, he renders a sacrifice of thanks to God. Interestingly, this is the first time a burnt offering is mentioned. “And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” This is also the first time there is a distinction made between clean and unclean animals. So Noah took of every clean beast and offered … a sin offering? a peace offering? No, it was a burnt offering. And God has allowed us to know what was in His mind as Noah did this. V. 21: “And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart …” From our place long after Noah, we know why it pleased God. He saw a picture of His Son’s sacrifice. And with that in mind, God smelled a sweet-smelling savour. “And the Lord said in his heart …” Precious indeed, God looks down, after having destroyed the world and the waters having abated, and He sees the family leave the ark. The father builds an altar and soon a column of smoke is ascending. This touches God’s heart and He speaks from His heart. God calls this a burnt offering, and He smells a sweet-smelling savour. Many years have passed now since the cross of Calvary. We have no need to sacrifice to God: He gave His beloved Son as the answer to all our sin. The atonement is made. Here we are this morning, now able to offer a sacrifice of praise to God because of it. Was it a sweet-smelling savour? Oh, I trust so. God is still glorified when His people render a sacrifice of praise to Him. When we think of what we He has done, we can know that it has touched the heart of God, the heart that loves us and wants us to respond and render homage unto Him. “Lord Jesus, we worship and bow at Thy feet.” Yea, may this come from our hearts to His.
Turn to Matthew 22:42. We have a question here: “What think ye of Christ?” What do we think of Him? We have been here this morning to remember Him; we know He gave His life on Calvary and has loved us with an everlasting love. We know His desire for us to accept His salvation, believe, and then grow and walk with Him. So the question goes out,” What think ye of Christ?” It doesn’t matter how little or how much you know about Him, only what is He to your heart? When we think of Him hanging there on the cross, bearing our sins’ judgement, what do we think? Is He precious to our souls and hearts? Should not the One who bore our sins on His own body of the tree have the preeminence? He who was once so high came so low for us; what do we think of Him? Is He precious? Do we love Him? We can and should tell Him that we do. Turn to Song of Solomon 5:16: “He [the blessed Lord Jesus] is altogether lovely.” May this be the response of our hearts; may this be what we think. Now turn to Colossians 1:18: “That in all things he might have the preeminence.” He will get that first place if we know Him. When we know Him, we will love Him; when we love Him, we will serve Him; when we serve Him, we will honour Him; when we honour Him, He will honour us. It starts with our appreciation of what Christ has done. What do we think of Him? Is He altogether lovely to us? Does He have the first place in our lives? The most He could do was to die for us; the least we can do is to live for Him. Turn to John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” As we know Him and appreciate what He has done, may He have the first place in our lives. May He increase, while I, the old nature, decrease.
EG Hymn 306 – Like a little wandering lamb, Prayer • Two weeks ago on Monday morning, Nana & I got a call from the Burgess family telling us that Tidoo, Christina’s doll, had been lost. We started looking all around the house, under furniture and in the toy box, until Nana finally found him between the cushions of the couch. There are many people in the world today who are lost, just like Tidoo was. They are lost in their sins and they cannot do anything about it. A man who was lost in a forest was trying to find his way out, but after wandering in circles for hours, he finally gave up. He stood there for a moment, and then started calling out, “Lost! Lost!” After a few minutes, an Indian came out of the forest and asked, “White man lost?” “Yes, I am.” “Follow me,” and the Indian led the man out of the forest. By himself, the man could not get out. But do you think it is possible for someone to be lost and not know it? A party of pioneers was travelling west by horse and wagon to try to find a place to build a home. At one point in their journey, the path they were following got narrower and narrower until it stopped. Realizing that they must have taken a wrong turn, the pioneers retraced their steps and found they had taken the wrong turn at a fork. As they started up the right way, some of them remarked, “We were lost for three hours and we had no idea.” Sadly, many people in the world are lost and don’t know it. How fortunate we are to have a Bible to tell us that we were lost! Let’s read Luke 15:4–7. I used to work for Mr. & Mrs. Hayward on their farm. One day we let all the Jersey cows come into their stalls for milking … and one of the stalls was empty! I asked Mr. Hayward, “Where is Richview’s Sultan Marcel?” “We will look for her after we do the milking,” he replied. When we were done, Mr. Hayward took a large sack and together we headed for the pasture. Soon we found Marcel and with her was a calf. “Now how will we get this cow home,” I asked, knowing that Marcel would not leave her calf. Mr. Hayward laid the sack over his shoulders and lifted that calf onto it. Then he started for home, and Marcel followed him all the way. When the Lord saves us, it is as though He carries us home that way. This story that Jesus told is a parable: an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Jesus told it to show that we are all lost and need our Shepherd to find us. What could have happened to the lamb out there all alone? Even when David was with his sheep, a lion and a bear tried to take one. But David was a faithful shepherd and he always rescued the lamb. We have a Good Shepherd, too. Mr. Darby told a story about a time when he was in Ireland. He had had a busy day hiking from place to place and was very tired, but a man came and asked him if he would come to see his seventeen year old son who was very sick and about to die. This boy knew nothing about the Bible and Mr. Darby didn’t know exactly what to say to him, but he went anyway. When he got there, he asked the boy how he got his cough. He found out that about a year before, his father, a shepherd, had sent him out on a winter night to find a lost lamb. It was snowing and windy, but the boy did not mind; he kept right on until he found the lamb. When he got home, his family and even the neighbours were so glad to see him. Using the boy’s own experience, Mr. Darby was able to show him how the Lord “came to seek and to save that which was lost.” Can we all say, “The Lord is my shepherd”?
Hebrews 11:8–13 • We have been enjoying looking at a few of the worthies of faith. This chapter was written to Hebrew Christians who had been saved out of Judaism. Of course, since faith was not part of that vocabulary and works was, the author now explains faith to them. We have looked so far at Abel, Enoch, and Noah; now we are on Abraham. Last time we started to look at something special about Abraham: he was called, out of his land and into the promised land. There are other callings in scripture as well, for example, the calling of salvation with Adam, or the calling to service with Barnabas and Saul. But the calling of Abraham calls him out of his natural environment. We are called, too, as we read in II Timothy 1:9. Our calling is separate from salvation. The Lord did not die just to save us from death and doom, but also to call us, according to his purpose for us. This is exactly what happened to Abraham: He was called for a purpose. Our purpose was determined before God called anyone. That is what makes it so important—and so precious! If you did not believe there was a God and that the universe came into existence by random chance, you would have to conclude that you are an accident and that your life has no purpose. But we know why we are here, where we came from, and where we are going. This is a fundamental truth. Abraham was called in Genesis 12; Genesis 11 tells us about the tower of Babel, where man said, “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven.” God called Abraham away from that city; Abraham did not know where he was going, but “he looked for a city whose builder and maker was God.” Psalm 127:1 tells us “unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” The people at Babel said, “Let us … let us.” Abraham said, “I’m going to let God.” God calls us, like Abraham, away from the camp and the world. Abraham left everything he had and went out, not knowing anything. It was a leap of faith, and all because God has a purpose. When God calls us to follow His purpose, it should change our lives as well. We will probably not have to leave home like Abraham, but there will be things we will not be able to go on with, and so we must go ahead and step out of those things. But we must take that first step; God will only give us one step at a time, and until we take that, no more. There is no immediate gain when we start following the Lord, it takes complete faith. Now in Acts 8 we read that Abraham took his father with him. In Hebrews, we do not read of this, nor of the time he went into Egypt. When we read of Sarah, it does not mention that she laughed at God’s promise. It only shows us when they were faithful. God’s grace passed over reporting their failures. They were in the Old Testament, so how much more does that grace of God cover us. So Abraham was told to go out. “He went out, not knowing whither he went.” He was obedient. We need to be like that too. God might not give us the whole plan, but He will never leave us hanging. He is faithful too. Sometimes our faith will need to be tried, but when we are faithful through this, our faith will be strengthened. Any trial can always be for our blessing. Abraham’s calling was to a new home; our calling is out of this world, a heavenly calling. If we look at this piece dispensationally, Abraham is the dispensation of promise. God made a covenant with Abraham; that covenant said He would make a nation out of him. This is not even all complete as of yet; God still has much to accomplish for Israel, just as He does for us in our heavenly calling. LF Hymn 180 – We are but strangers here, Prayer