August 27, 2006
Scripture:
Scripture:
Let’s go for a moment to a verse in II Corinthians 8; it was the last words of the hymn we were singing that brought me to this. In expressions in our hymns and sometimes in prayer, we have had divine love and the fact that words do not express it before us. We sang of “love unbounded,” and just now “lost in wonder, love, and praise.” We are unable to embrace all of the marvels of his love. I come to a verse here and I feel that there are four things that transcend our ability to understand. But though we cannot take in the whole ocean of it, we can at least stand on the shore. II Corinthians 8:9: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ …” Do you know it? A few components of that grace are divine love, mercy, kindness, and goodness. Do you know that grace? Well, you say, I know a bit about it, but it goes beyond human thought. “… that though he was rich …” Can you enter into that? He made all things in the universe and the universe itself, and knows everything about it. He sees our little globe as a grain of sand on a seashore. “… yet for your sakes he became poor …” Can you enter into that? He came down to earth and was born. Then He died on the cross and became the sacrifice for your sins and mine. God unsheathed the sword of his judgement on the Lord for us. “… that ye through his poverty might be rich.” Marvelous!! We are made co-heirs with Him. These are just a few brief thoughts in connection with this verse. Here we have His grace, His glory, His grief, and our gain: four thoughts that transcend our words to explain or thoughts to comprehend, but ours to revel in: His love to us!
EG Hymn 364 – Little children, praise the Saviour, Prayer I Samuel 1:1–28 • There are a few important things to see here. Hannah did not want just any child; she desired a man child. She no doubt knew that God had said that the Messiah would be born and she wanted to be His mother. So when she went up to the temple, she prayed to God for a child, promising to give him back to the Lord when he was grown. Notice that she moved her lips, but she did not vocalize her prayer. This shows us that God hears prayer even when it is only a prayer coming out of the depths of our heart. Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk when he saw her, but Hannah told him this was not so. Eventually, the Lord did answer Hannah’s prayer, and she had a son. She waited until he was weaned, and then she took him to the temple to live with the priests and work for the Lord. The chapter ends by saying, “And he worshipped the Lord there.” How wonderful it is when children will go on for the Lord, as their parents have done before them. May we learn these lessons from Hannah and Samuel.
Hebrews 11:23–29 • Last week we were saying how v. 23 shows the faith of Moses’ parents while v. 24 shows the faith of Moses. Here we see Moses, for the first forty years, living in the palace of Pharaoh, having whatever he could desire (temporally). But faith comes in. Now, faith requires God’s Word. Somewhere he must have had some of God’s Word planted in his heart and it made him refuse Egypt. Moses had the highest vantage point in all of Egypt, but when faith came in, it all became the pleasures of sin. Isn’t it this way for us? We saw Daniel last week; he was a captive, not a prince, but he still had to purpose to do right and refuse what God did not want, as we must also do. Moses spent forty years in Egypt’s universities learning everything there was to know, but it didn’t teach him what he needed to know. So God brought him out to the backside of the desert for forty years. Then God could use him to lead the people out of Egypt. But Moses had to refuse Egypt and suffer with the people of God before God could use him. He had to give up the pleasures of sin, which are truly only for a season. Is it easy to refuse? No; Satan knows just how to make sin exciting. Out there on the backside of the desert, Moses might have thought about what he enjoyed in Egypt. But it was there that God showed him the burning bush. This was the calling of Moses, in Exodus 3:10. God looks to the man who gave up all the pleasures of Egypt to bring his people to the Promised Land. You might think it is a strange education, out in a desert. But it is in your quiet time that God will teach you and where you will learn the most, spiritually. Before Moses left Egypt, he was on the right side, but he did not do it the right way: he killed the Egyptian and then the Israelite asked if he would kill him too. After forty years of training, God could use him in the right way. But it is interesting to note that the bush did not burn out. When Moses left Egypt, he was on fire for God, but it burnt out after a while. God was trying to tell him, “I need a bush that will not burn up.” Moses felt his responsibility before he left Egypt, but he wanted to do it in his own strength. After forty years, he was humbled: When God called, he said, “But wait …” But he was used of God, and that was a privilege. EG Hymn 148 – Lord while our souls in faith repose, Prayer