October 15, 2006
Scripture:
Ministry:
Can we go back to Isaiah 53; we had before us v. 5: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” So writes Isaiah in a very central chapter, about a very central event in the history of the universe. It brings before us much of what has been on our hearts this morning— the Lord Jesus Christ bearing our sins. But this is not the topic that came before me; it is the outflow of this I wanted to look at. After this chapter—which stands out as a clear prophecy in the Old Testament—the prophet is led to write some of the blessings of the death of the Messiah and the results to Israel. Therefore, he is able to write, “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited” (ch 54:1–3). And so on go the blessings of the Millennial day, when Israel will be brought into the results of Calvary. But before that happens, we have an extension of it today. Chapter 55 records the blessings of chapter 53 to the world: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David” (vv. 1-3). How precious to think of the blessings of Calvary, where the burden of sin came upon the Lord. We rejoice when we think of the way in which God’s grace extends to the whole world. When we are in our heavenly portion, Israel will be in their earthly portion. This is how ch 53:11 can say, “He shall see of [the fruit of] the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied.” We shall be satisfied as well.
EG Hymn 346 – Jesus who lives above the sky, Prayer • I feel that the Lord would like me to start speaking about the offerings in Leviticus and how they are a type of the Lord. First I would like to tell you a story about a few blind men. These blind men were taken to see an elephant. One of them approached the animal and grasped its tail. “An elephant is like a rope,” he said. Another took hold of the trunk and exclaimed, “An elephant is like a snake.” A third felt the elephant’s ear and said, “An elephant is like a barn door.” Each of these men had a different perspective on the elephant. This is similar to the offerings: each one gives us a different perspective of the Lord’s person and work. Leviticus 1:1–9 • This chapter is about the burnt offering and is divided into three parts:
Hebrews 11:33–40 • Last Lord’s Day, we looked at v. 32, and noticed how that up to v. 31, we were looking at specific times in the lives of individuals. Now in v. 32 there are 6 people and “the prophets” mentioned; there are no specific characteristics of faith. We noticed that God saw faith in people whom are least likely to have it. But now, from v. 33, we have characteristics without names, instead of names without characteristics. Firstly, we have “Who through faith subdued kingdoms.” “Who” is used, telling us that some of these people were already mentioned. Gideon, for one, almost reluctantly, subdued the Midianites. Certainly it was through faith for Gideon, with his small army. But we must remember when looking at this example, it is not telling us that as the Lord’s people, we should join the army and fight. We do have a spiritual warfare, but these examples are of faith. What they were doing was right for them, but would not necessarily be right in our day. David and Samson, too, fought Israel’s enemies. We can see from these lists that there were many who were martyrs for Christ. As you look at Church History, you can see many, many more. Yet some were spared. James was killed, but Peter was spared, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us … But if not …” They were willing to stand for the Lord no matter what happened to them. And we could ask, who are the fortunate ones: the ones who are delivered or the ones who escape, to be persecuted again? Our warfare is not with flesh and blood but with spiritual wickedness in high places, Ephesians 6:12. Next in v. 33, is the statement, “wrought righteousness.” Righteousness is not a characteristic of the old man: “there are none righteous, no, not one.” In the Sermon on the Mount we are told, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). Next we have, “Who through faith … obtained promises.” It is interesting to go through the Bible and track all the promises God made. Not all of these promises are unconditional, yet they were obtained by those who had faith and were faithful. Canaan was the Promised Land, yet a whole generation, through unbelief, died in the wilderness. With Abraham, Isaac was a promise. So were the nations as numerous as the heavens. Abraham believed what was totally impossible, and he obtained it, and we are part of it, for Abraham’s promise had both an earthly and heavenly application. We see these faithful ones receiving all these promises, and yet there is one they did not receive, v. 39. That is one that is not yet fulfilled because its fulfillment is with us. And when you think about it, the gospel is a promise: “… shall not perish …” The Lord said, “I will come again.” When God makes a promise, he will keep it. If He didn’t, he would lose more than we would. He would also lose his holiness and no longer be God. EG Hymn 148 – Lord, while our souls in faith repose, Prayer