September 23, 2007
Scripture:
I have a brief thought from our last hymn: “Gazing on the Lord in glory.” I want to look at someone else who was gazing on the Lord; read Acts 7:55 & 56. “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” What a sight that must have been: the Heavens opened! He saw the glory of God; truly a sight of sights, majestic, glorious, wonderful! But, as wondrous as it was, Stephen was still in the flesh when he saw it. When the Lord comes to take us home with Him, our bodies will be transformed into bodies like His. Then we will go into the presence of the Father. What will our eyes behold when we see Him who hung on the cross for us. Then He will be on the throne in all His glory. In John 17:24, we read “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory.” When we are taken to Heaven, that’s what we will behold. It will be something so wondrous that we will say as the queen of Sheba did, “the half was not told” (I Kings 10:7). We will be issued into the presence of love itself. There will be no sin, no spot. We will adore Him, our precious Saviour. “Gazing on the Lord in glory.”
EG Hymn 201 – When we walk with the Lord,
Prayer
I want to read you one verse from the prophet of Isaiah, chapter 26:3. I want to talk about trust a bit, by telling you a story. It happened in 1938, in the little seaside town in England where I grew up. We had a lifeboat there; it was a beautiful lifeboat, and considered unsinkable. Of course, its purpose was to save lives. One day, two rockets went up from a boat down the coast. One rocket meant a practice; two meant there was a real problem. The six men who ran the boat started out of the harbour and into the bay. They had to leave the bay and go southeast to get to the boat in distress. Out in the bay, the wind was blowing at about 150 mph; in this world, the winds of Satan are very strong, trying to blow us away from the Lord. Before long, the wind blew the lifeboat over. The boat was made so that when this happened, it would go all the way around and come back up. But it was so windy that the lifeboat kept going around for five miles, all the way across the bay, until it was thrown up on the other side. Of the six men, only one lived; the other five were lost. The one survivor climbed out of the wreck and was able to get home. He was asked why he alone had survived. It was because the others had not obeyed the rule to belt themselves down when they got onto the boat. One by one, as the boat went under, they fell off. He had not belted himself down either, but when he found he was too weak to hold on, he went to the big, spoked steering wheel and stuck his arms and legs through, holding on tight and hoping for the best. When we put our trust in the Lord, we don’t have to simply hope for the best; we can know we are saved. He put his trust in the boat and was saved. If the lifeboat had gone down, he would have, too. The Lord is a lifeboat for us; if we don’t put our trust in Him, we will not have peace in this life or the next. The Lord suffered just like the boat, and if we put our trust in Him, we will be saved. God says that if we do not trust the Lord as our Saviour, we will go to Hell. I hope that everyone here will put his or her trust in the Lord.
I Peter 1:18–25
Last week we talked about spiritual sacrifices. Read Hebrews 13:15 & 16; v. 15 might lead us to think that these are only for Lord’s Day morning, but v.16 tells us that it also includes our substance. When the Israelites offered burnt offerings, a sweet-smelling savour went up to God. Is that the way it is for us? Not until Christ hands them to His Father: “to all our prayers and praises, Christ adds His sweet perfume.” Also, read Philippians 4:18; we just mentioned this: the sweet savour. In Leviticus 2:11, we read that they were to put no honey in the offerings; honey signified natural sweetness. As we find in Ephesians 5:1 & 2, nothing and nobody renders a sweet savour to God like His own beloved Son. We should only bring Him before God, and none of earth’s natural sweetness.
Through redemption, we are brought into the function of holy priests; this is not through birth, but the work of Christ. We can now come into the Holiest to worship. There’s an amazing parallel to this in Ezekiel 46; Ezekiel is very good at giving the details. What we read in this chapter is prophetic; even today it has yet to happen. This lays out the Millennium, a most blessed time when the Lord will be reigning. He will deal with sin daily and the world will have the most peace it has ever had. In light of our privilege of being holy priests, read v. 2. We are able to enter the holiest; that is not a small thing. But no one else has that blessing; even at the time when the world is most blessed, they can only come to the threshold. But with our privilege comes responsibility; we need to give God His rightful portion. As holy priests, we minister to God; and what is more beautiful to Him than His Son? God said of Him, “in whom is all my delight” (Psalm 16:3). The whole levitical system is type after type of the Lord.
Just as an example, we can see the veil in the tabernacle; the veil was rent at Calvary. But at the beginning of His ministry, we see John the Baptist baptizing the Lord in the Jordan River. When He came up out of the water, the heavens were opened; another way to translate that is to say the heavens were rent, just as the veil was. What an amazing connection! At that time, the Lord was taking the low place. He identified with those who were doing the right thing in being baptized. And the Father said, “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).
This all shows how “in all things he might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18). He is not just a priest; He is a Great High Priest. He is not just a stone; He is the Chief Corner-stone. What a privilege we have to minister to Him in the holiest. That is no small thing.
So is being a priest only for the brothers on a Lord’s Day morning? If that were so, it would mean the sisters are not priests. But there is such a thing as silent priesthood; and it is just as effective. In the holiest, no words were spoken; all can participate. The levitical system was acts, not words. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and opened her heart to Him; we don’t read that she said anything. In Titus 2:3, we read that a woman’s behaviour should be holiness; the word used there actually means in a priestly manner. Sisters can open their hearts to the Lord just as Mary did and not be trespassing in any way.
“Acceptable to God” (v. 5); how often do we find in the prophets that the sacrifices were unacceptable to God? It is because they were offering to idols as well. To man, the sacrifices they brought to God looked good, but God saw their hearts. But both of these are important. When Aaron went into the Holiest, he wore his high priestly garments. When he went before the people, he wore linen. When we minister to God, we should bring Christ before Him; but it is just as important to display these impressions to others as well.
There was a brother who would say that only mature Christians should worship God; they were able to bring a “bullock.” Young Christians could only bring a “turtledove,” he said. But was he the right one to decide which was which? The Lord knows our hearts. Anyone who wanted to could bring a sacrifice to the tabernacle; there is no discrimination.
EG Hymn 130 – To God be the glory, great things He has done,
Prayer