April 13, 2008
- Hymn 182, Book 2 – Oh, the brightness of the glory - Scripture – Hebrews 1:3 - Hymn 98 – Gazing on the Lord in glory
Scripture: - John 17:5
Turn to Psalm 84. It is so precious to have the Lord before us this morning. We’ve seen his infinite grace and glory; the fact that we share in these is stated in verse 11: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory.” It’s so precious, so full! He is the life- and light-giving Son and our shield for protection. But He also gives us His grace and glory. We haven’t been given the glory yet; that will be in heaven. Until then, no good thing will He withhold; and we are so thankful for the blessings that He bestows upon His own.
EG Hymn 292 – What will it be to dwell above,
Prayer
I’ve been talking about the letters to the seven churches; last time we looked at Thyatira; today, we’ll look at the letter to Sardis. Read Revelation 3:1–6. We saw in Thyatira how the Catholic Church was prominent during a period in history. But then the Protestant Reformation came. Leaders, such as Luther or Wycliffe, led the movement. As we have seen, Christianity’s love for the Lord was diminishing since Ephesus; Sardis was a swing back in the right direction … but not completely. The Reformation started out right, but over time it went bad. You see, they brought in a structure of leaders that they put in charge of the church; this is not in the Bible. The Lord wants to be the head of His church, and lead members to benefit the whole. As a result of bringing in ordained leaders, there were many people that were not actually saved, v. 1. They took the name of the church, but were really spiritually dead. We can see many churches around like this today. This is not to say that there are no true Christians in these churches. There are many; but they are not gathering in a biblical way. Even in times past, there were those who were saved in the churches. The Lord addresses them in v. 5: they are blessed and will walk with the Lord in Heaven. May this make us want to “strengthen the things that remain,” and go on faithfully for the Lord.
I Peter 5:8–11
Last week, we ended on a nice note, v.7; what a comfort! However, in v. 8, we find that there is an enemy. “Casting all your cares” does not mean we should be careless. We should be without care, but we need to be sober and vigilant. God has an enemy, and as long as we are living for Him, he is our enemy as well. The Lord defeated Satan when He was on the earth. Firstly, He used the word of His mouth when He was tempted. But Satan didn’t give up. He came again at the end of the Lord’s ministry, when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and tempted Him to turn back. Finally, he thought he could get rid of Him by killing the Lord. But he could not keep the Lord in the tomb. The Lord defeated Satan, but he is still alive and well. He has lost his power of death over the Christian (Hebrew 2:14), but he can still make us fail in our Christian walk. In Peter’s day, Satan was working as a roaring lion. Because he is still active, we need to know our enemy and his modus operandi. Satan can come fearfully, as he did in Peter’s day. He may also come as a serpent, making subtle suggestions like he did in the Garden of Eden. Finally, he may come as an angel of light. So how do we recognize our enemy? If he comes as a lion, it is usually obvious. But otherwise, we need to realize his tactics when he tries to get us to compromise truth and lead us to a path of error. He knows the best ways to tempt us; Satan knows us better than we know ourselves. He doesn’t want us to shine for God. But what is the practical side of this? How do I know when I am being tempted? We have never seen Satan (as the Lord did when He was tempted), but he has the ability to inject thoughts into our minds. We often come to crossroads in our lives, where we have to make a decision. It’s important to ask the Lord for guidance. Often, we need to search for it, as much of the Lord’s will is in the Bible. Also, James 4:7 & 8, we should resist Satan as the Lord did, and draw near to God. “Be sober, be vigilant.”
EG Hymn 370 – Yield not to temptation,
Prayer