June 21, 2009
Scripture:
Galatians 4:4
We’ve been reminded this morning that the Word was made flesh, and also that the Word was made sin. In this passage we learn how the Word was made flesh; He was ‘born of a woman’. The fact that He was born as a man brings Him into the ranks of mankind; but it’s more than that. He was born as a Jew; and as such it brings Him under the Law. Sin entered the world by the act of the women. Transgression came by the Law. So when the Word was made flesh, the question of sin and transgression was paramount. These next words are precious. Vv. 5-7. How precious to think that we are brought from a place of sin to a place of relationship, all because the Word was made flesh.
Hymn 380 – Standing by a purpose true
Prayer
Well, we’ve come to the end of the stories in the book of Daniel. I’d like to look at Daniel one more time, and review 4 “P”s we see in his life.
Daniel wanted to honour God even though he was in a foreign land, so he purposed to follow God in all that he did;. Read I Timothy 2:22. Paul told Timothy to purpose to do right. What does it mean to purpose? It means to make a decision to do right, and to stand for right even when you are alone. I once heard a story of a young Christian girl who was invited to sleepover at a friend’s house. Before she went, her parents reminded her that she should purpose to do right no matter what happens. During the course of the sleepover, the hostess announced that they were going to have a seance. The girl knew this was not something she should participate in, and explained to the hostess that she would have to go home if this was going to take place. The woman decided not to hold the seance; later, she told the girl’s parents what had happened, and as a result of this, this lady got saved. This never would have happened if the girl had not purposed to do right.
God gave Daniel and his friends wisdom because they purposed to do right. How does this apply to us? Often wisdom comes with age, and experience, but read Proverbs 3:13 - 16. God wants us to seek after wisdom; in James, we are told to ask Him for it. Wisdom also comes by meditation on God’s word. How can you use wisdom each day? Imagine that you have a toy that you need to put away in your room; you could just leave it on the stairs and take it up when it is convenient; but if you had wisdom you would realize that someone could get hurt if you did that.
Daniel was a man of prayer; it was his habit to pray daily. What is prayer? It is talking to God. Each of us needs prayer. Daniel was in a foreign country, working for kings who could be very cruel. He needed prayer to stand alone. We can’t do it ourselves either; think of Peter, who thought he could stand in his own strength, but then found out that he couldn’t. We should each realize our need of prayer.
To prosper is to be successful. God helped Daniel to understand the kings’ dreams and visions. God gave him favour with kings and with others. IF God gives us a task to do for Him, He will give us the skill to do it as well.
So those are the 4 “P”s in Daniel’s life. I hope we can have them all in our lives as well!
V. 14 : The dung gate was the sewage system of the day. We can see what it is a type of in Philippians 3:8. Paul was reviewing his life, and although he was very good compared to others around him, it was nothing at all compared to Christ. In fact, it was a hindrance to him. When we are building the wall in our lives, we need to get rid of all the things that cause us to waste time or fall behind in the Lord’s things. It might be worldliness or other things that distract us from the Lord; in the assembly, it might be doctrinal evil. Whatever it is, it must be done away with.
V. 15 : Now we have the gate of the fountain. This makes us think of the Spirit. Each Christian is born of the Spirit (John 3); that Spirit can be an artesian well, springing up inside us (John 4). Then, in John 7, we learn that whoever believes in the Lord would have rivers of living water going forth to others. We should each covet the working of the Spirit in our lives. We can, and should, be filled with the Spirit. As we work on the walls, it should be the work of the Spirit in us. This is the only gate that was covered; it is a gate with a source, and we need to keep that source pure and protected in our lives; we must not grieve or quench the Spirit. This is all part of being a true Christian. It was probably more pleasant to repair the gate of the fountain than the dung gate; however, we find that it was a ruler that built the dung gate. He saw the need and did not think it below him to fill that position.
V. 16 : This is not the Nehemiah of our book, who was the son of Hachaliah. It would be interesting to study each of the places mentioned here to glean their meanings.
V. 19 : This man seems to have finished one section of the wall, and was now building another part; there was a true spirit of willingness in these builders.
V. 20 : It seems that some of the people building here built a lot (quantity), and some did a very good job (quality), but others were defined by effort: he worked earnestly. Some here might not have had the ability of others, but they had the heart. How different from the Tekoite leaders in v. 9!
V. 22 : Now we have some of the priests included; this is not part of their service, but they, too, help when the need is great.
Hymn 333 - Come to the Saviour, make no delay
Prayer