October 4, 2009
Scripture:
Revelation 5
This morning we’ve had the subject of joy before us. The world has happiness, but we have joy. What’s the difference? Happiness comes and goes; but joy lasts because we always have the hope of being with our Lord some day. And what a joy it is to be around Him this morning. V9a. Only those who have been redeemed can sing praise to God. Angels can’t sing. The world can’t sing the way we do. Only we can sing to our Father. But here we read that in Heaven, we’ll sing a new song. I’m not sure how it will work, because there will be people gathered around the Saviour from out of every tongue and people and nation. V9b. We’ll be a mixed multitude, but we’ll all have been redeemed. We’ll all have the same song. I don’t know if we’ll be given it, or if it will break out involuntarily because it is such a joy to be in our Lord’s presence. When we sing, it will be marvelous. At a conference, the volume is much louder then it is in the individual assemblies each week. What will it be like in heaven? As we think about these things, may we joy in them and say, “Even so come, Lord Jesus.”
Hymn 327 - When mothers of Salem
Prayer
Last time I spoke, we had the story of Baby Isaac; but today I want to go back to chapter sixteen of Genesis and read about something that happened before Isaac was born.You see, before Isaac, there was another baby. God had promised Abraham and Sarah a baby, but they had to wait a long time for it. They got tired of waiting, so Sarah suggested that Abraham marry her maid, Hagar, and maybe they could have a child that way. And so that is how Ishmael came to be. Then, later on, Sarah had Isaac.
Genesis 22:1,2. Why does it say that Isaac was Abraham’s only son? Didn’t Abraham have two sons? Is this a mistake, or something we need to learn from? Well, Abraham had a son by his own doing, as it were, and God rejected the first born.
*Natural * *Spiritual *
First Man Second Man Adam Christ Cain Abel Ishmael Isaac Esau Jacob Old Uncle Gord New Uncle Gord
So if we make a chart here, we can put Ishmael on the left side in the “First man” column, and Isaac in the “Second man” column. Now, let’s look at another pair of men. In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain was born first. He was rejected. Abel was born second and was accepted. In the story of Esau and Jacob, Esau, the first born, was rejected; and Jacob, the second born was accepted. So we can see that God is rejecting all these firstborns and is accepting all the secondborns.
Now I want to step out of the Bible for a moment. I’m the second born in our family. How fortunate for me. Uncle Gord is the first born, so he can be put down in the first column. Has God rejected you, Uncle Gord?
“Not a bit.”
Why not?
“Because when I was about seven or eight, I was born again. Now I’m a New Creature in Christ; I’m accepted in the Beloved.”
Uncle Gord was born again. So there is a second Uncle Gord. Now we have an old Uncle Gord and a new Uncle Gord.
Read I Corinthians 15:45-48.
Adam was the first man. We are all born after Adam. We are born again after Christ, Who is the second man and the last Adam. He came down from heaven, and died on the cross so that we can be born again and move from the first column (which God rejects) to the second column (which God accepts).
Galatians 2:20. Here it appears we have two Apostle Pauls. As Saul, he was a persecutor and a blasphemer; but when he was born again, he became a missionary.
So we need to learn that we we’re born into the first column, which is rejected. That’s why Jesus said, “Ye must be born again.” By accepting Him as our Saviour from sin, we move to the second column where we are accepted in the Beloved.
We learned in chapter 6 that the wall was finished; this was Nehemiah’s main purpose for coming to Jerusalem, but his activity didn’t stop there. In v. 1, he appointed three offices: porters, singers, and Levites. Porters were those who guarded the gates; they decided who could come into the city. The singers led in worship to God; and the Levites served the people. Each one of these positions can be an example to us.
Who appoints these positions today? Really, God has given these roles to each believer. First, we have the porter; what sets us apart from the rest of Christendom is that we recognize the truth of the one body; we see each believer as a part of Christ’s bride and recognize them in the loaf. But we must separate from moral, ecclesiastical, or doctrinal evil in the church; this is the responsibility of the porter. When someone wants to join us, we give their name out so that anyone can speak with them. Some have said this is just a job for the brothers, but really, God wants all of us to be porters. This isn’t just for the assembly context; what do we let into our homes? and into our own lives?
God also wants us all to be singers: some may say they don’t have the gift of singing, but usually that’s not the case. If you have been redeemed, God deserves your worship. Singing in the bible is often connected with redemption; the first mention of singing is when the Israelites crossed the Rea Sea. Singing is the only way God has given us to worship him with collective voice. But it must be more than just singing. An elderly man once remarked, “I sang in the choir at church for many years. I never missed a note or beat; but I never thought of what I was singing.” May we not be like that. Singers really work with the porters. To get into the assembly, we must be in the right position; to worship the Lord, we must be in the right condition.
Then we have the Levites; they served the people. There are many ways we can serve the people of God, and we should be willing to do so. We don’t need Nehemiah to appoint us to this; the Holy Spirit will guide.
So after Nehemiah appointed these roles, he put Hanani and Hananiah in charge of all of Jerusalem. They were “faithful, and feared God.” Paul committed the gospel to faithful men. To be faithful is to be responsible and true. This is what God looks for in His children. And they feared God; when we fear God, we will seek to live His way.
Hymn 234 - Saviour, lead me lest I stray
Prayer