July 11, 2010
Scripture:
Scripture:
I’d just like to turn back to that portion that our brother read earlier. Mark 15:38. We know that God rent the veil, because it rent from the top to the bottom. If man had rent it, it would have rent from the bottom to the top.
I’d like to look at two aspects of the rent veil
Then, it was revealed to the apostle John what God was going to do in the future. Jesus will come back for us, and we will ascend to be with Him. The marriage of the Lamb to His Bride will then take place, and after that he will come back to earth to reign for a thousand years. We will reign with Him as his Bride. Then will follow a time that has no time, and we will be with our Lord for eternity.
All this could happen because the veil was rent. Well may we rejoice in these things.
Hymn
Prayer
It can be said that Genesis is the story of six men and their families: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Last time we looked at Jacob and Esau, but I want to go back and look at Isaac for a bit.
Genesis 26:1-5.
Last week we saw that the Philistines were the bad guys, the enemy. And here Isaac is going to them! It sounds as though he’s going the wrong way. It appears that Isaac was going to go down to Egypt because of a famine; which is a time when there is not enough food to eat. Abraham had done that years before, but God tells Isaac not to go. Egypt is a type of the world to us. We should stay away from worldly things, and instead spend time in things that will help our relationship with the Lord.
God tells Isaac that He will bless him if he stays in the land. If we do the Lord’s will, we will be blessed. And it’s not just for us, the blessing can go on to our children. This was a promise that God had made to Abraham a long time ago. Let’s look at that passage. Genesis 22:17. There’s a difference between these two promises. The first one includes the sand on the sea shore. Why doesn’t the second promise? It’s because Abraham’s children were both the children of the earth, and the children of faith. But Isaac had been offered at Mount Moriah, and is here in resurrection; a picture of Christ. Rebekah is a type of the Bride, and so their children are only the heavenly people, the people of faith, we who are saved, and not an earthly people. It’s marvelous how this comes out.
Abraham had obeyed God’s commands, and as a result got God’s blessings. May this encourage us to be faithful.
We ended last week by looking at how the priests had despised the Lord’s name. What is the difference between the name of the Lord and the Lord Himself? His name shows all that He stands for; it is what characterizes Him. It displays His authority; it is like the signature on a cheque: without it, you have no authorization to use the cheque. The Lord Himself would signify His presence. These priests didn’t despise Jehovah; they were still offering these sacrifices to Him. But they despised His authority, His name.
The fellowship of saints where the Lord is in the midst, seeks to keep His word and not deny His name. Others may enjoy the presence of the Lord individually; however, He is only “in the midst” where His authority is recognized and accepted. We want to gather around the Lord, but in order to have Him there, we must be gathered to His name by the Holy Spirit. We can see the attitude of these priests going on today: many people want to worship the Lord, but they want to do it their own way. They are in the right position, but in the wrong condition. What we see here in Malachi and in the world around us is those who have left their first love. May we be careful not to do the same.
Hymn 194 - Take the name of Jesus with you
Prayer