July 25, 2010
Scripture:
I’d just like to turn back to that passage in Ephesians 1. In verse six we read about the glory of His grace, and in verse seven we read about the riches of His grace. Let’s look at these two parts of Christ’s grace. The riches of His grace is like a king who provides food, clothing, and a bath for a poor orphaned beggar boy. All that is provided out of his riches. On the other hand, if he then adopted the boy, and made him his son, that would be the glory of his grace.
God sent Jesus to die for our sins; so that we could be made suitable for the Father’s presence. But He’s done more than that. He said to Mary, “I ascend to my Father and your Father”. We have been made God’s children and Christ’s Bride. He sees us in Christ. We can’t imagine what’s in store for us.
As we think how we - wretched sinners - have been made holy and spotless, it should cause us to bow in worship and love. It should have an effect on our walk down here, as we realise what the glory and riches of His grace have done for us.
Hymn 330 - A Message Came from Heaven
Prayer
1 Samuel 14:16-26
We’ll continue in 1 Samuel 14. The Philistines were fighting Israel. The Philistines had a huge army, while the Israelites had just two men that were fighting. However, those two (Jonathan and his armour-bearer) were winning the battle because Jonathan had faith in God.
Saul, back under the tree, felt the earthquake that God sent, and realised what was happening. They looked and the Philistines were melting, meaning their army was getting smaller. They were beating one another down as they ran away. Saul checked to see who was missing and found it was Jonathan and his armour-bearer. He was about to inquire of the Lord, but the noise of the Philistines got louder, so he and his soldiers ran off to help in the battle.
We should always be asking God for help. Sometimes in school we’ll pray for help for a hard subject, but not an easy one. However, we should ask God’s help for all subjects.
So as Saul, Jonathan and the Israelites are winning the battle, something happens. Some Israelites who were with the Philistines - either captives or Israelites who had joined the Philistines - started fighting for Israel. And then the other soldiers who had run away came back and started to help. You see, if we stand for what is right; it will encourage others who might get discouraged to do the same. We can let our light shine.
Now, as the army was entering a forest, Jonathan saw some honey. He dipped the end of his staff in it, ate some, and his eyes were enlightened. Now, honey speaks to us of natural things, or nature. God made nature for us to enjoy and learn from, but we are not to make nature our main object. The things of God should be our main object. Proverbs 25:15 tells us to eat honey, but not too much. We should enjoy the things of nature, but not put them in God’s place.
So may we remember these three lessons: we should seek God’s help in every area; we should be an example to others; and we should enjoy nature, but not make it an idol.
We are still in the section where the Lord is challenging the people because of their actions. They have denied the Lord and despised his name. The Lord then prophesies through Malachi that the time will come when the Gentiles will honour Him, instead of the Jews. We read about this in Isaiah 5. God establishes His vineyard, Israel. He wanted grapes, but they only brought forth wild grapes. Read v. 4. God created a garden, but Adam and Eve sinned. He flooded the earth and started over, but again man sinned. Now, He was saying, “What else could I have done?”
The Jews were supposed to bring their best to offer to God; instead, they brought their worst. They despised the altar of God; this is where they had to do with God: it should have been their greatest joy. For us, our highest calling as Christians is to worship God as we did this morning, because “the Father seeketh such to worship Him.”
We can see that some Jews here were doing what God had asked, but they were not doing it the way He asked; it would have been better if they hadn’t done it at all. They claimed it was a “weariness” (v. 13) and snuffed at it; that means they despised it. We can see this in their bringing imperfect animals to sacrifice. These sacrifices were supposed to typify Christ.
v. 14: They tried to deceive the Lord by keeping their best animals and bringing God the poorer ones. the Lord had to remind them Who He was: one to be revered, as a great King. Think of what He is worthy of. They lost track of that; may we not loose track of His greatness and always honour that Name.
Hymn 16 - God in mercy sent His Son
Prayer