March 27, 2011
March 27, 2011
By way of contrast, turn to Hebrews 10. Stop to consider what a blessed remembrance we have had this morning: all our sins are removed. *“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure… For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified”* (vv. 1 - 6 & 14). On Calvary, our precious Saviour died; He shed His blood so that we could have a wondrous, perfect, eternal salvation. What a remembrance: the cross of Calvary!
Hymn 308 - I love to hear the story
Prayer
We’re going to continue in 1 Samuel 20. We’ve been talking about Saul, Jonathan, and David. Jonathan loved David, but Saul hated him. Last week, we heard about envy and jealousy; Saul was jealous of David. When Saul died, Jonathan would be the heir to the throne. However, Jonathan didn’t let the possibility of David taking the throne get in the way of his friendship with David.
Vv.1-3: David asked Jonathan what he had done to anger Saul. David seemed to think that there was only one step between him and death. Jonathan tried to comfort David and told him that Saul wouldn’t do anything without tell him.
Vv.4-12: Jonathan asked David if he could do anything for him. David told Jonathan to make an excuse for him not being at the moon feast. This way, Jonathan could find out if Saul was angry at David. If Saul was angry that David wasn’t present, Jonathan would know that there was something wrong.
Vv. 14 - 23: David and Jonathan made a covenant between the each other. Jonathan told David that he would be missed at the feast. Together, they came up with a way Jonathan could tell David what was going on. Jonathan told David to stay behind the rock Ezel (which means to show the way). This is a picture for us: as we lean on the Rock (the Lord Jesus), He will show us the way. When Jonathan knew what Saul’s attitude toward David was, he would come to the field that David was hiding in with a bow and arrow and a boy. Jonathan would shoot an arrow and ask the boy to go to get it. David would be listening, and would know what Saul’s attitude was by what Jonathan told the lad.
Vv. 28 - 31: David isn’t really trusting God here; we can see this in the fact that he asked Jonathan to tell Saul a lie. When Jonathan told Saul that David wasn’t coming, Saul realized that Jonathan had chosen David instead of him. Saul said that it was a shame that he would side with David. But remember that David is a picture of the Lord: may we not be ashamed of the Lord Jesus.
Vv. 32 - 40: Then Jonathan asked Saul, “What has David done that he should be killed?” This question made Saul so angry that he threw a javelin at Jonathan. The next morning, Jonathan went to the field and let David know (through their special messages) that Saul wanted to kill him.
Vv. 40 & 41: We can clearly see the affection between Jonathan and David. However, David’s love was greater than Jonathan’s. Similarly, the Lord Jesus’ love is greater than our love. Jonathan then had a decision to make: would he go back to the castle? or would he go with David and suffer the shame and reproach? Jonathan chose to go back to the castle. Had he gone with David, he would still have been alive when David was crowned king.
May our love for the Lord be so great that we choose to suffer the shame and reproach that comes with it!
Last time we took a look at John’s ministry. He preached a baptism of repentance. Repentance is a change of mind. We were born with a mindset that wasn’t sensitive to sin; and we must change that to a mindset that sees sin as God sees it. Repentance is a change of mind that causes a change in acts.
The people were expecting the Messiah, and after John’s stern message they wondered if he were the Christ. John made it clear that he was not; in fact he claimed that he wasn’t even worthy to perform the menial task of untying the Lord’s shoe. He wasn’t jealous of Jesus. He had a job to do, and that was to herald the coming of a greater One. John later said, “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease.” He prepared the way for the Lord.
He told the people, “I baptise you with water, but He will baptise you with the Holy Ghost and fire.” We who are saved are baptised with the Holy Spirit. Some people say, “I’m saved, but I don’t have the Holy Spirit yet.” That’s not possible. The Spirit is part of salvation; part of the package deal. He would baptise with fire, too. According to V17, he is using a metaphor from wheat threshing. Just as you keep the wheat and burn the chaff, those who are saved (the ‘wheat’) get the Spirit, but those who don’t get saved (the ‘chaff’) are condemned to fire. Some writers say the Spirit and fire represent power and judgment.
This is pretty much the last that we hear of John in this gospel. We read of the Lord’s baptism, and then Luke focuses on His ministry. We have this interlude to tell us that John reproved Herod for taking his brother’s wife. Herodias - the wife - didn’t like this, so Herod arrested John. Later, Herodias’ daughter had John killed. God couldn’t have both John and Jesus preaching at once, because they each had different ministries.
Its seems that John baptised quite a few people, because it says, “when all the people were baptised”. We started Luke because it followed Malachi, and at first we saw a small remnant. Now that has grown. John told the people to repent, and they did so.
John was preaching to a “generation of vipers”, but Jesus came and wanted to be baptised. Those that were being baptised were doing God’s will for that time, and He identified with them. He didn’t need to be baptised, but it put Him with the righteous in the eyes of the people. It also gave an opportunity for God the Father to show who He really was, and to show that He didn’t need to repent. We can see the Trinity present here: the Son being baptised, the Spirit descending, and the Father speaking. He told Him, “Thou art my beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased.” We see that the Lord was praying; and it shows that, though He was God, He still depended on the Father. The Lord prays more in Luke than in any other gospel.
When Noah sent out the raven and the dove, the dove found no place to land; even though there probably were many corpses around. Even so, the Holy Spirt couldn’t dwell in anyone until this time; even though there were many men, and it visited them occasionally.
This was the public announcement of the Lord’s identity. Three years later the Pharisees said, “He claims to be the Messiah.” They must not have been present to hear this declaration.
So we have John phased out, and the Lord brought before us. Now Luke will proceed to present Him as the perfect man.
Hymn 362 - Two little eyes to look to God
Prayer