May 15, 2011
Can we turn back to the 12th chapter of John: we’re all familiar with this scene in Bethany. The Lord is having a supper with three people who love Him very dearly. One of those is Mary; on other occasions, we have seen her learning at the feet of Jesus, or weeping at her brother’s grave. However, this time she is at the supper, where worship should take place. She broke the box of ointment to anoint the Lord, and the house was filled with the odor of that ointment. We have no idea how much the Lord appreciated this gesture of worship.
This morning, we have gathered around the Lord after His resurrection to worship Him. We have the loaf and the cup to remember what the Lord did at Calvary. We should not have thoughts of anything else, but should be filled with what Christ has done for us. This is what brings forth worship. And “to all our prayers and praises, Christ adds His sweet perfume, and love the censor raises, these odors to consume.” What a joy and privilege this is; truly, it is a little taste of heaven. When we worship our Saviour, we are recognizing that He is greater than we; Think of all those who worship false gods. We worship the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is living and present with us. What a joy! Nothing can compare with worshipping Him; may we seek to live for Him!
Hymn 362 Two little eyes to look to God
Prayer
I Samuel 23:1-15
We are going to continue with the story of David. David had been living in the cave Adullum; then he moved to the forests of Herath in Judah. You could say that David didn’t have a fixed address while he was running away from Saul.
David was told that the Philistines were robbing the threshing floors at Keilah. A threshing floor is a place where people would bring their oats or wheat and separate the grain from the chaff. The Philistines were probably stealing the food on the threshing floors, not the threshing floors themselves.
David wasn’t the king at this time, but he inquired of the Lord whether he should go down with his men to help the men of Keilah . David inquired of the Lord so that he would do what was right before the Lord. The Lord told David to go down to Keilah, but his men didn’t want to go down. David went back and inquired of the Lord again. Again, the Lord told him that he should go. David is a type of the Lord when he went down to save the men Keilah.
We, too, should inquired of the Lord daily: there are so many choices to make in life and we should want the Lord’s blessing on them. Proverbs 3:5 & 6. David didn’t trust himself to make the decision. If the Lord told him to go to Keilah, he would go. If the Lord told him to stay, he would stay.
In the book of Joshua, the Israelites were conquering the land of Canaan. A group of travelers came to them, saying they were from far away and wanted to make peace with them. The Israelites didn’t inquire of the Lord, but went ahead and made peace with them. A little while later, they found out that they were not from far away but from nearby. There are times when we go into something that the Lord might not have us do. David knew that it was the Lord’s will for him to go to battle in Keilah and the Lord blessed the battle.
In the previous chapter, we heard of Abiathar the priest. He was the only priest that escaped when Saul killed the other priests. When he came, he brought the ephod, which was used when inquiring of the Lord.
When Saul heard that David was in Keilah, he thought that God had given David into his hand. This was because Keilah was a city with a wall. It isn’t like Toronto: he couldn’t come in one side and go out the other side. There were gates that were monitored.
David asked Abiathar to inquire of the Lord, because he had questions: would Saul come down? would the men of Keilah help him? or would they give him to Saul? The Lord told David that Saul was going to come down and the men of Keliah were going to be on Saul’s side. David decided that he and his men should leave; they went out of the city. When Saul heard that David had left the city, he decided not to pursue him.
David inquired of the Lord and trusted Him to protect him. Every day, Saul would be wanting to kill David, but the Lord protected him.
I trust we can each take a lesson from David’s inquiring of the Lord. May we each inquire of the Lord and not go into anything blindly.
Some of us have been reading about David in 1 Chronicles lately. When David lived at the Cave of Adullam, there were many people who were attracted to him, and had him as their leader. They gave their allegiance to him. David had been anointed king, but was still in rejection at this time. Those who follow a rejected king don’t have an easy life; but we read in 1 Chronicles 12 of those that were faithful to David. V.33. tells that the children of Zebulon could “keep rank” and that they “were not of double heart”. In v.38 we read again of men that could “keep rank” and came with a “perfect heart”. What does this have to say to us? In the army, when on parade, you stand at attention, listen to the commander, and obey his instructions. You and the other soldiers go along almost as one man, with precision. One man doesn’t go this way, and another that way, etc. Here’s our lesson. When soldiers are in rank, they are all in unity and all go in the same direction. As an assembly, we need to keep unity. Sometimes people get out of rank, and it’s humbling. As the Lord’s people, we need to see where the Lord has set His name, and keep rank there. It’s a character that God commends. May we persevere to keep rank, and be kept loyal.
Luke 4:30-39
The demon in this man asked Jesus, “Have you come to destroy us?”; while the Jews at Nazareth had just tried to destroy Jesus! He went out of the synagogue and to the brow of the hill; but just before they could throw Him over, He passed through their fingers. After that, He came to Capernaum. In Nazareth our Lord spoke gracious words, but the people in Capernaum were astonished because His words were with power (or authority). This was very unlike the scribes and the Pharisees. We must remember that the Lord’s word has authority over us as well.
We had Satan at the beginning of this chapter; and now we have one of his helpers, who has taken possession of this man at the synagogue. Some people claim that Christians can be possessed with demons, but there doesn’t seem to be a scripture that says both an evil spirit and the Holy Spirit can occupy a man at the same time. Unsaved people can be possessed; but, for the Christian, the Holy Spirit is more powerful than any demon. That said, don’t play with these things. Don’t use ouija boards, and things like that, because you’re opening yourself to Satan.
In Jesus’ temptation, we saw the external work of the enemy. Here we see the internal work. The Lord dealt with Satan, and He could deal with this demon by command. His word had authority over them. The people at Nazareth claimed that Jesus was just a carpenter, but this demon recognized Him as the “Holy One of God”. The people felt the power of His word, but the demon felt the power of His presence.
You wonder what the condition of the people was if this demon possessed man was in the synagogue, unchallenged. The Holy Spirit certainly wasn’t there.
Jesus told the man to hold his peace. You would have thought He would have said, “Say that again, these people don’t believe it”; but our Lord didn’t accept the testimony of demons. We have demonic power against Divine power here. The demon could make the man do whatever he wanted him to do, but the Lord’s power was above that. What a demonstration of power it was to cast that demon out.
Matthew 12:27-29 Some of our writers say that when our Lord dealt with Satan, that was like binding the strong man; and here He is spoiling his goods by delivering this man. It was a real relief to be delivered, because having a demon is a real harassment. We know that “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace” (Luke 11:21). A person is in the ranks of the enemy if they are unsaved; and while Satan can keep them from hearing the Gospel, his goods are in peace. But if a saved person presents them a Scripture, then those goods are no longer in peace. The Lord is fighting for them.
Jesus’ fame spread, but He didn’t stay around to bask in it. This portion has reminded us His words. They were gracious in Nazareth, and powerful in Capernaum. It has also showed us that there is no situation that the Lord can’t handle.
Hymn 201 - Trust and Obey
Prayer