June 5, 2011
Scripture:
Ministry:
Can we turn back to Hebrews 10. We’ve already read the verses, so I won’t read them again. When the veil was rent, we received access to the Holiest. We read about how there were boundaries at Mount Sinai: the children of Israel could not touch the mountain, or they would die. At the tabernacle, they could not go into the Holiest. However, at Sinai, God had boundaries, too: He could not come down from the mountain. He could not go out of the Holiest place, either.
At Calvary, the Lord’s work was so complete that God could rend the veil. He could say—in the words of Joseph—”come near unto me, I pray you.” He now delights for us to draw near unto Him, and to be in our presence (Matthew 18:20).
When the veil was rent, God was about to come out. Turn to Luke 15: we know the story of the prodigal son. Think of how the father must have felt when the son asked him for the portion that would fall to him: his father was as good as dead to him. The father loved his son, and was hurt to see him leave. But finally, the son came to himself. He realized what he had done; he knew that even his father’s servants had it better than he did, feeding the swine. But when he returned, the father threw his arms around him and kissed him. He loved him, in spite of what he had done. It’s the same for us: as sinners we come to God, in spite of all our sin. Jesus says, “I love you.” The father gave him a robe of righteousness, a ring (representing eternal relationship), and shoes (the preparation of the gospel of peace)—all this before he got home. He has given us the same. We are made ready for His home before we arrive, and it is all because of the Father’s love. We were chosen before the foundation of the world to receive these blessings, and we are joint-heirs with Christ. When the son got home, there was great celebration: they killed the fatted calf and began to be merry: we never read that they stopped. We will be with our precious Bridegroom for all eternity. When the veil was rent, we came into all these blessings, and God came out to receive us. May these thoughts uplift us along the way.
Hymn 369 - I claim for my own a King on the throne
Prayer
We’ve been look at the story of Joseph. We’ve seen that Joseph was hated by his brothers, who put him into a pit; he was humbled in prison. Today we are going to look at when he came into the palace, when he was highly exalted.
Genesis 41:1 - 45
Two years after the butler and baker were in prison, Pharaoh had a dream. In the dream, he was at the Nile River and seven kine came out of the river and grazed in a field. Kine is another name for cattle. These kine were well-favoured—healthy-looking and a probably a little fat. Then, out of the river came another seven cows, this time, ill-favored (sickly) cows. They came out of the river and ate the well-favoured cows. Later, Pharaoh will say that the ill-favoured cows didn’t look any different after eating the healthy ones.
Then Pharaoh had another dream, in which he saw a stock of corn with seven healthy ears and seven blasted, poor ears. Just as with the cows, the bad ears ate the good ears.
Now these probably weren’t the only dreams Pharaoh had ever had, but he thought that there was some meaning to them. He called in his wise men and magicians, but they could not tell him the meaning of the dreams. Right now, can’t you picture the butler giving Pharaoh another drink: he’s probably a little shy at first, but eventually he tells Pharaoh about how, two years ago, he and the baker had done something to make Pharaoh angry and Pharaoh had put them in prison. He might have said, “While in prison we both had dreams that troubled us. Also in prison there was a Hebrew, and he told us the meanings of the dreams. He was right: I was restored to my job and the baker was hanged.”
The butler told Pharaoh that Joseph was a servant. It reminds me of the Lord Jesus while he was on earth. “He took upon him the form of a servant.”
Pharaoh called for Joseph, but before Joseph went to see him, he needed to shave and have a shower.
After Pharaoh had told Joseph the dreams, Joseph gave his interpretation of the dreams. The seven good-looking cows and seven good ears of corn were seven years of plenty and the the seven bad-looking cows and seven blasted ears of corn were seven years of famine. There were going to be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine … and because Pharaoh had two dreams, it was assurance that this was appointed by God.
Here, Joseph was taken from prison and highly exalted. He was put over everything in Egypt, and second under Pharaoh. In comparison, God has put the Lord Jesus over all.
Pharaoh gave Joseph a new name—Zaphnath-paaneah—a high position in Egypt, and a wife.
We have see Joseph go from humbled to highly exalted. From the prison to the palace. It was because of Joseph’s wisdom that he was exalted. Interestingly, wisdom is one of the names for the Lord Jesus.
Luke 5:8-26
Prayer
Last time we were mentioning the new vessels at the end of this chapter, and how new wine had to be put into new vessels. We then looked at how Jesus was preparing some new vessels. We saw how the fishermen fished all night but caught nothing - even though night was the time to fish. Then the Lord told them to put the nets down during the day, and they caught a multitude of fish.
Peter got a revelation right then that the person that was in his boat was the One Who let this miracle happen. It gave him the sense that he was unworthy to be in the presence of this miracle worker. He said to the Lord, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” Even as he said it, though, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, which said, “I need you Lord.” This shows what happens when somebody comes under conviction. Peter saw his condition and he also saw the holiness of God. The Lord let a little ray of glory reach Peter, and this was the result. It gave Peter a sense of Him with Whom he had to do.
When Freida Foregrave (a sister from Montreal) was young, she enjoyed going to parties and dances and other worldly activities. She was in the Lutheran Church at the time, and her minister was trying to convince her that she needed to be saved. Freida disagreed. She didn’t think that she was all that bad. So the pastor said, “Freida, I want you to do me a favour. Every day pray: ‘Lord Jesus, show me thyself; show me myself’.” Freida agreed to do this, and after a while she began to grow uncomfortable with her lifestyle, realizing that she might need to change. She eventually got saved. This is what happened to Peter. He saw his own unworthiness, and God’s holiness. Peter confessed that he was a sinner, yet Jesus made him into a chosen vessel. Jesus makes vessels out of sinners. It’s a good thing, too, because that’s all He’s got.
Peter now saw Jesus as the Lord, while the Pharisees still saw Him as just a man. The Lord then told Peter, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” Mr.McDowell used to say, “When you fish for fish, you get dead fish; but when you fish for men, you get live men.” When you fish for fish, you take the life from the fish. When you fish for men, you give life to the men.
When the boat came to land they forsook all. It wasn’t just Peter, but also James and John. No longer would they wash nets and toil all night. They followed Him, and that’s a word for all of us.
The next incident in this chapter is with a leprous man. This man wasn’t just a leper, it says that he was full of leprosy. Peter confessed that he was a sinful man; and here—in type—is another one. Leprosy is a type of loathsome sin. It separates you from society. It gets worse and worse until some of your members fall off. It’s a picture of sin working in the flesh, and it’s a sad picture to be full of this. This leper said to Jesus, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” He was saying, “I know you can, but I don’t know if you will.” He had faith, and he knew the power of the Lord; but he didn’t know His love. Jesus reached out and touched this man. If an Israelite touched a leper, he was considered unclean. That was the law. Jesus knew that, but deliberately reached out and touched this man, saying, “I will, be thou clean.” He made it clear that He not only had the power, but the will and the love.
Says H.L. Rossier, “Thus Satan’s struggle against God results in Satan’s confusion. What, then, is the reason for his defeat? One thing explains it: the only thing that Satan, who knows so much, has never thought of nor could think of. The secret which he is ignorant of is grace, for his so cunning intelligence is completely impervious to love.” Satan doesn’t have the ability to love or to receive love. Just as Satan is “completely impervious to love,” so the Lord Jesus is completely impervious to sin, hence He is able to touch the leper and not be defiled. He touched this man, and instead of Him becoming defiled, the leper was made whole. As an outcast, this leper probably hadn’t been touched in years. Matthew adds the extra touch that Jesus was, “moved with compassion.” We can see the love that the Lord displayed.
This is an interesting chapter, and we can see how the Lord met each need where it was at.
Hymn 350 - Hear Christ calling, come unto me
Prayer