July 17, 2011
Scripture:
Scripture:
This morning I read a very familiar verse; I’d like to read another familiar one, Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” I’m reminded of a story I recently saw, about a soldier who was returning from Afghanistan. His wife wanted to surprise their two young children—a boy and a girl—and so she had a truck pick him up at the airport. The father got into a box in the back of the truck. When they got home and unloaded the box, the mother told the two children to open the box. Of course, they were surprised and happy to see their father: the little girl ran and jumped into her father’s arms and sobbed for joy. The little boy stood beside his father: he was happy to have him back, but he wasn’t as passionate as the little girl. This story spoke to me: we have come here this morning and we have the Lord in our midst. We are all happy to have him, but do we come with our hearts bubbling over with love for Him? His love for us is so great: it makes me want to be here on Lord’s Days to learn about Him, and at prayer meetings to talk to Him. It makes me want to read His word and talk to Him throughout the week. I love to be near my Saviour. May we all give Him the response that He deserves!
Hymn 345 - Jesus loves the little children
Prayer
Genesis 42:21-38
Last time we didn’t read about Joseph: the scene had changed and we were with Joseph’s brothers. We said that the verse “Be sure your sin will find you out,” was the lesson of the chapter. The verse “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7) also goes with our story. “Sowing” in this verse isn’t the sewing on buttons type. It means “to plant seeds.” When I plant a tomato seed, should I expect to get a carrot? No, because a tomato seed can only grow a tomato plant. If I am disobedient, isn’t that like sowing a seed? I know there will be a consequence. When you sow seeds like disobedience and untruths, you can expect bad things to happen. “Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.” Joseph’s brothers sowed some bad seeds, didn’t they? Did Joseph sow any bad seeds while he was in Potiphar’s house or in the prison? No, he was the exact opposite of his brothers.
Joseph’s brothers were feeling guilty for what they had done to their brother; they realized that what they had done was wrong. Then Reuben piped up to make himself feel a little better and reminded his brothers that he had warned them not to do anything with Joseph. “If you had listened to me, boys, we wouldn’t be in this mess today.” All this time, Joseph had been listening to them. They didn’t know he could understand what they were saying, because he aways talked to them through an interpreter. While Joseph was listening to his brothers, he started to cry; he was touched that they had started to repent. He had to leave the room so that his brothers wouldn’t see him crying.
When Joseph had composed himself, he went back out to the brothers and bound Simeon. Then he gave permission for the other brothers to get corn. After getting their corn, the brothers put their bags of corn on their asses and headed home. The trip took more than one day, so in the evening they stopped at an inn. While feeding his ass, one of the brothers found his money in his sack. This frightened the brothers.
When the brothers got back to their home they told Jacob what had happened. Then the rest of them opened their sacks, and found their money. They were now very frightened of what the governor of Egypt was doing. First, he said they were spies; then, he took Simeon; finally, he gave them back their money. They thought he was setting up a trap to kill them.
This was a tragedy for Jacob, he said that everything was against him. There is a verse that says “All thing work together for good.” If only Jacob knew of the surprise that was to come! He didn’t have very much faith, did he?
The blessing was coming; but the brothers first needed to learn the lesson of reaping what you sow.
Luke 6:6-19
We started this chapter last time, and it’s a good continuation from the last chapter where we saw the new wine of grace bursting the old bottle of the law. Now the Pharisees bring up this question about the sabbath. As we said last time, the word sabbath basically means “rest”. Twice in this chapter the Lord did something on the sabbath. Both times the Pharisees attacked Him. They argued that the disciples were harvesting wheat, and the Lord answered them with an example from the life of David.
On another sabbath, it almost seems as if the Pharisees set it up so that He would meet the man with the withered hand. They were watching to see if Jesus would heal this man, so that they could accuse Him of working on the sabbath. But Jesus saw the trap. he knew their thoughts. It’s amazing to see the two opposite attitudes that are shown here. The Lord saw this man, and He wanted to show him love. The Pharisees just wanted to attack the Lord; the man didn’t matter to them.
Jesus called the man to stand in the midst; using him as an object lesson. V9. Our Lord got the focus back on the man. Could the law help him? If you couldn’t help him, don’t destroy him. It seemed like it was an either or for the Pharisees.
Then the Lord told the man to stretch forth his hand. The man didn’t say, “I can’t, it’s withered.” With the word came the healing; he stretched it forth and it was made whole. The Pharisees were silenced and filled with madness. They asked each other “What can we do to Him? How can we get Him?”
For that man, every day was a sabbath because he couldn’t work. Now he was finally brought back to normal on the sabbath. Did the law of the sabbath prohibit this? No. Before the sabbath was instituted, God rested on the seventh day. He wasn’t tired, but He stopped working because he was finished. And it wasn’t just ‘no work’, it was the enjoyment of the work that was done. Can you see God enjoying Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? Such was the sabbath. In Matthew 11 Jesus says “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. That doesn’t mean that they stopped working, but rather that they enjoyed the work that the Lord had done.
But there are different sabbaths. There is a rest of the creation, and a rest for the saints (Hebrews 4:9. The Darby Translation uses the word “sabbatism”). The sabbath for the Jews was in the law as part of the covenant. In Revelation we have the words “It is done” before we enter into the eternal state.
The work done in our chapter was a good work, because the man was healed. He couldn’t work, but he had a work done to him. He could now enter into the sabbath in a new way by enjoying that work.
V12. We’ve seen the Lord praying privately elsewhere. We would think that He didn’t need it, but it shows Him as the perfect, dependant man. Isaiah 53 says, “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground.” Plants get their nourishment out of the ground. Jesus was a root planted in dry ground, but He didn’t get His nourishment from there. He got it from above. He didn’t go back and give up, instead He went on and stayed on the path by praying all night. It shows us how much we need prayer.
The Lord is also the Good Man in Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” That is an example that each of us needs to take to heart and follow. We need to feed on the Word and be occupied with prayer. The moment we get away from that we become a very vulnerable target for the enemy. He can easily take advantage of us when we don’t have our sword or our armour. We need to be found in this spirit of dependence and confidence.
When the day came, our Lord went forth on His path and picked out special disciples that would become apostles. DId He make a mistake in picking Judas? No; He had been in prayer just before. He knew Judas’ heart, though. Whenever Judas is mentioned by name, it is always stated that he was the betrayer. There is such a stain on the name that you almost never find someone named Judas nowadays (there were, of course, people with that name before Judas Iscariot).
What a responsibility to be chosen as an apostle! We also have responsibility, because we have been chosen. The word “apostle” means “sent one”. These men were sent for a purpose; and we are chosen for a purpose as well. There is a reason why everyone is here. May we be a help to others.
Hymn 369 - I claim for my own, a King on the throne
Prayer