July 31, 2011
Scripture:
Scripture:
Hebrews 7:24 - 28
I’m looking at Hebrews 9 right now; I was thinking of the verse, “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). Read vv. 22 - 24: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Think of how precious it is to be reminded of the atonement we receive from His blood. We needed to be cleansed from sin. It gives us access to the Holiest.
But God needed that blood as well. He needed ground to forgive us. Yes, we needed that work, and He needed that work done at Calvary. “It is the blood that maketh an antonement for the soul.”
Hymn 15- Oh what a gift the Father gave
Prayer
Genesis 43
Today’s lesson is going to be a Gospel message. There are many people today who think that you have to do good for God to get into heaven. What they don’t realize is that God has a gift that He wants to give to them that is a greater gift than anything man could give to God. You can not do anything good to be saved. However, after you are saved there are many good things that you can do for God.
The brothers came home from Egypt and told there father how “the man” had treated them. They told how he said they were spies and how he put Simeon in prison. They also told how they found their money in their bags and how they thought this was a trick.
Time went on, and so did the famine. The Bible says that the famine was sore. Soon, Jacob’s family ran out of the corn they had bought. One day Jacob came to his sons and told them to go down to Egypt to get more corn. They replied that they couldn’t go back to Egypt unless Benjamin could come with them: “the man” had told them not to come unless Benjamin came. You see that Benjamin was really loved by his father, because Jacob didn’t want what happened to Joseph to happen to Benjamin. Jacob asked his sons, “Why did you tell him that you had another brother?” The brothers then explain how “the man” had asked if they had any other brothers. Judah stepped forward; we remember Judah from when Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites: he was the one who wanted to sell Joseph. He stepped forward and told Jacob that if they didn’t go, they were going to die. “Why don’t you send Benjamin with me and I will protect him?” This is the one who wanted to sell Joseph; there seems to have been a change in his heart. He now wanted to take care of Benjamin and he said he would take all the blame if anything happened to Benjamin.
Then the brothers had another dilemma: what were they going to do about the money that was found in their bags? They were sure that “the man” had put their money in their sacks as a trick. Jacob suggested that they bring a present to appease “the man”. What they didn’t know is that “the man”(Joseph) wanted to take care of them. Jacob ended their little talk by praying. This is at the wrong end: Jacob should have prayed before deciding what to do.
The story fast forwards, it skips the whole journey to Egypt. What the brothers did first was go to “the man” with the present. When they came before Joseph and Joseph saw Benjamin, he told his servant to bring the brothers to his house and get a dinner ready. The brothers were afraid when they got into the house. They probably thought they were going to see soliders with handcuffs! It tells that when they got to Joseph’s house, they talked to the steward about the money. He told them not to fear, but that didn’t seem to help them: they were still trembling. Inside Joseph’s house, Simeon was brought to them and they started to set up the present that they had brought: all the spices and such. They wanted Joseph to be able to see it when he came home. Then finally Joseph came home and the brothers bowed down before him. But instead of thanking them for the present, Joseph asked how they were and how their father was. He completely ignored the present. Then seeing Benjamin, he asked them if this was their younger brother that they had talked about. The joy of seeing Benjamin was so great that Joseph had to leave the room because he was crying. Joseph washed his face and went back to his brothers. He then asked the servants to set out bread on the table and the meal began. The brothers were amazed to find that they had been seated in order of age.
Who did most of the giving? Joseph did; and in salvation, God does all the giving. He has given us the biggest and the best thing anyone could give: His Son. “Oh, what a gift the Father gave when He bestowed his Son.”
Luke 6:20-38
Matthew’s version of these beatitudes has more to do with the Kingdom of Heaven; the rule of the heavens on earth. It’s written more with the Jew in mind. On the other hand, Luke’s gospel presents Jesus as the Son of Man, and was written with the Greek in mind. We are brought into the kingdom of God.
We find that our Lord took the characteristics that are mentioned here when He came into the world. He was poor, He was hungry for the fruit of His labour, we read of Him weeping several times (at Lazarus’ tomb, over Jerusalem, and at Gethsemane), He was hated and rejected and finally crucified. As His followers, as we follow His path, we can expect the same to happen to us to a degree. But if we have the sorrows we will also have the joys. If we weep, we will laugh; if we are hungry, we will be filled. We may suffer as sheep counted for the slaughter, but there will be blessing.
What does the word “blessed” mean? In Mr.Darby’s French translation, he uses the word “bienheureux” which means “very happy”. Now, “blessed be ye poor” contradicts our natural man. The world wants to be rich. Jesus said that when all men hate us we should leap for joy, because our reward is great in heaven. This is living in the light of eternity; comparing what we go through now to what we will get later. It reminds us of the Christians right now that are suffering, either for the testimony of Christ or because of circumstances. In the Garden of Eden, things weren’t like this. Man was given all, and his portion was rest. Now we wait for a better day, and our portion is patience.
There was once a rich lady who said that she was glad for the letter “m”; therefore the passage said, *“not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called”* (1 Corinthians 1:26) instead of “not any”. We can also think of the rich man who had a bumper crop and decided to build bigger barns; but that night his soul was required of him.
In these “beatitudes” we see two groups of people. Those that follow the Lord; and those that follow false prophets. Jesus told them, “Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger.” These woes are directed to the unsaved; not those with an eternity in heaven. These people weren’t doing things that were morally wrong; but those things were all that they had. They ignored the things of God. The rich man had a bumper crop, and in one way it was a blessing from God. But that was all that he had. He neglected all that had to do with his eternity. We are told: “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). How blessed it is when we have that priority.
Now this passage doesn’t mean that all godly people are poor. There is a story told about a church that had a mortgage on it. The mortgage had to be payed, but the pastor didn’t know how to meet the bill. So he called the elders together and asked them to pray. They did, and a few weeks later the pastor called them together again told them, “Our prayers have been answered; the money has come.”
“How?” asked the elders.
“It was donated by so and so.” (The pastor named a wealthy member of the congregation).
“Oh,” said one of the elders, “He gives because he’s got it!”
“No,” answered the pastor, “He’s got it because he gives.”
James tells us that we must give to our brother’s need. “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?” (James 2:15-16). We are just stewards of the money that God gives us. We must have His mind to use it wisely. It is so important to give. Some of us grew up in the Depression, when there were a lot of people without work. They would often come to the door asking for food and Grandma Burgess would never turn them away hungry. Poverty taught us some good lessons.
These instructions are also specific to the twelve apostles; who became the nucleus of the first century church. As our Lord taught them, so He now teaches us.
307- Poor and feeble though we be
Prayer