September 11, 2011
Hymn 149 - Lord Jesus! we remember
Scripture:
I’d just like to read that verse in I Corinthians 11. The apostle Paul, having given us the New Testament instructions for this blessed remembrance that we’ve had this morning, says in v. 26: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” We’ve remarked before about those two words, “Lord’s death”: the eternal living Lord, and death. This makes us realize how precious and important it is to Him that we do this “til he come.” Blessed hope, when emblems give way to substance, to the very person of the Lord Himself. We’ll see His face and be with Him!
Hymn 334- Glad T-i-d-i-n-g-s
Prayer
We are going to continue the story of David in 1 Samuel 30. David had gone to live in the land of the Philistines. Remember that Achish, king of Gath, planned to fight against Israel. Originally, David and his men planned to go with Achish; however, some of the Philistine lords didn’t want David go with them. That is where our chapter starts today.
I Samuel 30
When David and his men returned to their homes in Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had taken the women and children and had burnt the city. How would you feel if this happened to you? We read that David wept until he couldn’t cry anymore.
Why do you think that the Lord allowed this to happen to David? The Lord was trying to tell him that he shouldn’t have gone to live with the Philistines. It’s very similar to Joseph, when he tested his brothers. Do you think the Lord did that because, he was angry with David or because he loved him? It was because he loved David. Read Hebrews 12:6 &
So, David inquired of the Lord and asked if they should go and recapture what was taken from them. God told him that he should go and that they would recover all. So they went off. Two hundred of the men stayed back because they felt faint. So David and four hundred of his men started to pursue the men that had taken their families and belongings. However, they didn’t know where to go; they trusted the Lord to lead they in the right path. The Lord did just that: while they were walking along, they found a young man who had fainted on the path. Once they revived him, he told his story. He told them that he had been the servant of an Amalekite. He told how his master had raided David’s city. The young man showed David and his men the way to his master camp.
When they got to the Amalekite camp, the Amalekites were having a party with all the spoil from their fighting. David and his men attacked them and fought from one evening to the next evening. They recovered all their belongings and killed all the Amalekites, except 400 young men who escaped on camels. We see that the Lord helped David and his men recover all their families and belongings.
When they returned to the other 200 men, a few men told them that they wouldn’t get anything since they didn’t go to help fight. David didn’t agree with that: he told the men that the Lord had given them their things back, so it really was all the Lord’s. Everyone will get their share.
May we each see that the things we have are the Lord’s and that He has given them to us.
Luke 7:11-30
Last time we saw the Lord healing the Roman centurion’s servant.
The day after that, the Lord went to the city of Nain with many of His disciples, and broke up a funeral (this precious story is only in Luke’s gospel). As they approached the gate of the city, there was a funeral procession with a dead young man being carried out. He was the only son of his widowed mother, and many people of the city had come out with her. We don’t know much about this woman, but we do know a few things. We know that there were some happy days in her life. We know that she was married, and so she must have had a wedding. We also know that there was a day when this couple had the joy of receiving a baby boy. Then we also know that there were sad days in her life. She was a widow, therefore her husband had died. And now her only child had just passed away as well.
It was her only son that they were carrying out to be buried, and it was an Only Son that she met on the way. She was weeping, and it made for a very sad picture; she had lost a precious treasure. As we said, many of the people of the city were there, probably trying to comfort her; but what could they do?
Our Lord told her, “Weep not.” This is a story that really brings out the Lord’s compassion, because this woman didn’t ask Him to do anything, He just did it. He came, He touched, He said. He came to Nain, and then He went over and touched the bier. The people carrying it stood still. The Lord stood still for blind Bartimaeus, and God had the sun stand still so that Joshua could win one of his battles; and now the Lord stops the people carrying this poor widow’s son. But not only did He touch the bier, He spoke. It really shows us the authority of His word, because He commanded the dead to live. I hope that all of us can say that we were dead at one point, but came alive when we heard the word of the Lord. We have passed from death unto life. The Lord told this lad to, “Wake up” (Darby translation). No one else could do such a miracle.
We read of a few instances where the Lord raised the dead. He told Lazarus to, “Come forth”, and Jairus’ daughter to “Arise”. Lazarus had been dead four days, this lad had been dead long enough to be in a coffin, but not buried; and Jairus’ daughter had just died. Lazarus was older, this was a young man, and Jairus’ daughter was twelve years old. The Lord raised them all.
Hebrews 1 tells us that Jesus is the “express image” of God’s person. The Lord especially demonstrated this here. As soon as He said, “Wake up” the dead man sat up and began to speak. First there is life, and then there is testimony; whether it’s the blind man saying, “Whereas I was blind, now I see”; or a dead man saying, “Whereas I was dead, now I live.” We should have the testimony of that dead man. We were dead in sins, but now are alive in Christ.
Mark tells us that “the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The Lord ministered life here. “And the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4). And not only did the Lord give life to the boy, but He delivered him to his mother. He also delivered Jairus’ daughter to her mother, and Lazarus to his sisters. Jesus not only gave life to the dead, but comforted those who were grieving. As an interesting point, we never hear those that were raised tell what it was like to be dead; we only have the story of the rich man and Lazarus. When Paul was taken up and given a glimpse of the third heaven, he couldn’t speak about the things that he had seen. He could tell about the time he saw the Lord on the Damascus road, but not about what he saw in heaven. The Lord didn’t tell us much about heaven either; we probably won’t be able to understand it until we have our glorified bodies. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Another thing that is precious is that our Lord delivered the young man to his mother. He didn’t require that the young man follow him. It’s the same with us. It should be natural for us to follow the Lord after we’re saved, but it’s our choice; as it was this young man’s.
V16 shows what happened to the people. They all feared. We, too, should have the reverence type of fear for the Lord. The people saw the work of God, and they said, “A great prophet has risen up, God has visited His people.” The rumour of this miracle went throughout all Judah. The son himself was a living testimony of the work of the Lord. The Sadducees didn’t believe in resurrection, but here was living proof!
Many of the people marveled; but in the meanwhile John was discouraged in Herod’s dungeon. He wasn’t so encouraged and positive as when he was actively serving the Lord. He sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Chirst? Or do we wait for another?” Before he had said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The decreasing wasn’t much fun, though.
So we have a wonderful picture of the widow and her son, and then poor John struggling in prison. We know the Lord certainly cares about widows, there is instruction about them in the epistles.
Hymn 215 - Happy they who trust in Jesus
Prayer