October 30, 2011
Scripture:
Scripture:
I was trying to find the verse about Joseph being thrown into the pit, but it escapes me. However, turn to Genesis 45:9: *“Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not.”* Joseph was taken out of the pit and brought him into the palace. What a transformation! It is the same with us: we were in the pit of sin, of all that was despised by God. We can’t understand how obnoxious our sins are to Him. But, like Joseph, we have been transformed. We have been made fit for the palace of glory as joint-heirs with Christ. What a portion! It is difficult to grasp the changes that have really taken place, and the blessings that we have been given and have forever. Oh, let us rejoice, and seek to enter fully into them, so that the reality of it may be displayed in our lives!
Hymn
Joseph had just told his brothers to go to get their families and father. He gave them wagons, clothing and food. We have been looking at this chapter from the evangelical view, where Joseph is a picture of Jesus, Pharaoh is a type of God, and the brothers picture ourselves. Like Joseph the Lord Jesus has given us gifts. The wagons Joseph gave his brothers picture the Holy Spirit and the clothes picture the word of God. Joseph told his brothers to go and get their father and tell him that he was alive. These brothers had previously gone and told their father that Joseph was dead; now they were going to tell him that Joseph was alive. They probably felt guiltly.
Genesis 45: 25-29
We don’t hear very much about the brother’s trip. They went and came. When they arrived home, they told Jacob that Joseph was still alive. He didn’t believe them. Similarly, most non-believers, when they hear the gospel for the first time, don’t believe it. What changed Jacob’s mind? It was Joseph’s words (which the brothers told him) and the wagons that he had sent with the brothers. We just sang about ears and eyes. Jacob used his ears and heard what Joseph had said. He used his eyes to see the wagons. The wagons can be a picture of the Spirit of God and Joseph word are like the scriptures. From the Gospel perspective, Jacob isn’t saved. When Jacob hears and sees, he says that he believes that Joseph is still alive. Salvation is only through the word of God and the Spirit of God.
Notice that, at first, Jacob was called Jacob. He then believed that Joseph was alive. After that, he was called Israel. Jacob means cheat, supplanter, but Israel means prince of God. A marvelous change has taken place. What did he then say? “It is enough.” Through all that had happened, he knew that Joseph was really alive and that they were moving to Goshen.
Now let us look at the work of the cross. We were poor, guilty, and wretched, when the Lord Jesus redeemed us. We too should say that it is enough. We shouldn’t be like the disciples when they mourned after the Lord’s death.
Jacob wanted to go and see Joseph before he died. This brings out the important truth that salvation needs to be before death. There is no changing after death.
It is nice to see Joseph as a picture of Jesus. As Christians we have been blessed greatly!
Luke 8: 4-21
In Luke, this parable is alone; while in Matthew, it is connected with the parables of the kingdom. Matthew’s account is more for the Jew, while Luke’s is for the Gentile. This parable contained a new concept for the Jews because the Lord was giving a message that called for a response. In the Old Testament, the Jews didn’t evangelise. they weren’t allowed to; God kept them separate from the nations. The Lord wasn’t preaching to the Gentiles, but some Gentiles were blessed through His ministry and received His grace.
Afterward, The Lord explained the parable to the disciples. It was about the mysteries of the kingdom of God.God had a kingdom in the Old Testament, but you almost had to be born into it. Some people - like Ruth and Rahab - were amazingly brought in, but mostly you were born into it. Here the Lord sows to all, and the seed is the Word of God. Once on the ground, different things happen with it. All of the seed is the same, it’s the soil that makes the difference. We are told, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear”. We have to be open to the Word, and today we can also “hear” the Word through reading it.
There were different soils, and different responses to the seed. First we have the wayside, stony, and thorny grounds. Each of these represents something that we have to deal with. The wayside was all trodden down; it represents a closed heart. Whenever the seed came, a bird was ready to snatch it away. This shows us the work of the enemy. Then some seed fell on the stony ground, It grew, but then whithered because it lacked moisture. It wasn’t a closed heart, because it started to grow; but then it hit the rocks, and they got in the way. This is like the flesh in the heart of a hearer. They hear the word, they understand it, but the flesh in them won’t let it take root.
Then there are the thorns. Here, too, the seed started to grow, but then it was choked out with the cares, riches and pleasures of this life. This is the World. The three things that we must encounter if we want to be fruitful are the world, the flesh and the Devil. Of course, we must be saved and have life in order to bear fruit, but we must also deal with these three hindrances. The fruit that we must bear is the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy peace, etc. We need to glorify God by being faithful, loving others, and doing His will.
It’s our job to hear the word, but to bear this fruit, we must also keep our hearts clear. Some of the seed fell on good ground, and it sprung up and bore fruit. In Matthew it says that some bore thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred. If we want to do this, we have to make sure that the world, the flesh, and the Devil don’t distract us from having our personal times in the Word and going to meeting.
V15. describes the good ground heart as “honest”. This description is unique to Luke. We need to be honest before God. We can lie and deceive men in some things, but God knows all. The good-ground heart also hears and keeps the word. It’s searching, because it’s very practical. The Word is powerful, but so are the world, the flesh and the Devil. Darby brings out that we can be enjoying a truth, and the Spirit will bring us other truths and show us more things that we can enjoy; but if the world, the flesh or the Devil distract us from meditating on that truth, we lose it, and all the others that would have come from meditating on it.
The good-ground heart brings forth fruit with patience. Today, people like things instantly. We can learn a lot from reading or listening to others; but fruit born by meditation doesn’t come fast.
Bellett says that we constantly need the Holy Spirit to keep the world, the flesh and Devil from getting into our hearts. He also mentions that the seed merely exposed the condition of the soil; and the Word of God only exposes the condition of our hearts.
It interesting that the Scripture brings out the specific contenders against the world, the flesh and the Devil. It tells us that the “Spirit wars against the flesh”, so that’s one battle. Then we have the Lord tempted by the Devil; and the Father fights the World. Each has its own opposition.
Hymn 350 - Fishers of Men
Prayer