May 27, 2012
Let’s read from Hebrews 1:1-3. Here we have the answers to three questions. Who is He? “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.” What did He do? He purged our sins. Where is He now? In the majesty on High. The One who came down is above all. Well might we praise Him!
We have been reading about the building of the temple. Last we read, Hiram, king of Tyre, prepared and sent wood to Solomon. The next part in the building of the temple is the actual building stage. I’m not ready to talk about this stage yet, so today we will talk about different people who built something in Bible. Throughout the Bible, many people built things: arks, temples, idols, towers, and more. I think we can compare our lives to a building: when building a house, the foundation is one of the most important parts, and it is always done first. The foundation in our lives should be the Lord Jesus.
God told Noah to build an ark, and gave him instructions on how to build it. Noah followed all that God told him to do: that is obedience. Noah had not only obedience, but also had faith. It had never rain before this time, but Noah believed God when He told him that it would rain. Noah also had the courage to build the ark: it was a big task, and others were probably mocking him.
Another builder in the Bible was Moses. Moses directed the building of the tabernacle. God instructed Moses to ask the people for supplies. Those people had to be willing to give their offerings to the tabernacle. If we are willing to help, then the Lord will be able to use us.
We might not be led by the Lord to build anything, but we still need to be willing to do other things for the Lord. We need to strive for the character qualities that Moses and Noah had. We need to have obedience, faith, courage, willingness and on top of all that we need to have love. If we have these characteristics, the Lord will be able to use us to bless others.
Let’s look at a building that was not directed by the Lord. Building this tower was man’s idea. They wanted to build a tower that would reach to Heaven so that they would be famous and make a name for themselves. Their foundation was not on the Lord, so the Lord had to come and stop the work from continuing.
In Luke 12, there is the story of a farmer who had an abundant harvest, and completely filled his barns. This farmer was proud: he thought that he would be wealthy for the rest of his long life. He planned to build bigger barns for the rest of his crop. But God judged that man for his pride, he died that night. He didn’t build his life on the Lord.
The Lord wants to be the foundation of our lives. Even as a child, you can build your life on Him by loving and serving Him in small ways.
Luke 12:6 - 21
It’s our Lord speaking in this passage, giving special instructions to His disciples. He told them not to be afraid of men, but He also warned them that they would face persecution.
We find out in verse 6 that God specially cares for us. Jesus uses the example of sparrows. Sparrows are rather worthless creatures, but God doesn’t forget them. And if God is concerned about sparrows, we’re worth more than many of them. God cares a lot about us; remember, we cost a great deal. Verse 7 tells us that even the hairs of our head are numbered. This shows how minute and detailed God’s care for us is. Losing a few hairs doesn’t concern us (unless it happens too often), but God knows about each hair. We have no need to fear man; such care shows us that our God is with us and for us.
There is a special reward for those that own their Lord before men. It might have brought these disciples persecution, but there was a blessing that was sure to follow. If you deny our Lord, though, He will deny you before the angels. Peter denied the Lord, but in his sorrow he was restored.
We now come to the unpardonable sin. Matthew 12:31-32 also mentions it. This sin (blasphemy against the Holy Spirit) could only be committed when Jesus was on earth doing miracles through the power of the Holy Sprit, because blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is saying that the miracles that Jesus did through the Holy Spirit were done through the power of Beelzebub. In the coming age, Jesus will be back on earth doing miracles and it will again be possible to commit this sin.
We don’t meet people today that have committed the unpardonable sin. Some say that the unpardonable sin is not accepting Jesus as your Saviour. While you certainly can’t be forgiven if you don’t repent of your sin and put your faith and trust in Christ, we all committed the sin of failing to accept Christ before we accepted Christ. You can come to Jesus and be forgiven of that sin. It’s not unpardonable.
Vv.11-12: “And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.” The saints of the Old Testament didn’t have this work of the Holy Spirit; just His temporary indwelling. The Holy Spirit would speak for these disciples when they were persecuted. Jesus anticipated the problems that His followers would have and provided for them. While we had the Holy Spirit’s guidance this morning in our meeting, some people stand up in front of others and lay aside the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is serious. While they may seek to be guided by the Spirit, the whole thing is out of order.
While the Lord was speaking about divine things, it seems that this man bursts in with his concerns about material things. Someone had died, there was a squabble over the inheritance, and this man wanted Jesus to speak to his brother. The Lord asked him, “Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?” This man tried to get help for his possessions from the One Who owned nothing - no things, and no place to lay His head. Our Lord was so selfless. Yet those tangible things were so important to this man, and to so many today. Meanwhile, our Lord was concerned with the things of the soul. In verse 15 He told the people: “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Some of the world would disagree with this and say that what you have really does count; because “Possessions” is the world’s measuring stick. If you drive the 401 from Toronto to Montreal, there is a casino that you pass, When Brother Norman passed it recently, the parking lot was full of cars. Those people play against terrible odds, and yet they go in there desiring a windfall.
Our Lord then proceeds to tell the parable of one man who did get a windfall. He was a rich farmer, and he got a bumper crop. Verse 16-20 says, “And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” It’s interesting that this man had enough conscience to address himself as “soul” instead of “body”. However, as we’re in his office watching him look over his business plan, he decides that the best thing that he can do with his bumper crop is to build bigger store houses and hoard it all. He’ll make life easy for himself and eat, drink, and take all the pleasure he wants. He left verse 20 out of the equation, though. Vv. 20-21: “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” What a story. In one way it’s a gospel because this man left the spiritual and eternal aspect out of his life.
The Lord knew how to put a story in focus, and this story shows just the opposite of what we had with the children. This man’s foundation was his net worth, not Christ. Today’s world is a material-focused world. We can be glad that our lives don’t consist of what we own, because many of us would be in trouble. What would we do in a meltdown?
This passage teaches us that God cares for us, and that we should avoid covetousness.
Hymn 96 - If I gained the world but lost the Saviour
Prayer