August 26, 2012
Scripture:
Scripture:
Hymn 201 - Trust and obey
Prayer
We have started to look at the life of the prophet Elijah. He was sent by God to King Ahab with a message: there would not be any rain for 3 ½ years. This was a judgement on Ahab and his wife Jezebel, for worshipping the idol Baal. A lack of rain like this would prevent any food from growing; they would get very hungry.
1 Kings 17:1-9
After Elijah delivered the message to the king, the Lord directed him to go to the brook Cherith, where the Lord would provide food for him during the drought. Each day, the ravens would bring him food. Ravens are not a very clean bird: they eat dead animals, or roadkill. But these were the birds that God send to bring Elijah his meals twice a day.
When thinking about what we read about Elijah, I’ve thought of some things that we can learn from his life. First of all, he believed in the living God. It is important for us to believe in the Lord Jesus. Then, Elijah obeyed the Lord in going to brook and the Lord provided his food and water. We need to have obedience and trust the Lord in what He says. Right now, you might be resting in your parents’ faith, but when you grow older you will need to have your own faith.
Eventually, the brook dried up. It wasn’t because Elijah had disobeyed the Lord: the Lord had somewhere else for Elijah to go. I trust Elijah can be an example to us in how he obeyed the Lord.
Luke 8:8-32
Last time we looked at the first part of this three-part parable. We saw the shepherd with 100 sheep, and the one of them that got lost. The shepherd found that sheep, and it was a picture of Jesus Christ finding us. Now we have woman with the coins to show the work of the Spirit of God; and, finally, a parable showing God the Father welcoming a lost son.
Christianity is the only religion which has a God manifested in three persons. It’s unique and blessed. Each of the three persons is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. Some people can’t understand this; but if we could understand God, then God wouldn’t be big enough to be worshiped. Jesus used these parables to show the unity of the Godhead: each person accepts the lost. The shepherd (God the Son) found the lost sheep. The woman (God the Spirit) found the lost coin. And the father (God the Father) welcomed home the lost son.
As we said, the woman with the lamp is the Holy Spirit. Part of the Holy Spirit’s job is to help us communicate to God the Father and God the Son. We are triune (made up of three parts): a body, a soul, and a spirit. Romans 8 tells us *“ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” *(Vv.15-16). It’s through our spirit connecting with God the Spirit that we make “connection” with God. It’s like two devices: you can’t connect them unless you have a cable with the right ends. We have been given the “right ends” to connect with God: our spirit, and God the Spirit. It might be good to note here that in prayer we address the Father and we address the Son, but we find no Scripture for addressing the Spirit. We talk to the Father, and we talk to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit makes this possible, but we don’t talk to Him.
The activity of the Spirit that we get in this parable is the work of the Spirit in someone’s life before they are saved. The coin was lost and needed to be found.
You will notice that in these parables, the lost item is one of a number. The lost sheep is one of a hundred, the lost coin is one of ten, and the lost son is one of two. You will also notice that the lost item is the one that gets the attention: both the sheep and the coin were sought for, and the son was welcomed.
The sheep had life, and it wandered away. The son had life, and it was rebellious. The coin, however, didn’t have life. It’s a picture of sinners, dead in trespasses and sins. Similarly, the pearl in Matthew 13 was beautiful, but it didn’t have life.
The coin was lifeless, and it was also in darkness; so the first thing that this woman does is light a candle. Jesus is the light, as we find in John
There was the light, but there was also sweeping. People are piled under a lot of garbage that must be removed so that the Holy Spirit can do His work. Things like iphones, walkmans, and computers can do good; but more often they are used to fill minds with junk that then has to be removed. We have good “distractions” of work and school, but the Holy Spirit wants us to be occupied with the Word of God. He has a candle and a broom and will sweep away the garbage.
The Holy Spirit wasn’t defeated in this parable. The woman found her coin and rejoiced with her friends. The Spirit does His work for the sinner, but He also does it for those in heaven who will rejoice and a sinner being saved.
The work of the Holy Spirit is awesome. We are given the word, and it is the Spirit that helps us divide it properly. Another fact is that the Spirit has seven emblems in Scripture; such as the dove and oil. There is so much that we need to learn about Him.
Hymn 338 - I love my Saviour, my precious Saviour
Prayer