December 28, 2014
Scripture:
Let’s read Luke 15:22 & 23. I was thinking of the verse that we read in 2 Corinthians. “For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (v. 22). Here the prodigal arrives home; he is given the best robe—the robe of righteousness. Nothing better could fit the prodigal for the father’s feast. Whether it was a calf or a lamb, they feasted on a sacrificial animal. This is also what we have had before us: the One who died. The work of the Lamb was not only to provide a robe, but also a portion to satisfy souls. Such is our portion! Bless His name!
Hymn 332 - Christ the Saviour of Sinners Came
Prayer
Today I want to talk a bit about Noah. Noah was a builder like Nehemiah. He had to build an ark because God was going to destroy all the wicked people of earth.
Genesis 6: 3, 5-8, 13-16
God had created man; but 1,600 years after creation, man’s heart was evil continually. But there was one man, Noah, who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah walked with God. Noah was a just man in a world full of wickedness; he feared God and did that which was right.
God told Noah to build an ark—something that had never been done before. With Nehemiah, there had been a wall before. He only had to rebuild what had already been there. He could see it. But Noah had to build something he had never seen before. The ark was to keep him and his family safe, when God destroyed the earth.
Hebrew 11:7
Noah built the ark by faith. He had been warned of ”things not seen”. God told him about a flood, even though there had never been any rain. People wondered what Noah was doing. Why was he building such a big boat, and where was the rain for the flood going to come from? Noah trusted God. Noah had faith: he believed God and built an ark.
Noah was to make the ark with rooms and cover it inside and outside with pitch. He built it 450 feet long, 75 feet high, and 30 feet deep. There were multiple levels. There was a door in the side, and a window close to the top of the ark.
The flood was going to destroy everything except Noah and his family, along with the animals God told him to take. They would be safe from the judgement coming on the earth.
The ark is a type of salvation. Jesus alone can save us from the coming judgment. While the ark was being built, all across the land was the sound of Noah’s hammer banging nails. It was a constant testimony of what was to come, and the way of escape. There were people who made fun of him, but Noah had faith, and knew that he would be safe from judgment.
To build the ark, many trees would have been hewed down, and cut up for boards. These trees remind us of the cross, where Jesus was so cruelly treated.
The pitch on the boat would have kept it afloat. This can be a type of Jesus’ blood. The world will be judged, but if you know the Lord as your Saviour, and are covered by the blood, you will be saved from the judgment.
When God shut the door, Noah had no way of steering. There was only one window on the top. We live life by faith. We shouldn’t focus on things around us, but we should focus on things above and keep our eyes on Jesus. He will give us faith that overcomes the world.
Noah built the ark by faith to save his family. God has made a way salvation that we accept by faith. The just shall live by faith. And if we go the path he chooses for us, we will have His blessing.
Acts 21:15-40
Last week we saw Agabus warn Paul about his trip to Jerusalem, and other disciples beg him not to go. Paul thought that he had the Lord’s will, though. Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t, because this trip to Jerusalem ended his public ministry. On the other hand, his written ministry was by no means done, and we can be very thankful for the letters that Paul was inspired to write while in prison.
From Caesarea, Paul and his companions took up their carriages (Darby: “effects”) and went on their way. When the Lord gives details like this, you wonder what Paul took with him, and how he carried it from town to town. Also mentioned is an old disciple—Mnason of Cyprus—that we never hear of anywhere else in the Bible, and that Paul was going to lodge with.
Paul arrived in Jerusalem and went to see James and the elders the next day. He told James, not what he had done, but what God had done. It’s not what we do for God, it’s what he does through us. Therefore, when we brothers go to meetings, we need to make ourselves available for God’s purposes. It’s not our own work, it’s His. Though we feel responsibility, that should take some of the pressure off.
The Lord died outside Jerusalem—outside the camp. Even so, the Jews who had been brought up in Judaism found it very hard to leave it and the law. There were thousands of Jews in Jerusalem that believed in Jesus, and yet they were zealous of the law. The two don’t go together.
James asked Paul to help with some Jewish activities to show that the charges against him—that he taught Jews to forsake Moses, not circumcise their children, or walk after the customs—were false. Paul explains in Romans 7:1-6 that we are dead to the law. He also wrote the book of Galatians to believers who were trying to keep the law, and brought grace before them. He told them that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law (Galatians 1:4-6, 3:12-13).
Paul taught this among the Gentiles, and yet was convinced to return under the law again in order to prove that he didn’t teach that Jews were no longer under Moses. James acknowledged that the Gentiles didn’t have to keep the law, but still convinced Paul to help him out. It was easy enough in Rome or Galatia for Paul to preach that we aren’t under the law, but in Jerusalem it wasn’t as easy. He was the Apostle to the Gentiles, but his heart was with his brother Jews, and probably thought, “Maybe I shouldn’t do this, but if it will help at all…” It reminds us of Paul’s words in Romans 9:1 - 3.
Hymn 362 - Two little eyes to look to God
Prayer