July 5, 2015
Scripture:
Scripture:
Let’s turn to Isaiah 53:10 & 11. The seed that fell into the ground, grew up and brought forth fruit. And if you were to read this portion in the Darby translation you would find it says, “He shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul.” He knew what was required to rescue man, the price to be paid to bring us back to God.
Hymn 230 - I’ve found a Friend, O such a Friend
Prayer
We’ve been looking at Nehemiah and how he built the wall of Jerusalem. Today, we are going to talk about another wall: the wall of Jericho. This wall was coming down, instead of going up. It was an obstacle that the children of Israel faced. Obstacles are something that you have to overcome. There are obstacles in the Christian life, which Satan will use to take away our joy. There are things that we come up against in life that we need to work through.
In the book Pilgrim’s Progress, there were many things Christian had to fight. He had to overcome obstacles and not turn back like his friend Pliable. We can also think of the rich young ruler: he wanted to know about salvation, but he let his riches hinder him. Wealth was his obstacle. You may have heard the story of when Grandpa (Norman Burgess) was looking for a job: the line of work he was trying to get into required him to do something wrong. He chose to honour the Lord and found a different job. We should desire to honour the Lord, too. When obstacles come up we can look to the Lord for help. Whatever it is, the Lord will help us.
Joshua 6:1-2, 6-11, 15, 16, & 20
The children of Israel had just crossed the Jordan River, and were now facing Jericho, the first city they met in Canaan. It was a big city surrounded by a wall. The people of Jericho had heard that the Israelites were coming, and they were afraid. They had closed up the city. No one could get in or out.
Jericho would be hard to overcome, even for a large army, because of the walls. But God had given Joshua a promise that he would defeat Jericho. Then He gave him directions on how to do it. If we read God’s Word daily, we will see the promises and the direction He gives us. It can encourage us in our pathway when we are fighting obstacles.
Hebrews 11:30
Four priests were directed to take up the ark. Seven other priests were told to go in front of them with trumpets. Armed men went in front of the priests. Behind the ark came all of the people of Israel. They all walked around the city wall once a day, for six days. No one made a noise, except for the trumpets. You might think that this is a strange battle plan. But Joshua was following the Lord by faith.
On the seventh day, they went around the city seven times. Then when the priests blew their trumpets, this time the people shouted. When they followed God’s instructions by faith, the well fell down flat. They conquered Jericho.
The ark was right in the middle of them. That was the Lord was in their midst. They had the One who had the power to overcome the enemy with them.
1 Corinthians 2:5
The Children of Israel had faith to follow the Lord and overcome the enemy. Man’s wisdom would have said that what they did would not have worked. But we know that if we let the Lord lead and direct in our lives, He will help us overcome any obstacles. As a further comparison, the priests had seven ram’s horns. Seven speaks of completion, which again reminds us of the Lord.
We have a Friend in the Lord. We must have the faith to trust the Lord, and He will bring blessing to our path. Everyone who trusts the Lord will be helped in overcoming the hindrances and obstacles in life. If we stay close to the Lord it will be easier to remain faithful to Him.
Ephesians 2:1-10
We’ve had many heavenly promises so far in Ephesians; but will Christians be the only people in heaven? No. Moses, Joshua, the prophets, and all Old Testament saints (those who died before Pentecost) also had faith, and will be in heaven. They will have a portion there, but we who are saved will have greater blessings. What exactly will the difference be? The difference is that we are in Christ. He came down to earth, went into death, and rose again, thereby bringing the saints together. New Testament saints are united to each other and to Jesus Himself in a fearfully and wonderfully made body. Jesus died, like that corn of wheat, because, even though He was God, He wasn’t complete. He died to gather us together and join us to Himself.
At the start of chapter 2 here, we have death and life. We were dead in trespasses and sins, but verse 2 points out that that was in “times past”. Verse 4 states present realities—“God…IS rich in mercy”—as do verses 5 and 6. Verse 7, though moves on to the “ages to come”; and thus we have the past, present, and future classifications here. In the past there was “ye”—the Gentiles—and “we”—the Jews. In the present, though, Paul refers to “us”. Ye and we have now been brought together by salvation!
As we said, “ye” refers to the Gentiles. Before salvation, they walked with the world, went with the flow, and were subject to the Prince of the Power of the Air—Satan—who still works in disobedient children. Then there were the “we”—the Jews, who were specially chosen, protected by God, brought out of Egypt, fed with manna, given the laws, a land, and promises, and much more. How did they live in the past? In the lusts of their flesh, as children of wrath. Both Jews and Gentiles were bad news!
“But God”; and now it’s all good news! God loved “ye and we,” and the gospel has now brought us together in one church and body. That’s a picture of God’s mercy. He is the only One that can make us dead sinners alive again, and that’s because He has Divine Life. Death has no effect on our new life; for the Spirit of God has quickened us with Christ and this life can never die. It started with mercy, ended with grace, and is great love in the middle. When you put it all together, it’s life for dead sinners!
Satan puts obstacles in our path to cause us to stumble and fall. Now, the gospel is a promise from God. For unbelievers that makes the equation: promise+faith=life, and for believers: promise+faith=victory over Satan’s wiles. It’s so precious to have the Lord’s promises to lean on. If we believe them, He’ll fulfil them.
In times past we were spiritually dead, but in our physical life we had a disobedient nature. It’s just like the way the Jews were children of wrath. We had life, but the wrong type of life, until Christ changed us. The Gentiles seemed to struggle with the world and the Devil, while the Jews struggled more with the lusts of the flesh.
God has a nature, too, though, and it’s grace and truth. He has quickened us, and brought us together in a united bond. We’ll see it later in this chapter: Jews and Gentiles are now one, we both have peace with God, the same Spirit gives us access to the Father, and we are built together as a house for God to dwell in. It’s a beautiful oneness. Not only are we saved, but God has, “raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (verse 6). This is the “sitting” position in Ephesians, and we need to learn to sit before we can learn to walk or stand later on.
Hymn 10 — Faith is a very little thing
Prayer