August 30, 2015
Scripture:
Let’s turn to Hebrews 12. We have been thinking about how the Lord died, rose again, and ascended into heaven because He loved us. Read v. 2b. Think of that joy, joy that caused Him to go through such suffering. But He now has another joy to look forward to because of that sacrifice; and we have a joy to look forward to also.
Hymn 308 - I love to hear the story
Prayer
Today we will continue with the story of Esther. We have met King Ahasuerus, Queen Esther, and her uncle Mordecai, who brought Esther up. They all lived at the palace in Shushan.
Mordecai was sitting in the gate when he overheard two of king’s men. They were upset with the king, and wanted to kill him. After hearing this, Mordecai went and told Esther who, in turn, told the king in Mordecai’s name. Well, the king didn’t take any chances. He looked into it and found out that it is indeed true. He hung the men for planning to kill him. This story was written in the book of the chronicles before the king. God planned it so that this event would later benefit Mrodecai. So we must remember it.
In Shushan the palace, King Ahasuerus promoted a man by the name of Haman. He was an Agagite. They were from the people of Amaleck, who would title their king Agag. Haman was a decendent of the enemy of the Jews.
The people in the gate were to show reverence to Haman any time he passed. Well, Mordecai refused to bow. When Haman found out that Mordecai wouldn’t bow and that he was Jewish, he was upset. He was proud and expected Mordecai to honor him, but he wouldn’t. Haman now wanted to kill all the Jews in Ahasuerus’s kingdom. The Jewish captives were scattered through out the entire kingdom. That is, all one-hundred twenty-seven provinces.
Haman brought this up to the king, who said, “Do what you like. The sliver and the people are yours.” They wrote a letter to all the provinces. They had to write it in several languages. It said that on a certain day of a certain month all the Jews were to be destroyed. The letter was sealed with they kings ring. It was a sign that the king approved it.
God had made a promise to Abraham that through him all the nations of the world would be blessed. Although Haman was trying to destroy the Jews, it wouldn’t work. God had said that whoever tried to destroy His people would be cursed. God’s promises are always true.
God’s has made promises to us as well. He made a promise in John 3:16. He’s promised to care for us and guide us. God will keep His promises to us.
Well, the king and Haman sent the message out. What King Ahasuerus did not know was that Queen Esther was Jewish.
We can be thankful for the promises that we are given in God’s Word. We can look for them as we read and mediate on them. We will definitely be blessed by it.
Ephesians 3:13-21
The Body of Christ may only have been revealed in New Testament times, but it was in God’s purposes eternally; purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now that that purpose has been worked out, we can have boldness to come into God’s presence. It’s because of truth like this that Paul told the Ephesians not to faint at his tribulations for them. He was in prison, and unable to come and preach on these things, so he was forced to write them down—much to our enjoyment and edification. If Paul hadn’t been imprisoned, we would have never known what amazing things God has given us.
We now get Paul’s second prayer in Ephesians. There are several contrasts between this prayer and the one in chapter 1. In the first prayer he prayed to the “God” of our Lord Jesus Christ, but here he bows to Jesus’ “Father”. Christ is shown in sonship here, and in manhood in chapter 1. Also, in the first chapter we get objective truth: things that have been done for us, not things that we have to work on. Here, though, we get subjective truth: things that have to be been done in us. The first prayer shows us power that has worked for us, the second shows us power that we need to lay hold on.
Paul prayed that we would be strengthened according to the riches of God’s glory. We can’t live the Christian life by ourselves: we need the Spirit to strengthen our inner man. There is so much to tempt us out in the world; we need spiritual strength to stand against it.
Paul also prayed that Christ dwell in our hearts by faith. Not just a visitor, but a dweller. When we live each day in the sence of His presence, it will affect our behaviour. We won’t drag the Lord into sin.
The Lord is the channel of God’s love. God even loves sinners, like us. He is the source of all holy and pure love. We need to be rooted and grounded in love, Paul says, so that we can comprehend something. What? The breadth, length, depth, and height of Christ’s love!
We live in a three dimensional physical world, with some calling time the fourth dimension. We are creatures of space and time, therefore it’s hard for us to grasp concepts like eternity and infinity. However, the One who inspired this prayer is outside of space and time, and has given us the breadth, length, depth, and height of His love. If you’re floating in a swimming pool, you have the breadth and length of the pool in front, behind, and on either side of you. Below you have the pool’s depth, and above you have the height of the sky. These are the dimensions of love that God has given us!
We mustn’t just thank God for His love, we must ask Him to help us understand it. It blows our minds to try and understand God’s love, though, for it’s breadth embraces all people, and it’s length takes in all of time. It is demonstrated by the depth to which Christ went to purchase us, and again by the height that we are raised to in Him. Our God wants us to understand something wonderful here! Paul prayed that we will know the love of Christ, but we can’t! It passes knowledge. We can live in that love, though, and seek to learn more about it every day.
Next, we are to be filled with all the fulness of God. In Christ dwells the fulnness of God, and we are complete in Him, according to Colossians 2. Have you ever been so full of God’s goodness that it just bubbles over? It’s good to have experiences like that. They are often the result of God giving us above what we ask and think.
Some of these expressions show how limited we are when compared to God. This passage brings us into so many amazing things, and it’s really just a paranthesis in the book!
Hymn 369 — I claim for my own a king on the throne
Prayer