August 14, 2016
Hymn 324 - Into a tent where a gypsy boy lay
Prayer
We’ve been looking at wisdom, and how to live our lives in a way that would honour the Lord. We’re going to skip Proverbs 7; but it warns about avoiding things that would hurt us not only physically, but spiritually. We’ll see some of that in Proverbs 8, too.
In chapter 8 we get Wisdom talking like a person. In verses 1-5 she is standing in a busy place, shouting and trying to get people’s attention. Today we don’t get the public voice of Wisdom so much; the Bible has been taken out of schools and other places. When we do hear it, though, we should pay attention. We should take a lesson from Zacchaeus; he thought it was so important to see Jesus that he climbed a tree to make sure that he could. It doesn’t seem like the people in Proverbs 8 wanted to hear Wisdom, but we should be among those that pursue and desire to hear her.
Verses 6-9 show us that Wisdom speaks truth and righteousness. We get those from God’s word; they are there for us to have and know, and come up often here in Proverbs. Wisdom is trying to get people to the path of righteousness, because—according to verse 34—it is the path of blessing. Satan has many people in bondage, but Wisdom is calling, attempting to win them to truth and freedom. We can be very thankful that we know the truth!
Verses 10 & 11. Gold, silver, rubies; these are all worth a lot of money. If we have Wisdom, though, we have something that is worth more than all of them. There are stories of people who won a lot of money, and they later regretted it because it caused them so much pain and sorrow. The things that we get from God won’t hurt us, but will always bless us instead. They are worth much more than what the world gives!
Verse 13 shows us some things we’ve seen before; things that God hates, like pride and arrogance. Zacchaeus was probably a proud man; he was always trying to get more money. When he met the Lord, however, he gave people back more money than he had stolen from them. He found joy in the Lord, not in what he had. The Lord hates the pride that comes with greed.
Verse 17. You don’t have to wait until you’re old to have wisdom; children can get it too. Matthew 7:7-8 tells us that God will answer us if we ask, seek, knock, and search His word. God loves us—we can tell that because Jesus died to save us—and may we love Him back enough to search His word and learn about Him. We were just seeing this morning how He became poor, so that we might become rich. The riches of Wisdom are durable riches, according to Proverbs 8:18. Those are the riches we should be looking for, and the Lord will give them to those who truly look for them. Those that seek Him early will find Him. May we listen to Wisdom!
Colossians 1:13-29
It is interesting to note the structure of this chapter. Vv. 9 - 17 is one whole sentence. But in vv. 13 - 15 the glories of the Lord are before us. It’s the peak of our hill, and it comes in two ways. The first is the essential glories which are what He had from the beginning. The other is the acquired glories which were gained by what He accomplished. What are glories? They are characteristics magnifying a person.
Darby has verse twelve as “sharing the portion of the saints in light.” It’s not just an inheritance. We have that portion now- we have already been made fit for it. It’s the “saints in light.” That’s one of the characteristics of God. God is light and love. His light is holy, pure, and it is truth. Saints are the Lord’s people.
It is God that has made us meet for this portion. In 1.John we are told when we are walking in the light we have fellowship with God. It is a moment by moment fellowship and communion with God. You can’t get much higher than that.
Darby has it as “Who made us” instead of “which made us.” It is an all divine work bringing us in to a relationship with the Father. It’s personal. His is a pure light, and we were in darkness. But He has translated us from it. It is done, and we can never be more fit. What we were taken from, and what we are made into is quite a contrast. The God of light and love brought us out from the darkness. There are two sides: we are (1) delivered from darkness, and (2) translated into His kingdom. Darby has it as “delivered us from the authority of darkness.”
Then we are translated or transfered into His kingdom of, as Darby puts it, the Son of His love. We are brought right into it. The Son of His love has the authority, and we are brought into this authority. It’s the beauty of the kingdom of Jesus.
Darby doesn’t add the “through His blood” in v. 14. But it is only by redemption through His blood that every sin is forgiven. This is beautiful view.
The Son of His love is the image of the invisible God. It is the image, not the likeness. Likeness is the moral side while the image is the representative. The image of God is in Jesus Christ. Those who saw Him saw the Father. Everything He said, did, and every act He got from His Father. When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus told him that whoever had seen Him had seen the Father.
Firstborn in this verse doesn’t mean the first one to be born. Rather it is the position of one who has the status of a firstborn. He takes the priority ini the glory and place. He is eternal. Every other creature has a lesser place than He.
Verse 16 says he created things visible and invisible. Where is the invisible? While, in Genesis 1:1 it says “God created the heaven and the earth”, but Darby changes heaven to the plural form. The heavens are invisible.
God didn’t create sin. The fallen angle, Lucifer, brought in sin. He has a desire to control everything. But we know he is a beaten foe at Calvary. The first job God gave Adam was to name all the animals. That’s a lot of things to name, but God tells us He has named each of the stars. The galaxies are huge, and there are billions of stars, but He knows each one. It is mind-blowing to think of God’s greatness!
Hymn 288 - Rise, my soul, behold, ‘tis Jesus
Prayer