November 6, 2016
Scripture:
Read Luke 15: 17 & 18, 20 - 24. We have been thinking of the blessings that come from above. Here we can see how many blessings the Father gave to the son. As many blessings flow down to us, may we bless Him in thanks.
Hymn 142 - A ruler once came to Jesus by night
Prayer
Today, we’re going to look at a story from Luke 18.
Luke 18:15-27
To start, Jesus had little infants around Him, just like we have little Judah Fox. He told the adults around that they had to become like Judah. Judah has a lot to learn from us, but we need to learn to be like him, too. The disciples had tried to tell these mothers and children to go away, but Jesus said, “Just a minute, if you want to be part of my Kingdom, you need to be like one of these little ones.”
Judah can’t do much for himself; he is very dependent on his mother and other people to do things for him. We are dependent on God for our salvation because we can’t do anything to save ourselves. Judah also has a lot of confidence in his mother. He doesn’t try to get away from her, and when he has a problem, he is calm once she arrives. We should be confident in God like that. These are good lessons for us; but there is someone else here that can teach us lessons. Right after Jesus said that we have to be dependent like a child, a man came and asked Him, “What can I do to inherit eternal life?” He didn’t seem dependent on anyone else!
We know this man was a ruler. He was no blind beggar or tax collector, and must have ruled over something. He was rich, probably had a very good education, and could have whatever he wanted. He said that he wanted to be saved; that he wanted eternal life. He also was very religious, and thought he had done a good job keeping all the commandments. He is a contrast to those infants. They were dependent on other people, but this man thought that he had done it all himself.
This ruler said that he wanted eternal life. He felt that he had kept all of God’s commands from when he was young boy, but he wanted to do something more to earn eternal life. So, he came to Jesus and asked, “Good Master, what can I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered this question with a question. He asked, “Why do you call me good? Nobody is good but God.” Only God is good, but this man thought that he was good, too. What Jesus said should have touched his conscience.
This ruler had kept the commandments, but Jesus said that he was missing one thing. He said that this man should sell everything he had, give the money to the poor, and then come follow Jesus. That would have been hard, because this man had a lot of stuff. We would find it hard if that was the gospel today; but it’s not.
You see, I don’t think this man was really looking for eternal life. The Bible doesn’t say anything here, but it seems like he was just looking for praise and credit. He asked this question in front of a crowd of people, and maybe wanted Jesus to say that he was doing a pretty good job. But Jesus said, “Sell everything and follow me.” Sadly, this man said, “I can’t,” and turned his back on the Lord, as it were.
Again, the Bible doesn’t say, but what would have happened if this ruler had fallen on his knees and said, “Jesus, I can’t sell everything! I don’t have it in me do to that!“? That’s what people who try to keep the law find: they can’t do it. We can’t keep the ten commandments in our own strength. Jesus might have said to this man, “Let me be the ruler of your heart and life. Follow me, and honour me.” Jesus wants to be the ruler of our hearts. He wants us to follow His leading to do good and real things. None of us should walk away from the Lord sad; we should all be willing to accept his rule.
Colossians 3:6-17
The children of disobedience are unbelievers. We are told to put off the characteristics of an unbeliever. We, as Christians, should be different from them. If you can’t tell the difference something is wrong. We should no longer be children of disobedience, but rather children of obedience. It is looking at the before and after- the old, and the new man. We are no longer mortifying the deeds; but, having done that, we need to get rid of it. It is the putting off (v. 8,9) and the putting on (v.10,12,14). The extension of mortification has different characteristics to deal with. Well, how are we all making out?
If we take a look at the list in v. 8 & 9, we’ll find that a majority of the things mentioned have to do with the tongue. Jesus said that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”. If the heart is right the tongue will be right especially if our hearts are set on things above. We must deal with these problems as children of God, and following after obedience. Anger is not just words; it’s an emotion, and everyone involved with an angry person suffers. The tongue is like the rudder of a boat. It’s a little member, isn’t seen, but it directs the whole boat. Some of these things can become habits, which are hard to overcome. We need to be very careful. What we say is an indicator of what is inside. In Proverbs, it mentions seven things that the Lord hates and a lying tongue is one of them.
Now, “put off the old man” sounds easy, but it actually requires a lot of effort. James says, “the tongue can no man tame”. But don’t leave a vacuum. Something must take its place. It is to be filled with the good and right things of the new man. Man was made in God’s image, and that was blurred because of sin. But we are to be at work renewing our knowledge of God from the scripture and the Lord.
We become a new man when we are saved, and everything changes. We are now in the likeness of the One who created us. We find now that the old man and that system is all passed by. Nationality, religious ceremonies, slavery, social status - it is all equal with God. He is all in all. He, being in everything, is everything. We are putting on the new image, new man, and its characteristics.
In verse twelve we have a new list. It’s is a challenging list - a check list we can go over. We will fail, but Christ forgives, and it is precious to go on faithfully. How are we doing?
This all can be explained like this. You have brought in the old man, and taken off all of his old clothes. You have a pile of new clothes for him. You dress him in those. Darby in the French translates “above all” as “overcoat”. After the man is dressed, you put on his overcoat, which is charity. He has a new suit and he is covered with love - the bond of perfectness. No animal has that kind of love. It is only found in the heart of God. It is divine. God is love. It is one of His characteristics, and He wants it to be one of ours. 1 Corinthians 13 explains love. It makes you realize that, unless you have love, you fall short. It is something that would be well coveted by each one of us. May the Lord help us.
Hymn 96 - If I gained the world, but lost the Saviour
Prayer