June 17, 2018
Scripture:
Hymn 249 - One there is above all others
Prayer
Proverbs 31:1-9
Lemuel is what King Solomon’s mother called him. Solomon wrote most of Proverbs. In the beginning it is ofter the father talking to the son, but here his mother speaks. Fathers and mothers are able to instruct their children in the ways of righteousness, and we can be thankful for that.
She starts by saying, “What shall I instruct you in?“. He was going to be a king and be used of the Lord so she wanted to give him instruction that he would need. She begins by instructing him in relationships with women. Solomon was a man who was strong, but he went to the Philistines and married one of their women. He ended up losing his strength, hair, and eyes. He became Israel enemy’s captive.
In our friendships we need to be careful. Solomon’s mother told him that relationships could hinder him. In Psalm 1:1 we are told that we will blessed if we don’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly which would be a hindrance to us. Counsel is like advice or instruction. Rehoboam was king after Solomon. Well he was trying to figure out how to rule he got advice from some older men and some from a group of his friends. He took the advice of his friends and ended up losing most of the kingdom. In our lives we will have friends who will give us counsel to go in a certain way with them. We need to make sure we have friends who give good counsel and encourage us to do what is right. It is wonderful to get together with those who are like minded. It gives us strength and encouragement.
Solomon’s mother continues by counseling him not to drink wine because it might affect his thinking, and he’ll make a wrong judgment. One of the fruit of the Spirit is temperance which is the same thing as self control. Self control is doing what is right even when you don’t feel like it. It is like the steering wheel and brakes on a car. We can steer away from wrong, slow down, and stop. It takes self control to sit down and do your school. This mother wanted to teach her son self control so he didn’t indulge in anything wrong. We need self control in all parts of our life. There was a man who loved this chocolate cake that a certain restaurant sold. To prove to himself that he had self control he would always leave just a little bit of his piece.
We can look to God to help us have self control. Timothy was young when the apostle Paul told him to avoid or flee things that were not profitable.
We can ask the Lord to help us have discernment and our friendship and apply self control
John 2:12-25
Since it was the time of the passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Exodus 12, two times it calls the passover “the Lord’s passover”, but here it’s call “the Jew’s passover”.
When Jesus got to Jerusalem He purified the temple. The Jews had turned it into a den of thieves and a market. The wise men found Jesus in a house by following a star. They came and presented Him with gold and frankincense, and myrrh. They worshiped the Lord who had now arrived on earth. Now, on the 25th of December some celebrate the Lord’s birth. Or that what it used to be. But now, just like at the temple, it’s become a thing of merchandise.
The Lord manifested displeasure with what took place in the temple. The people could have made a case to justify themselves because in Deuteronomy there is a law allowing you to buy your animal at the temple if you came from a long distance. But it had now become a money making scheme. God saw right through it all. Jesus herded the animals out of the temple with a scourge and flipped over the money tables. This is a picture of the millennial days when God will do a cleanup of the earth.
The disciples saw that Psalm 69:9 was prophetic of what Jesus did. The Lord had a zeal in keeping His Father’s house clean. Darby puts is as, “For the zeal of Thy house hath devoured me”.
The Jews asked for a sign to prove He was allowed to do these things. Sounds like they were saying, “What right do You have? We can do what we like”. Jesus told them as a sign they could destroy the temple and He would build it up in three days. He referred to His body as the temple. He was taking of His death and resurrection. That statement was used against Him to condemn Him to death in the end. The Jews didn’t understand Him and Jesus did clarify it for them.
We usually hear of the resurrecting power of God, but Jesus said that He would raise Himself up. The disciples remembered this after He was resurrected.
In the last couple verse we see that there are different kinds of belief. There is a fleshly belief with an insincere heart. Jesus knew the difference between that and real faith. The Lord looks for sincerity having its’ source in truth.
The entier chapter is prophetic of the wedding and judgment on earth in future day.
Hymn 345 Jesus loves the little children
Prayer