July 14, 2019
Hymn 294 - Around the throne of God in heaven
Prayer
Paul and Barnabas are on a missionary journey. They stopped at a synagogue and Paul gave a message to the people there. We’ve been looking at his message for a couple weeks. We stopped last time just as Paul was telling them that Jesus arose from the grave.
Acts 13:37-39
Paul makes sure everyone knows that they can have forgiveness of sins through Jesus. Adam and Eve sinned and since then we have needed a Saviour. There was a huge wall of sin between us and God. Jesus came and destroyed that wall. Instead of always having to offer sacrifices, Jesus came and died for us, and through Him we have forgiveness. We aren’t back to the same relationship Adam and Eve had. We have something much better. We are children of God.
There once was a doctor in England, back in the time where the doctor would go house to house to see his patients. He would keep tract of their fees in his notebook and once they had paid he would cross their name off. Every once in awhile he would help a patient that didn’t have the money to pay, so he would write forgiven beside their fee. One day the Doctor died and his wife started to go through his things. She founded his notebook and looked inside. She realized that many people hadn’t paid their fees. His wife got upset and decided that she was going to make them pay. So she hired lawyer and he came and looked at the notebook.
“Who put forgiven beside the names,” he asked.
“My husband did,” she replied.
“Then I can’t do anything,” the lawyer said. “He has forgiven them and no court can go against that.” Just like that we are all forgiven.
Paul didn’t only preach about forgiveness. He also touched on justification. We aren’t only forgiven we are also “justified from all things”.
A man and his wife went to a car agency to look at pick-up trucks. They bought one and were going to pick it up in a week. The next week they got it and were super happy with it. One day they went shopping. When they came out of the mall to their truck, they were suddenly handcuffed. They were brought back to the police station and accused of stealing the truck. They tried to convince the police that they had just bought it. The police called the dealership and told them the had found the stolen truck but the thieves insisted that they had bought it. It ended up being figured out that they had picked up the wrong truck and their truck was still at the agency waiting for them.
They couldn’t be forgiven because they hadn’t done anything wrong, but they were justified. They were proved right. We aren’t only forgiven but justified. We are accounted righteous. We can be thankful that we are both forgiven and justified.
John 13:31-38
Maybe there were some things Jesus wanted to show the disciples but couldn’t with the influence of Judas. It may have been dark outside, but I imagine it bright in the upper room.
How would you define glory? Maybe the Mount of Transfiguration? Maybe it’s the cloud that comes over the temple. Glory is the manifestation of the characteristics that magnify the person. The Lord Jesus Christ, second in the Trinity as a man in this scene, but Philippians says that He humbled Himself. Is this glory? Something that magnifies a person is obedience. Where else could we see such obedience? - His faithfulness, His love, and giving of Himself. See the way He yielded to what man did. When you see glory in this context it makes it more glorified.
It was a clue to the disciples they weren’t able to understand then. He was going to be glorified, but perfectly displaying all those characteristics. When we remember the Lord it brings Him glory.
In the garden of Eden God was not obeyed or believed - Satan was. Imagine how God felt. But there is One who is able to glorify God in the question of sin. In doing this He acknowledged how sin became between God and man, and what God though about it. It was glory for Him and glory for God.
Verse thirty-two is talking when God will give Him His right hand partly displayed in the resurrection. He glorified God by going to the cross.
Jesus had been with the disciples for awhile. They followed, He had given them power, and they had seen Him on the Mount of Transfiguration. They believed He was going to set up a kingdom on earth, but He explained He was going away.
The new commandment had a new pattern and power. “As I have loved you” is a real challenge. We can measure how much He loves us by how much the Father loves Him. It’s infinite and boundless. Can you imagine what the church would be like if this really happened?
Hymn 266 We’ll praise Thee, glorious Lord,
Prayer