October 20, 2019
Scripture:
Scripture:
Ministry:
Hymn 250 - O Lord! we would delight in Thee,
Prayer
We are going to go back a couple of Psalms this week.
Psalm 124
We are going to start looking at the Psalm from the Children of Israel’s perspective, then from David’s and finally ours. God was taking care of the Children of Israel. You can see it all through Exodus. God was on their side. Their enemies were afraid because they knew God was with them.
How do we know God is on our side? Well, for the Children of Israel we can see through everything that happened.
2 Chronicles 15:2b
If we seek God for help, he will help us. We need to depend on Him.
This Psalm came to me when I was thinking about David. Saul was trying to kill David for no apparent reason. Saul could see David had God on his side. David had to run away and escape from Saul. He had to depend on God a lot. Having God on your side makes all the difference.
Romans 8:31
Even if others are against us God will stand with us.
I was listening to a Father talking about his daughters. The daughters were jealous of each other for different reasons. Neither were trying to make the other jealous and upset. It just happened. David was just trying to do his job. Difficulties will arise even when we aren’t trying to make them.
God is on our side and will help us get through these things. We can depend on him for everything.
John 16:23-33
Disciples had known Jesus continued care and provision and now they were learning that they would no longer have it. Asking the Father in Jesus name wasn’t their practice. Jesus was going to Calvary and would rise again. Later when talking to Mary Magdalene He told her He was going to “your Father and My Father”. They could go and ask in His name. His concern was their joy and peace.
By proverbs it was meant parables or allegories (Darby). It’s the way He had been speaking to them, but in verse twenty-five He said He wouldn’t any more.
We enjoyed the thoughts of divine love this morning. For them to think there was One above all who loved them.
Under the law there would have been a sense of justice and holiness instead of love. They are still there, but we can now know the power of love.
In verse twenty-eight Jesus said it straight with no parables. He came from the Father to the world, and He was leaving the world to go back to the Father. You can’t really say that any clearer. It’s marvelous to know He took on manhood and imperfection and is now seated on the right hand in glory.
It’s interesting, in verse thirty, that Jesus used the term God and not Father. It’s not because there not the same, but I’m wondering if they really entered into what He was saying. They would later. With the Holy Spirit, they would have ability they didn’t have before.
Jesus wasn’t just talking about the past. He was giving them an advanced notice of the future.
Jesus’ question is important because believing means faith.
Verse thirty-two speaks of scattering. At the cross the Lord went on and the others didn’t follow, but scattered. “The Father is with Me” is an interesting fact. Jesus spoke on the cross of God forsaking Him. Maybe that intimacy was lost for three hours at the cross. In the type of Abraham and Isaac, it says they “went both of them together”. Jesus traveled to Calvary and was nailed to a tree while saying “Father, forgive them”. He was talking to His Father. Isaac asked Abraham “where is the lamb for a sacrifice?” He answered that God would provide a lamb. He did provide Himself in the person of His Son.
Jesus was heading toward the most important event in history. The disciples followed in weakness and failure. Imagine how they all felt when Jesus bowed His head and gave up the ghost.
The Lord wanted them to have a sense of peace. He wants us to have peace and joy. We can because He is the Overcomer.
This leads into the next chapter called the Lord’s Prayer. It is an amazing opportunity to hear a conversation between the Father and the Son. And they talk about us.
With the instruction finished Jesus turns His eyes to heaven. What a privilege that we can do it as well. Man makes it clear that human have only ability and knowledge. In a different scene and day Christians will have that all expanded. We can rejoice we have that perspective. Jesus is unlimited and we are finite. It could have been difficult for Him to give them these words in a way they understood. We have a limited view of a portion that is so vast and marvelous. May we be encouraged to lift our eyes to heaven.
Hymn 231 Jesus, that name is love
Prayer