Catford Lectures 2007-2008

… ...concerning Abraham and his victories in faith. Perhaps we could begin at the end of chapter 13, Genesis 13, verse 18. Then Abraham removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and bought there an altar unto the Lord. And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Ariok, king of Eleazar, Chedralonia, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of nations, that these made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Bersha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admar, and Shenemba, king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, which is Zohar. All these were joined together in the Vale of Sidon, which is the Salt Sea. Twelve years they served Chedda-leroma, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. And in the fourteenth year came Chedda-leroma, and the kings were with him, and smoked the Rephaims in Ashteroth, Carnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Sheva, Curathaim, and the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elpharan, which is by the wilderness. And they returned, and came to Enmishfat, which is Kadesh, and smoked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Haziotzon, Tamer. And they went out, the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admar, and the king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, the same as Zohar, and they joined battle with them in the Vale of Sidon. And Chedda-leroma, the king of Elam, and with Tydal, king of nations, and Amraphel, king of Shina, and Ariok, king of Elasa, four kings with five. And the Vale of Sidon was full of slime pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountains. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner, and these were confederate with Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants to a room in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hoba, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorah Lona, and of the kings that were with him at the valley of Sheba, which is the king's dale. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram, of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hands. And he gave him tithes of all. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread, even to a shoelatch it, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou should say, I have made Abram rich. Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Anah, Eshgal, and Mamre, let them take their portion. I'll just read the first verse of chapter 15. After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. We see Abram here in this chapter overcoming, victoriously, steadfast in faith. In the first half of the chapter we see him as a conqueror because he conquers his enemies and they are vanquished by him and they rise up no more. That is to be a conqueror. But in the latter part of the chapter we see him as an overcomer when the king of Sodom, that corrupt and evil king comes to him and by offering him these goods which belong to Sodom would have set him in a wrong course from that path of faith that he had been treading if he had accepted them. But Abraham, he withstands against that and he, by faith, stands firm and he does not fall to that temptation. And in doing so we see Abraham as an overcomer by faith. Now, the day will come when we will be associated with the Lord Jesus when he comes to this earth as a conqueror. We find that in Revelation 19. He comes with the armies of heaven, the armies in heaven. And he comes on a great white horse with that name upon his thigh, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. And all the enemies are put down and he is a conqueror, his saints with him. But in this present day the Lord would have us to be overcomers. And in a sense, perhaps this is what Paul meant when he said in Romans 8 regarding all the things that were against the people of God at the end of that chapter. Yet he could say in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. And perhaps to be an overcomer, to stand fast, the enemies don't go away but we in faith do not fall to them. We stand fast in the strength that the Lord gives and through faith in him. And to do so would make us more than a conqueror. But I'd like to look at those enemies that are against us and we find perhaps a figure of them in the latter part of the chapter with the King of Sodom coming to Abraham. Abraham, his inheritance was an earthly inheritance that had been promised. Everything that Abraham was given or promised by God was bound up with a Christ on earth. That's what Abraham was looking for. Our inheritance, our blessing, our hope is all bound up with a Christ in heaven. So Abraham's enemies were flesh and blood. But we read in Ephesians chapter 6 that the enemies that assail us they are not flesh and blood. I'll just read it. Ephesians 6, verse 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers against the rules of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places or in the heavenlies. And so our enemies or we read of three of them in the scriptures the world Satan and also the flesh is another enemy. And we get in verse we get in verse 21 of our chapter 14 it says The King of Sodom said unto Abraham Give me the persons and take the goods to thyself. Now in that verse there is an allusion to all three enemies. Sodom which was speaker of the world a corrupt city which had its corrupt king a city which had overturned God's order both moral and creatorial and was pursuing its own course away from God according to its own light in rebellion against God and Sodom would speak to our hearts of this world the world which Satan rules over and the world in which the flesh governed by sin that principle of lawlessness which governs the flesh is seen where man is put at the center of things and Christ is given either a secondary or no place at all but God he would have the Lord Jesus his son have the permanence in all things this is the place that God would give his son but man says no we want that place and as a result we get this administration this order which is really a disorder of lawlessness against God and this is what marks Sodom and then we get the king of Sodom Satan and Satan is another enemy we read in the first epistle of Peter that he warns us against Satan your adversary goeth about as a roaring and a raging lion seeking whom he may devour Satan who himself wants the place that Christ alone can have he wants to be worshipped he has set his throne or he sought to set his throne above the heavens that place that only Christ can occupy that's the place that Satan wanted therefore he is the enemy of God and therefore the enemy of the people of God and he too is set against us in our desire to be faithful and then we get implied in what the king of Sodom says to Abraham we get the flesh because the king of Sodom says give me the persons and take the goods to thyself Satan would maintain his power over the souls of men the king of Sodom says give me the persons or the souls I want those but you, I'd like you to have the goods of Sodom because Satan would seek through appealing to the flesh that nature within us which we've inherited from Adam which is corrupt which Paul could say in me, that is in my flesh good doth not dwell and we read in Romans 8 concerning the carnal mind that enmity against God that's the fleshly mind verse 7 because the carnal or fleshly mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be so then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God but ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you now if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his and so Satan would say to us think about yourself have yourself as the object and look at all the lovely things there are in this world that you can be occupied with and in doing so he would try to turn us aside from faithfulness and then he would be able to quench the testimony of the gospel in our lives and he will hold on as it were to the souls that he wants so much in this world his prisoners we read in Isaiah 14 concerning Lucifer that he is not willing to open the door of his prison to let his prisoners out but thanks to God that he is the one through the Lord Jesus Christ who has defeated Satan and we read of in Hebrews 2 that Satan is in fact a conquered foe Hebrews 2 verse 14 for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that have the power of death that is the devil and deliver them who through fear of death all their lifetime subject to bondage so we were once captives to Satan but the Lord Jesus has delivered us through the truth concerning himself as our saviour and indeed every captive that he takes from Satan he does so through revealing this truth to their hearts and faith in him and that deliverance repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ so we have the enemies arranged against us and in Christ there is the answer to overcome those enemies whether it is Satan whether it is the world whether it is the flesh we get the man don't we in Romans 7 and he is a wretched man he wants to please God he is I believe a child of God he is truly born of God but he finds within himself he has not got the power to do the things which he wants to do and at the end of that chapter he cries out in his wretchedness a wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death and then the answer comes in verse 25 he looks away from himself he looks up to heaven where Christ sits in glory and he says I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord there is the answer and he receives it in faith so now his strength he no longer seeks strength to resist the flesh in himself in his own strength but he receives it from the one who has overcome and sat down upon his father's throne who has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and he through the power of the Holy Spirit now walks not according to the flesh but he walks in a way which is pleasing to God well I would like to look at Abraham's faithfulness to God and also later on with Melchizedek God's faithfulness to Abraham which underpins everything Abraham's faithfulness to God can be seen in the tent in the previous chapter and in the altar now the tent spoke of Abraham's separation from the land in which he was in he wanted no part of it he walked separate from it he would be given it in God's time when God gave it to him and until that time he didn't want any of it he wanted no part of it and so he did not live in a city he did not settle down his separation was shown because he lived in a tent and in Hebrews chapter 11 we read of him in verse 8 by faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive from inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went by faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise for he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God and in verse 13 the Israel died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth the tent was the outward evidence of Abraham's position his confession that he was a pilgrim in the earth because he had something so much better it was not that he sacrificed these things he wanted them really but he wouldn't have them he would abstain from them no he had something so much better that he no longer wanted these things because Stephen tells us in his address to just before he was martyred that the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham Abraham had seen the God of glory and so the glory of the cities around him they were dim in comparison with that and he didn't want them and he pursued that course because his heart had been as it were captivated by God and a moral transformation had taken place in his heart God had transformed him morally and now he would tread that path of faith separate from the world around him pursuing a course which and he would never have those things in his lifetime he died in faith but that made no difference to him because God had promised them and so he knew that that promise would be fulfilled whether in his lifetime or later on that was irrelevant but it was God himself whom he pursued that was his object and it was the things that God had promised him that he wanted because God had promised them and he loved God and the altar would speak of that if the tent would speak of Abraham's separation from the world the altar would speak of Abraham drawing near to God because the altar it speaks of approach to and acceptance by God it is the ground as it were of that approach and acceptance and I think last month we had that thought brought before us in the altar in that scripture in Matthew where it says that the the gift is sanctified by the altar because the altar speaks of Christ himself and the life and death of Christ Christ offered up to God in life or in death had all his value in the sight of God because of who he was and so the gift, the sacrifice is sanctified by the altar this is the basis as it were from which the work of Christ was so pleasing in the sight of God because of the one who offered himself to God the greatness of his person in Exodus 20 there are instructions by God as to these altars and if we could just turn to Exodus 20 we read there of an altar made of earth verse 24 of chapter 20 an altar of earth shalt thou make unto me and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, thy peace offerings thy sheep and thine oxen in all places where I record my name and I will come unto thee and I will bless thee and if thou make me an altar of stone thou shalt not build it of humestone for if thou lift up thy tool upon it thou hast polluted it neither shalt thou go up thy steps unto my altar that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon so we get an altar of earth and that would speak to us again of the person of Christ but as to his humanity earth the name Adam means earth and the Lord Jesus is the last Adam he became a man he took a place he took a place in a foreign order of things although he himself was not part of that order but he took a place in it because he is the man out of heaven he could say to those who opposed him when he was upon earth ye are from beneath I am from above ye are of this world I am not of this world but he was a true man he was a true man but all that we see in him as he walked through this earth that lovely moral character of holiness that we see in him he took all his character from who he was he was God and so the altar of earth would speak of his humanity and we read again in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 4 it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins wherefore when he cometh into the world he says sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure then said I lo I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will O God above when he said sacrifice and offering and burnt offering offering for sin thou wouldst not neither hadst pleasure therein which are offered by the law then said he lo I come to do thy will O God he taketh away the first that he may establish the second by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all so these sacrifices that were to be offered up on this altar of earth spoke of the Lord Jesus and his holy humanity coming into this world as a man in order that he might die in order that he might taste the death for everything that he might offer up himself to God as that mighty sacrifice and all these sacrifices speak of him in one way or another as he offers himself up to God now the altar of stone if earth if the earth altar of earth speaks of his humanity then surely the altar of stone would speak of his deity because stone is something permanent in becoming a man he became that which he was not before but the altar of stone would speak of something fixed which does not move and this is the name of the Lord Jesus the same we find that name in Psalm 102 thou art the same that is a name of God it's the name of Christ he is called the same because he is the unchanging one he is God and regarding this altar no tool must come upon it man mustn't lift up a tool on it mustn't shape those stones because if we are to know God if we are to know Christ if we are to know the Father it can only be in the revelation that he gives of himself it cannot be after the devisings of our own mind or imagination it is only in the word that we find the truth of the revelation of God in Christ he himself is that revelation no man has seen God at any time the only begotten who is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him and so in Christ we get the full revelation of God and we must not interfere or intrude in any way our own thoughts upon that we must receive it as the Holy Spirit would give it to us in his word because he would have us to be in the full knowledge of these things and in the full enjoyment of them even though we cannot we cannot as it were work out that mystery but we can receive it by faith and not seek in any way to intrude upon it and then no steps were to go up to the altar because there must be no self-exaltation by men in the presence of God even if it is on that first step that little first step there must be no degree of exaltation before God because Christ alone must have that place none other can share it and so there must be no steps God says up to my altar Peter he suggested in a way that there should be steps when he said let us make three tabernacles one for thee one for Moses one for Elias and then God spoke from heaven this is my beloved son hear him God would not have any as it were to be brought alongside his son he must have the chief place and the only place he must have the place of preeminence now you can't have a tent without an altar the two must go together otherwise the tent would just be an outward formality, conformity Sodom he had a tent but he didn't have an altar and very quickly he lost his tent or he gave up his tent and he lost his pilgrim character altogether and settled down in Sodom there must be the tent must be the result of the altar as it were our separation from this world must be a result of our joy near to God and our desire to be in communion with him and then we have in the latter part of the chapter God's faithfulness to Abraham before the king of Sodom comes to Abraham God has caused him to be met by another king who strengthens his hand and by whom he can stand firm through his ministry this Melchizedek who we read in Hebrews is interpreted king of righteousness king of peace now I'd like to look at Melchizedek just briefly because he speaks so wonderful of the Lord Jesus first of all the person of Melchizedek and if we turn to Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 3 we read of Melchizedek he was without father without mother without descent having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like unto the Son of God he abideth a priest continually now consider how great this man was unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils and so Melchizedek we don't read of his genealogy we don't read of his death why? because he is taken up to be a type of the Lord Jesus who had no beginning and has no end he is God and he is the great I Am the one whose existence is in himself equal with the Father how great this man was and he combined two offices he was both a king and a priest we don't read of any man in the whole scriptures who is both a king and a priest we get sometimes a king and a priest put together in a certain context for instance with Ezra Joshua the high priest the rabble who was of the royal line but never is the office combined in one man but in Melchizedek it was because he speaks of Christ both king and priest and with a king or anyone who has office the office is that which gives him his glory with a mere man that's true isn't it if a king was stripped of his kingship he would be just like you and I he would have no more glory anymore but with the Lord Jesus when he is given an office he gives glory to the office because of the greatness of his person and we read that in regard to him being a king in Psalm chapter 2 God says concerning his king yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion I will declare the decree the Lord has said unto me thou art my son this day have I begotten thee and again in Hebrews Hebrews 5 and verse 5 we read of his office as a priest that he has been given by God chapter 5 and verse 5 it says so also verse 4 no man taketh his arm unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron so also Christ glorified not himself to have made him high priest but he that said unto him thou art my son this day have I begotten thee so both as king and as priest he has those offices because of the greatness of his person he is God's son and the glory of his priesthood and his kingship if there is such a word is because of who he is he gives glory to that office and then we read of the order of the Melchizedek priesthood in Hebrews 7 it's not after the order of Aaron it's a new order of priesthood we might say that the Lord's priesthood is after the pattern of the Aaronic priesthood because Aaron is taken as a pattern and his ministry and the garments he wears they all set forth a picture of the glory of Christ and the ministry that he undertakes in the holy place on our behalf for us it's all after that pattern but the Aaronic order could not speak of the Lord's order of priesthood and so this Melchizedek priesthood had to be introduced to us so that we might know what that order was and the order of the Aaronic priesthood we read in chapter 7 was one that was constituted under law so it could never bring perfection in other words it could never bring completion it could never complete the purpose and the counsel of God under that order of things under that order of law there had to be another order brought in and that order comes under a new covenant we read in this chapter that the Lord is surety of a better covenant a new testament and that is the covenant of grace and the Lord's priesthood comes under that covenant he is the guarantee of all the promises that God has given us in grace that new covenant not made with us no, made with Israel but we come under the blessing of it and all the promises we have are on as it were the basis of that covenant that covenant of grace and the Lord Jesus his order of priesthood is according to that order that covenant of grace and of course the Aaronic priesthood as we read in this chapter they could not continue because of reason of death and that's all that can be brought under the law it ends in death but the Lord Jesus he was made a priest we read according to the power of an endless life and so he is a priest forever his priesthood will not be given to another he is a priest forever that's the order of his priesthood it is an eternal priesthood and then finally the ministry of Melchizedek he came forth and gave Abram bread and wine now the ministry of Aaron is taken up in Hebrews as a picture of the Lord's present ministry for us if I can just read that in Hebrews 9 Hebrews 9 verse 11 but Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us and then again down the chapter verse 25 for Christ has not entered into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but entered heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us so God's present ministry towards his people his priestly ministry is after the pattern of the Aaronic ministry he has gone in to the holy place to intercede but the Melchizedek ministry is that he goes out he comes out in blessing and that ministry will be seen primarily in the millennial reign of Christ when all things are brought into accord with the mind of God and we get that thought when Melchizedek is spoken of as the priest of the most high God possessor of heaven and earth God is the possessor of heaven and earth but he will not actually as it were take up that possession until the millennial reign of Christ and then he will be seen to be the possessor of heaven and earth at the moment the earth has got corruption in it and defilement and that which is opposed to God and also the heavenly places too we read of that in Ephesians 6 spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies although Christ is supreme in the heavenly place there is still that spiritual activity which Satan and under Satan and it's in opposition to God but under the millennial rule we read in Isaiah chapter 24 and verse 21 it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high that's Satan and the kings of the earth upon the earth that's the earth and they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit and shall be shut up in the prison and after many days shall they be visited then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his ancients gloriously and so the heavens and the earth will be brought into conformity to God and he will set his king and priest there and in Zechariah chapter 6 we read of that king and priest it says even he shall build the temple of the Lord and he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule upon his throne and he shall be a priest upon his throne and the council of peace shall be between them both Jacob had a vision a ladder stretching up to heaven in Genesis 28 and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it it was a ladder which had its base upon earth and which top the top of which was in heaven and the angels of God ascended and descended upon it and above it was the Lord himself was Jehovah himself and that speaks of the time when there is as it were a call between heaven and earth and communion between heaven and earth and God is above all things and he sets his king upon the earth the Lord Jesus and in John chapter 1 the Lord makes reference to this vision and he says to Nathaniel he says thou art the son of God thou art the king of Israel he says you'll see greater things than these he said you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man and so all as it were is on that basis God has God in his council and purpose has fulfilled all his desire in Christ all on that basis Christ all is brought to fruition in him and so the angels descend and ascend on him it's all on account of him and so the council of peace is between them both between Jehovah in heaven and his king and priest upon earth the council of peace in Luke's gospel the gospel which is so much the priestly gospel it stresses the priestly ministry of the Lord Jesus although he was not yet a priest you read that in Hebrews that while he was on earth he could not be a priest but he acted in a priestly way and Luke brings that out and at the beginning of Luke when he is born the angels declare glory to God in the highest upon earth peace good pleasure delight found in man it is a millennial prophecy heaven and earth on accord under God in Christ his king and his priest well finally we see how Abraham was so strengthened by this ministry of Melchizedek he gave him bread and wine and bread will speak of of that which sustains wine speaks of joy the Lord said didn't he to his disciples when he drank of the the cup before he suffered well he didn't drink of the cup but when he gave him the cup before he suffered he said I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine until I drink it anew with you in the kingdom of my father he looked on to that time when he would as Melchizedek bring forth the wine bring forth the joy which he would have in his people upon earth Israel up to then he had no joy in them but in the millennial reign he will find that joy and he will share it with his people and Abraham he has a foretaste of what he's been promised in that ministry and his heart is strengthened and in all the his desire for those things the things that the king of Sodom presents to him are of no value at all he does not want them and he says I don't want them he says I haven't got myself at the centre of my thoughts I have I want God to have the glory I want him to have the glory for giving me that thing he has promised and I will not receive these things at your hand I will not be made rich by you I will wait to be made rich and blessed by God and the Lord himself when Satan came to him and he promised him all the kingdoms of the world if you'll worship me the Lord Jesus would not receive the kingdoms at Satan's hand he would receive them only at the hand of his God and his father and he said to Satan he said thou shalt worship God and him only wilt thou serve well although we've said that primarily the ministry of Melchizedek is a future one yet I think that we can enjoy that ministry now we can have we know the Lord sustaining us and giving us the joy which was his joy when he was in this earth in communion with his God and father my joy he says I leave with you that's the joy that was his in his own heart and we can be we can have that joy by being in communion with him and walking with him this is the joy that he gives us and in Hebrews 10 at the end we speak it speaks of the assurance of hope Abraham he was given the assurance of that hope through the ministry of Melchizedek faith we read is the substantiating of things not seen and the conviction of sorry I can't remember the faith is the substantiating of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen and although Abraham hadn't seen with his eyes that which God had promised the ministry of Melchizedek made it real to his heart by faith and as we draw near to our great high priest we read in Hebrews 10 19 having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he has concentrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh and having a high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering our hope is not the same as Abraham's as we have said his was with Christ on earth but ours is with Christ in heaven that's our hope Abraham waited for Christ to put his feet upon Mount Olivet and to take up his kingdom and the Lord said Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad Abraham, we don't know how much he entered into that truth but the fact is the day that he longed for and rejoiced in was the day of Christ and Abraham saw it by faith and the joy of that made him glad then before he'd even received it and we're encouraged now to enter into the holy place where Christ sits and as a result of that ministry that priestly ministry to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful but promised as we said this underpins everything the faithfulness of God the one who promised these things he will faithfully bring them about and he will be faithful in his dealings with us and through his love we will be strengthened that we can continue on a pathway which is a difficult one and often a lonely one but which we can continue in through his faithfulness and the ministry of our great high priest I wonder if we could sing 160 O bright and blessed hope when shall it be that we his faithful love revealed shall see perhaps we could sing the first four verses of this hymn O bright and blessed hope …

… Good afternoon, a section of scripture in Luke's Gospel, chapter 12. I would like to cover the section from Luke 12, verse 13, through to verse 48. Perhaps we could read it in sections. So first of all, from verse 13 to verse 21. And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do, I will pill down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night my soul shall be requited of thee. Then, whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that laid up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Thus far, the word of God. There used to be a Christian periodical, and its title was Watching and Witting. And today, I'd like to speak about Watching and Witting for the Lord Jesus. Actually no, I'd like to speak about Watching and Witting and Working for the Lord Jesus. We have the Watching and Witting in verses 31-39 of Luke's Gospel 12. And we have the Witting in verses 41-48 of Luke's Gospel chapter 12. And I trust that we will come to those verses in due course. But we have just read Luke 12 from verses 13-21, just to get the setting and to cover some of the preliminaries. And at first sight, verse 14 might seem peculiar to us. This person approaches the Lord Jesus and he says to him, Teacher, speak to my brother. Tutor by the inheritance with me. And the Lord Jesus gives the reply, Who established me as a judge or a divider over you? Jesus is the Messiah. He comes on people. He's been presented to the nation. Makes me think of Solomon. And the two mothers, one of whom had lost a child, one who was a true mother, one who made claims to the child, to the baby who was not the true mother. They applied to Solomon, the king, for his wisdom to settle the dispute. As he said, divide the child. And the true mother said, No, no, don't harm the baby. Well, it's the most natural thing, is it not? In Emmanuel's land and with the Messiah present in the midst of his people that he would settle matters of an earthly inheritance. Because we know from Ezekiel during the kingdom, the land will be divided amongst the tribes. We have the details of it there. But he says, No. He says, Man, who made me a judge or a divider? The first thing we see here is that Christ is rejected. Christ is refused. We've reached that point in Luke's gospel where he is not received by his own people. And this distinction is very marked in Matthew's gospel, chapter 12. And there they attribute the wonderful powers of casting out a demon. And they say it's only by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons, that he has done this. And the Lord Jesus characterizes that as a sin or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit that will not be forgiven unto men. And he pronounces the rules then on that adulterous generation. And at the beginning of chapter 13 we see the dividing point. Jesus went out from the house, Matthew 13, verse 1, and sat by the seaside. The house. Judea, the seaside, the nations, the Gentiles. And in the previous verses at the end of chapter 12, he only owns a spiritual link. He says, Who's my mother and who are my brother? And he stretches forth his hand and says, Those who do the will of my father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother. Similar thing here in Luke chapter 12. He's only going to own a spiritual link now. Earthly purposes in God's wisdom and in God's ways are making way for the heavenly purposes. And of course the time was not yet when the Lord could speak openly and clearly about these things. He said unto them, I have many things to say unto you now, but you cannot bear them. They weren't able to take them in. This new spiritual heavenly truth, this change of ways, change of deans, change of dispensations in God's ways which we know comes out more fully in the book of Acts. The formation of the assembly by the sending down of the Holy Spirit and the teaching that Paul gives us in his epistles. All this was future when the Lord was speaking but there's a little indication of it here. That he's moving on to heavenly purposes when he says that he wouldn't divide the inheritance. In the verses we've read he speaks first of all to a person. And he speaks to individuals. And our Lord Jesus Christ still speaks to individuals today. And we're very thankful, are we not, that he's spoken to us in a deep and meaningful and real and spiritual way. The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live. That's what would distinguish us, I take it, as believers from men and women in general. He speaks to an individual but he also says unto them in verse 50, he said to them. He's speaking to people in general. And how thankful we are that God in his mercy and Christ in his grace is still speaking in this world. Paul could say, we beseech you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God. Christ's voice was heard in the preaching of the apostles. And that the gospel preachers, quoting the psalm as it's known, it says their sound has gone out unto all the earth. Pray unto all the earth and preach the gospel to every creature. So we believe in the general call. We believe that the word of God should not just be for individuals. And when we come to verse 22 he says to his disciples, not just for individuals and not just for believers or disciples. But to those who may hear and those who will hear. He says unto them. And he widens out the truth. And it may well be when he says in verse 15, beware of covetousness. That there was an element of covetousness in the heart of the man who came to him and asked to divide the inheritance. Be that as it may. Is it not true? Of all our hearts. That we and men and women in general need to beware of covetousness. So verse 15 he says. Take heed and beware of this covetousness. Why? It's not because a man is in abundance that his life is in his possessions. You might have a nice house. An earthquake could come and demolish it. Or a wind could come. A hurricane could come and blow it away. You might have your money in the bank. And the bank might crash. Such things have certainly happened in the past. But the lesson I want to bring out of this is that our lives, anybody's lives. Do not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses. We're not to be occupied only with material things. Not to be occupied with how much we have in the bank. Or how much we have in our barns. This man, he's going to pull out his barns. He would build greater. He'd have it all planned out. With his fruits and goods. For many years. He thought he could retire. He thought he'd have ease. Laid up. Reposed. For many years. That was the human aspect of things. God says to him. Thou fool. If we're living for this world. If we're living for pounds, shillings and pence. Some will remember what that means. If we're only after what the scripture says elsewhere is filthy lucre. Or our barns. Or our houses. Or our motorcars. Or our fashionable dress. The latest electronic gadget or whatever it may be. We can give thanks for the relative comfort that we have. In this land. You've got a place like India and you've got the believers and families and maybe just two rooms to live in. So God gives us abundantly all things to enjoy. And we are thankful to him for his mercies. But. This man. He made the mistake. He was only taking up with things down here on this earth. The here and now. And very often. The clans of mice and men you know it. He had one. He had one idea and one prospect. But a soul is required. Sickness. Death. We do not have a lease on life. And this very. Important. Lesson. Is that. Important. Lesson. Is learned. And. In verse 21. It's capable even of application to us as believers. In measure. It says so is he. So is the one. Who lays up treasure for himself. Evidently on earth. And is not. Rich. Toward. God. Is it. Treasure for ourselves. Are we. Rich. Toward. God. It's in striking contrast to Luke 16. Verse 9. Where the Lord again says make. And I'll read it in the new translation which may well bring out the sense somewhat better. Make. To yourselves. Friends. With the. Man of unrighteousness. That when it fails. You. May be. Received. Into. The everlasting. Tabernacles. It gives a hint in that. That we can even. Use. Our. Material. Benefits. We can use. Man or money described here is the man of unrighteousness. We can use it. For spiritual ends. We can use it. To help others. We can use it. To extend the kingdom of God. It's going to fail anyway. Says when it. Shall have failed. You may be received into the. Everlasting. Tabernacles. There's a sense there. That even. What we have in a material way. May be used. For spiritual gain. Spiritual gain. And. And then the. The exhortation is given in verse 10. He that is faithful in the least. Is faithful also in much. And he that is unrighteous in the least. Is unrighteous also. In the much. And the least there being the earthly things. Being material. Possessions. And the much being the. Spiritual. Possessions. And actually. Verse 12 here says. If you've been faithful in that which is. And others. Our material wealth. Whatever we have. It's not actually ours. It's in others. It's Christ's. It's to be used for Christ. He's our Lord and Savior. He's Lord. He should have control. He's not Lord of all. He's not Lord at all. And it says. We have to be faithful. We have to be faithful. In that which is in others. In. Our material possessions. Which are of Christ. It says then who shall. Give to you your own. And our own possessions. That which is really and truly ours. Is actually our spiritual portion. That's what. Is truly the believers. That is something. Which will not be taken from us. That's something that's going to go through. That's something that is eternal. And the benefits that we have along the road. They're actually. Under the control and authority. Of the Lord Jesus. So what we have in Luke 16. In their use of material things. Is in contrast to. This man here. Who was laying up treasure. For himself. And who did not bring. God. Into his. Reckoning. So now we might read the next section. To continue. Verse 22. Through to verse 30. He said unto his disciples. Therefore I say unto you. Take no thought for your life. What you shall eat. Neither for the body. What you shall put on. The life is more than food. And the body. Is more than clothing. Consider the babies. For they neither sow nor reap. Which neither have storehouse nor barn. And God feedeth them. How much more. Are you better. Than the fowls. Which of you with taking thought. Can add to a statue of one cubit. If you then. Be not able to do. That which is least. I take ye thought. For the rest. Consider the lilies. How they grow. They toil not. They spring not. And yet I say unto you. That Solomon. In all his glory. Was not a red. Like one of these. If then God. So clothe the grass. Which is today in the field. And tomorrow is cast into the oven. How much more. Will he clothe you. O ye. Of little faith. And seek. Not what ye shall eat. Or what ye shall drink. Neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things. Do the nations. Of the world seek after. And your father knoweth. That you have need of these things. But seek. Ye first. Rather seek ye. The kingdom of God. And all these things. Shall be added unto you. Fear not little flock. For it is your father's. Good pleasure. To give you. The kingdom. Sell that you have. And give alms. Provide yourselves bags. Which wax not old. A treasure in the heavens. That faileth not. Where no thief. Approaches. Neither moth. Corrupteth. For where. Your treasure is. There will. Your heart. Be. Also. Thus far. The word of God. To verse. 34. And I wonder. Did you bring a. Bag with you. This afternoon. Some of you. I wonder. Have you brought any. Bags with you. It's a great question. Now. If you go into. Some of the. Supermarkets. Some of them. They won't even give you. A bag at all. Some of them. They'll just give you. A paper bag. Now. They'll not issue. Plastic bags. Any longer. Because of the environment. Certainly. In the Republic. Of Ireland. If you want to. Purchase something. There. And you buy a bag. You have to pay. For it. I think. There's some. Government. Tax on it. So. This is the history. Of bags. But. The set of bags. I'm asking you about. This afternoon. Is. Spiritual. Facts. It says. Here. That we have to. Provide. Ourselves. Bags. Which. Don't. Grow old. Perhaps. A more literal. Translation. Would be. We have to. Provide. Ourselves. Purses. Which. Do not. Grow old. I had to. Get a new. Purse. Because. Somehow or other. The coins I had in it. Had worn a hole on it. And. The coins were. Starting to fall out. But here's a purse. Which doesn't grow old. And here's a treasure. Which. Does not. Fail. In the heavens. Because it says. Where. Your. Treasure is. There. Will. Your. Heart. Be. Also. It doesn't say. Where. Your. Heart. Is. There. Will. Your. Treasure. Be. It's very often called it that way. But it says. No. Where. Your. Treasure. Is. There. Will. Your. Heart. Be. Also. And. You have. to. You have. A heart. But. You know. The. Life. Is. More than food. And more than clothing. And we should not. In the first instance. Be concerned. About these things. Because. The answer is. God. Will. Take. Care of you. He feeds. The ravens. Which. Were common. In. Palestine. They don't. Have a storehouse. Nor a barn. They don't. Store it up. Yet. God. Feeds it there. He says to us. You're. Better than the. Birds. God. Takes. Care of the. Birds. Surely. He can. Take care of his. Sins. This is the assurance. We have. From the Lord. Jesus. And. He said. We. You know. We. We can't. Some of us might have liked to. At one time. Add to our. Physical height. Or growth. Some of us might like to reduce in other ways. Might like to reduce our girth. But certainly in the natural process of growing. We can't determine that. We can't add to it. That's the natural process. And. God says. That's the least thing. You know. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. We can't. And. Now. When. I say that. I say. I say. I say. I say. I say. I say. I say. The spiritual relationship comes into view. In Resurrection the Lord Jesus says. I send to your father. I excuse me? I send to my father. He's preeminent at all things. He must have the preeminence. I send to my father and your father. And to my God. And your God. There's the spiritual. Link. Is there brought in. But even in regard to the material things. We have a Father in Heaven. I can say my father. I can say to you as a Christian believer. Your father. He knows. What things. You have need of. We have to be aware of covetousness. That was the first thing we learned. But then on the other side. We have to be. Aware of overwhelming anxiety. Because. God will. Take care of you. He knows. Those things. That you need. And he tells us to get our priorities right. In verse 32. He says. I send to your father. I excuse me? I say. I say. I say. I say. I say. I say. I say. You have to get your priorities right. In verse. 32 seek the kingdom of God. In Matthew's gospel. I almost put it at runaway. Because we're so familiar with it in Matthew. It says. Seek ye first. The kingdom of God. His righteousness. And all these things. Shall be added unto you. So we have to give. God's things. First place in our life. But here it's just. There's not. A comparison here. It's just a statement in itself. Seek. The kingdom of God. And in regard to our physical and material needs. Will be taken care of. All these things. Shall be added unto you. And then it. That was wonderful encouragement in verse 32. Fear not. Little flock. Again this tells us. That the Lord is rejected. It's telling us. He's refusing. His followers in this world. Will be rejected. Will be rejected. Will be rejected. Will be rejected. Will be rejected. Will be rejected. Will be rejected. Will be rejected. Will be rejected. Will be rejected. Will be rejected. His followers in this world. Are going to be a little flock. At this particular time. The Lord says. Fear not. Little flock. To me. I'll be glad to hear. What anyone has to say. But to me. It supposes his rejection. We've already looked at that. He's bringing in heavenly purposes. He's not concerned. With earthly inheritances. Here again. He's rejected. When we come down. The verses. We start with. Fear not. Little flock. Fear not. Little flock. Fear not. Little flock. The Lord's purpose. We start watching. And waiting. And working for him. In view of his return. We find he's an absent Christ. He was rejected here. He was accepted there. No longer on earth. But he's in heaven. So he is. A rejected Christ. And he is an absent Christ. And his followers. Are. A little flock. And we may just be a little flock. Here. This afternoon. And not all the chairs may be added. And not all the places may be filled. Do you think God doesn't take notice of us? Do you think God doesn't weigh up the faithfulness? It's in view that we travel across London. To be present with the saints. And under the sound of the word of God. Or from further afield. Just a little flock. Let's not get discouraged because we're few in number. Because we're already told it's going to be the case here. Even the Lord Jesus said. Where two or three are gathered unto my name. There am I in the midst. He knew it would come down to that in certain instances. And in certain localities. And he provided for it. The two. It just comes down to a husband and wife. Or the three. There may be more in number. We can be thankful. For every evidence of God's working here in this world. And where believers are more numerous. But he's provided for the lowest plurality. For just two or three. And he's promised his presence. To be with such who are gathered to his name. And here. Speaking of those surrounding him. He says to the disciples. You're a little flock. But. We may be fewer on earth. Christianity may be unpopular. In your approach. You may speak of post-Christian Britain. Post-Christian society. We may be diminished down here. We may be strict. We may be feeble. We may be fewer. Fear not little flock. It's your father's good pleasure. To give you the kingdom. What a view that gives us. What expansion. What glory. He comes out of heaven the rider. In Revelation 19. There are those who follow him. Who are called. And faithful. And through the armies. That are in heaven. What a wonderful sight. That is. The rider. On the white horse. Called faithful and true. In righteousness. He judges and makes law. But there are those. The armies which are in heaven. Followed him. Comes. All the saints. With him. What a glorious day. That will be. Of course he'll come to take us. To be with himself. It's necessary. The rapture is necessary. In order for the appearing. Because when he appears. According to Colossians. Then shall we appear with him in glory. We may be in the sufferings. Of the plague. But the glories. The glories of the mind. The glories will follow. Sufferings of Christ. And the glory. Which will follow. We're a little flock. Christ is absent. He's refused. Cause is in reproach. Let's not get discouraged. By looking at present things. Let's seek the things that are above. Let's seek the kingdom of God. Let's have Christ in view. Let's live where our treasure really is. Where our possessions really are. Let's fill our purses. Or our bags. With spiritual treasures. Let's encourage one another. Cause we're going on. To endless day. We're going on. We're going on. To the glories. Of the kingdom. Not that we deserve it. Not because of any merit in ourselves. But because it's our father's good pleasure. To give us the kingdom. It's in the purpose of God. Surely if anybody could give it. He can give it. He's the power to give it. Every man a liar. God says. The Lord Jesus says. That he's going to give us. The kingdom. Let's keep our treasure. Let's keep heaven. Let's keep the kingdom in view. Even though there may be discouragements. On the earthly side of things. It's our father's good pleasure. To give us the kingdom. And then where our treasure is. Our hearts going to be there also. So now. Let's move on to verses 35. To 30. To 40. Let your lamps be gilded about. And your lights burning. And ye yourselves. Like unto men that wait for the Lord. When he will return. From the wedding. That when he cometh and knocketh. They may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants. Whom the Lord when he cometh. Watching. Verily I say unto you. That he shall gird himself. And make them to sit down to food. And will come forth. And serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch. Or come in the third watch. And find them so. Blessed are those servants. And this know. That if the good men of the house had known. What hour the thief would come. He would have watched. His house to be broken through. Be ye therefore also ready. For the Son of Man. Comes as an ark. When ye think not. It's the coming of the Lord. That's in view. And in Luke's gospel. It's viewed as a moral truth. And the parable that he speaks. Is giving an analogy. And the bottom line. The point that he's emphasizing. Is that we should be watching. For the Lord to come. He desires. That we should be watching. And he desires. That we should be with him. And the significance. Peter asks the question. In verse 41. Lord speakest thou this parable unto us. Or even to all. And the Lord in his answer. In verse 42 he says. That clearly indicates. That the moral. Of the story. That the application is. To each one of us. Dear brothers and sisters. This is a truth for us. It's a truth for our hearts. And what the Lord says here. Is something which should characterize the believer. And not only so. He says that there's a blessing in doing it. There's a blessing in doing it. Blessed are those servants. And then in verse 38. He speaks about the second watch. Or the third watch. And if he comes then and finds those servants watching. Blessed are those servants. There may be a little indication. In that verse where it speaks of the second watch. Or the third watch. Look in fact. Not from the perspective from which he was speaking. But now for us. Second watch, third watch. May suggest. A length and period of time. And the first millennium has gone. And the second millennium. Now we're in the third millennium of the Christian era. The third watch. There's no fourth watch. And we know he may come. At any moment. And in view of his coming. It says we should have our. Loins girded about. Peter tells us that we're to gird up the loins of our mind. And we're to have our loins. As it says elsewhere. Girt about with truth. So our thinking processes. Our attitude of mind. Should be governed. By the truth of the word of God. That our loins girded. Was the servants attitude as well. Suggest movement. The children of Israel when they were about to move. Out of Israel. The night of the Passover. They had their loins girded. Practically speaking we should be ready to go. Ready to meet the Lord when he comes. The servant when the Lord. Got down to wash the disciples feet. He gathers up. That service. Readiness. Watchfulness. And a light burning. Testimony. In view of the Lord's coming. Are we seeking to witness to others. With a lamp of testimony. Are we seeking to. Have our lamps burning. And we. Light on to men. That wait for their Lord. It's the picture of an eastern marriage. Where the wedding. Takes place and the groom. Will return with his bride. And those in the home. Are waiting. It's a joyful occasion. In their joy and waiting. In expectancy. So as soon as they hear the knock. And they open on to him. Immediately, well as I say. It's a moral truth. And that should characterize our hearts. We need to be watching. And. Light on to men that. Wait for their Lord. We've got the two things here. Waiting and watching. And the Lord says. Dear one. Today. If that's your attitude. If that's your attitude. You'll be blessed. There'll be a character of blessing. And it's a blessing of a high character. Because it says that the Lord will. Come forth. And. Make us to sit down. Recline at table. And he will serve them. We know that his servants. Shall serve him. But what grace. The Lord comes for us. But he'll be there. Taking account of. Even in the language of the scripture here. Serving those. Who have watched. And waited for him. We'll be blessed. By his company. And we'll be blessed by his care for us. When he comes. If we watch for him. Down here in the here and now. We have to watch and wait. Read on from verse 41. And Peter said unto him. The Lord speakest thou this parable unto us. So eaten to all. And he makes it general. The Lord said who then is the faithful and wise servant. Whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household. To give them their portion. Of meat in due season. Blessed is that servant. Whom his Lord when he cometh. Shall find so doing. And the truth I say unto you. That he will make him ruler. Over all that he hath. And we'll stop our reading there. At verse 44. We have in verse 45. That servant. On faithful Christendom. False precaution. I take it down to verse 48. And you can look at that in your own time. But here the Lord says there's blessing. In activity. In service. And if we serve the Lord. During his absence. We will have the blessing. And the blessing here is. In giving the household their portion. Of meat in due season. How important it is. The food supply. The measure of corn in season. And that's why the brothers. Have arranged this. Opportunity. For us to be together. That we might be fed. That we might be fed up spiritually. We might profit. From the word of God. This exercise to sustain the Catholic lectures. How important. The ministry of the word of God is. Food for the people of God. The measure of corn. In season. It says that also. The portion of meat in due season. That which is appropriate. Appropriate for the occasion. We don't give. An infant nursing. At his mother's breast. We don't give strong meat. We don't give it sir Lord's steak. That would cause problems. So. We need to realistically. Find out where our brothers. Our sisters are. Spiritually. Be it on a one to one basis. Or be it collectively. Paul in his ministry. From house to house. That was his pastoral heart. That was his method of proceeding. And he got down. Alongside the people. And he. Gave them convenient food. The menu. Was suitable. And we can think of it in connection. With spoken ministry. Conferences. And the local bible readings. That are here. They are exercised from time to time. To bring something of a spiritual. Nature. Before their hearers. It can be in the gospel. It can be in written ministry. During the readings. Printed books. That's been exercised. In spite of feebleness. To get the truth of God out. First to the people of God. To have the measure of corn. In season. To look round about the household. And to have the care of souls. So there's blessing. In that also. And our time has gone. But may we. Be blessed. In looking for Christ God. Living as a part. Watching and waiting for him. So we can open to him. To those eternal habitations. And may we also be blessed. And seek. To feed the people of God. And to ensure. That they get that. Which will build them up spiritually. Building yourselves up. In your most holy faith. We seek the things. That are. About 492. …

… Now let us read together from the Book of Genesis, Chapter 8, and verse 1. And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters returned from off the earth continually, and after the end of the hundred and fifty days, the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made, and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also, he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came into him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet another seven days, and sent forth the dove, which returned not again unto him any more. And it came to pass, in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried, dried up from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. Verse fifteen, And God spoke unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark. Verse twenty, And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again cast the ground any more for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his use. Neither will I again smite any more every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remaineth sea-toned and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. And then two verses from the New Testament, first in 1 Peter 3, or two passages rather, short passages. Peter's first epistle, chapter three, verse eighteen. For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. We were put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, by which he also went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient. When once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism does also now save us. Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is gone to heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. And then from 2 Corinthians, second epistle to the Corinthians, chapter five. For now I just read verse seventeen. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, or a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. There are perhaps at least four different ways in which we can read this very well-known story of Noah. The first one, obviously, is the literal way. If you look at it that way, then Noah was a man of faith. He received the revelation from God, he built the ark, and he saved his family. And only he and his family escaped the great flood. And if you look at it in this literal way, as many people do, and I have no doubt that it was a literal historical event, this also has great implications for other questions like, for example, geology and the radiation, and many questions about the history of this earth. We then have another way of looking at the same story, which is also very well-known, and I would call that the gospel application. If you look at it this way, the message is that the world is doomed, God has to judge the world, and Noah is the creature of righteousness, and he condemns the world around him by building the ark, and he is saved. We then have a quite different way of looking at the same story again, and I would call that the prophetic meaning of the story. Looking at it from the perspective of prophecy, you would say, well, Noah and his family, they are a picture of the Jewish remnant. And Noah's story was quite different from Enoch's, of course. Enoch was taken away, raptured before the flood, just like the church. Anyone here who belongs to the church will be raptured before the tribulation period. But Noah had to go through the flood, he wasn't taken away before the flood. And so there will be people, believers, in the tribulation, but they will be Jewish believers, they will be the Jewish remnant, and they will be taken through that difficult time, and then they arrive, you might say, on this new and cleansed earth in the millennium. Now the fourth explanation, and that's the one I would like to say a few words about, with the Lord's help, we could perhaps call the spiritual application or interpretation of that story. And if you look at it from this way, you would say, well, God has given us this story of Noah in order to give us an example of spiritual realities that concern us, to give us instructions about our salvation, about the fact that we are in Christ, about the meaning of this term we came across in 2 Corinthians, the new creation. And perhaps you can try and just look at a few details in this chapter, and perceive this thought of the spiritual meaning of that story for us. Now it says in Tech.VIII, verse 1, this short but moving phrase, and God remembered Noah. I think if you had been in the ark for 150 days, floating on these waters, you might have wondered at some stage, well, actually, has God forgotten us? Or is God actually remembering us? And you find this phrase here, and God remembered, despite of any contrary appearance, God had Noah in mind, and everyone in the ark. It was actually, I can only mention this as a footnote, but there is a man in the Bible who has a name just like that, and God remembers, that's Zechariah. And his wife, of course, was called Elizabeth, which means the covenant of God. And if you take the two together, it means God remembers his covenant. And then they had a son who was called John, and John means favorite of God. Now John, of course, was the one who then announced that the Lord Jesus would come. Now here you have God remembers, and actually the story of Noah started very similar to the translation of the name John. Favor. He had found favor in the eyes of God. Now by the way, it says here God, it doesn't say Jehovah. If you read through the first few chapters of Genesis, you find that sometimes it says God, sometimes it says Jehovah. And some people have drawn the conclusion, well there must have been two writers, and they call one the Jehovahist and one the Elohist, because God is Elohim. There's of course nothing like that. There's one writer, that's God. It's only one book, not a combination of two different reports. And it's interesting that every time it says God, there's a good reason for that, and every time it says Jehovah or Lord, there's a good reason for that. Here, for example, it says God remembered every living thing, and the cattle, all that was in the ark. Now, it's a question of God and his creation. The animals are mentioned. When it is a question of relationship, then a different name is used, and it's a matter of Jehovah. Perhaps we'll see that a little further down. Now, it says here in verse 1, everything that was with him in the ark. Perhaps we need to stop there for a moment or two, because the ark, I would say, is a wonderful type, a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the ark was the one and only way of salvation that God had given. The most intelligent, the greatest genius of mankind, in that time before the flood came, could not come up with one viable way of escape. And the ark is the one and only way. And how true that is of the Lord, that there is salvation in no other name but only in his name. Now, the ark, of course, was made of wood. And we've often looked at the meaning of wood, that it speaks of manhood. And the Lord Jesus, in his grace, became man in order to bring salvation. It was, of course, gopher wood. I think there's some uncertainty around what exactly gopher was. But two things are interesting. One is that the word gopher is very similar to the word for atonement. And the second is that most likely it is the cypress tree from which you gain the pitch that was used to pitch the ark. Now, which takes me to the next point. The ark was pitched from within and without. And the word pitch is the same word as atonement. Now, if you read Leviticus and it says, and this shall make atonement for him, that word is exactly the same word as pitch. And how true it is that the Lord has brought atonement. Now, you could probably find other features of the ark. For example, its sheer size. If you look at the measurements of the ark, a tremendous vessel, perhaps like the largest ocean liners today, but then in rectangular shape. There was an enormous amount of space in there and everybody who wanted to come could come. And so it is with the Lord that anyone who wants to come can come and will be received. Perhaps just one more point about the ark. Noah, of course, had to go into the ark. And when he did that, he was out of sight. We couldn't see him anymore. Well, that's very true of the Christian position. We are in Christ. We read this in 2 Corinthians 5. When someone is in Christ, he is a new creation or creature. And also in Romans 8, for those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no combination. The position of the believer today in Christ. And that means insecurity. Now, it says here in verse 2, and the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped and the rain from heaven was restrained. Let me start perhaps with the windows of heaven. The windows of heaven seem to me to speak of unimaginable quantities. The first time they occur is in connection with the flood when the windows of heaven opened. And by the way, just in passing, on the second day of creation, it said that God made a division, a firmament, that was between the waters below and the waters above. I don't think that the waters above were just clouds. There were tremendous quantities of waters above. There was a different climate before the flood. We read in Genesis 2 that it had not rained. Now, we don't know how exactly this was, but we know that there were tremendous quantities of waters. And then you can imagine what happened when these windows of heaven were opened. But they are also mentioned in connection with blessings. On one occasion, actually, by a mocker, when Elisha said in 2 Kings 7, this time tomorrow there will be enough bread for everyone. And this captain said, now how is that going to go? If God opened windows in heaven, perhaps even then there wouldn't be enough bread for us. Well, he was wrong. He saw that he didn't benefit. But the point is, windows of heaven, unimaginable quantities. In Malachi 3, the Lord says, prove me, prove me whether I'm not going to bless you, and I'm going to open the windows of heaven for blessing. But I think the windows of heaven here speak of the wrath of God. Because what came out of the windows of heaven at the time of the flood was the judgment of God. You remember that in the Psalms, the Lord says, all thy waves and billows have passed over me. You know, there you have it again, the ark exposed to the waters, and all the billows pass over the Lord. You can also just read a verse from another Psalm, 88, where it says in verse 7, Thy wrath lies hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Unimaginable quantities, and this time, in this case, unimaginable quantities of wrath and judgment of God. But there's something very comforting here. You know, when the Psalmist says in those two Psalms, 42 and 88, all thy waves have passed over me, you know what that means? If all waves have passed over the Lord, that means that no wave is left for me. And that is illustrated so nicely in this ark, which protected those in it from this judgment. Now the fountains of the deep, perhaps you think of Psalm 42 again, deep calleth unto deep. But perhaps you also think of the power of darkness, which was also manifest at the cross. The Lord says in Luke 22, You know, when I was teaching in the temple, you never came and took me. But now is your hour, and the power of darkness. And how he must have felt that power of darkness at the cross. But you know, here in our verse, it's all negative. Here, actually, the fountains are stopped, the windows are stopped, or closed, and even the reign of heaven was restrained. And perhaps that's the nicest for us, that not only is the window of judgment closed, and the fountain of powers of darkness closed for us, but even the reign. You might say there isn't a drop of judgment left for the believer. Now it says then that the waters returned from the earth continually, and after 150 days the waters were abated. And then it says in verse 4, And the ark rested in the seventeenth day of the month upon the mountains of Ararat. I don't know about your geography, but I might just mention for completeness, Ararat is, you might say, at the border of Turkey and Armenia. It's a very high mountain, over 16,000 feet. Now, God led it in such a way that the ark landed on that high mountain. But it's a very nice picture again, and perhaps I can read another verse to you from the Psalms, and this time it's in Psalm 40, which may help us to see a spiritual meaning in this fact, the ark rested. Psalm 40, verse 2, He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. Now if it is true that the Lord went into the deepest depths and was exposed to the wrath of God on the cross, it is also true that his goings were established, that his food was placed upon a rock, namely in resurrection. Now, this little word here, rest, is quite interesting, the ark rested. It's exactly the same word that is used in Genesis 2, where it says, and the Lord put man into the garden, to till the garden. In Genesis 2, it's of course a matter of the first creation. God had created everything, and then he places man there, as a responsible being, and man is at the center, in responsibility, before God, first creation. Genesis 8 is quite different. Something is placed again, but this time it's the ark. Man is not visible. The ark is placed on the high mountain, and there the ark rests. A picture of what happens in new creation. You know, the world before the flood wasn't a very nice world to live in for a believer. If you read Genesis 6, you find that it was quite horrible. The Lord spoke about it, the days of Noah. But you know, after the flood, there was basically a new earth. The earth was cleansed. And actually, Peter uses the expression twice, or an expression in that direction, in the second epistle. He once says, the old world, referring to the time before the flood, and once he says, the then world, or the world that then was. And I think that also pulls the idea of having two creations, an old creation and a new creation, an old world and a new world, and it seems that the starting point for the new creation is actually the resurrection of Christ. And that comes out in both of the passages we read in the New Testament, 1 Peter 3 and 2 Corinthians 5, the death and resurrection of Christ as foundation for this new creation. Perhaps we can come back to that a little later. Now, the world has decreased further, verse 5, and now the top of the mountains were seen. If anybody thinks that this was just a local flood, perhaps that verse is enough. If after so and so many days the tops of the mountains come out, it sounds like a pretty global flood to me. In any case, Noah then starts on this very interesting experiment. Perhaps that's something for the children, because now we're going to talk about two animals. And Noah does something very interesting with those two animals. He first takes the raven, and remember the ark had no window at the side. So Noah was in this ark, and he couldn't really see what was going on outside. He probably felt that the ark wasn't moving anymore. It says it rested. And now he takes the first of these birds, the raven, and lets the raven out. And nothing happens. The raven doesn't come back. And there's a good reason for that. The raven is an unclean bird, and the raven loves it out there. There's lots of water, there is death, there are probably carcasses, and it's a wonderful environment for a raven. And the raven is quite happy and stays out there and doesn't come back at all. But then it says when Noah took the dove, it says that he sent it in order to see whether the waters were dried up from the earth. And the thing that happens is that in the evening, the dove is back. It seems that the dove is quite different, and the dove didn't like it out there. And he sends the dove again. Now why is this? Why did the dove not like it? Well, the dove is a picture of the Holy Spirit. You know, in John 1 it says that this was the sign given to John. He upon whom he should see the Holy Spirit descend like a dove and rest upon him, he would be the one he was announcing. You know, suppose we all have a raven within us, and we all have a dove within us, just saying that on a practical note, and the raven within us says, actually this world is a wonderful place. There is so much to keep our minds occupied, there are so many interesting things, so many new things, and it's all so fascinating and exciting. But you know, what the raven doesn't realize is that this world is actually under the judgment of God. And the more we enjoy that world, the more worrying it really is, because it means that we are more characterized by that raven within us, the flesh, the old nature. But we also have something in us that has quite a different nature, it's more like the dove, the new nature, and actually the Holy Spirit who wants to give us the power to act according to those desires of the new nature. And that's a challenging question for us, perhaps. My favorite pastimes, or the things I do, the things I think about, are these sort of raven things, these things that are characterized by the Holy Spirit. But there's something very interesting here, when the dove comes back the second time, in verse 11, it says, and lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. You know, it wasn't an olive leaf that had been floating in the water for ages, it was fresh. It was an olive leaf that had been just plucked off. And what does that mean? That means there was life. That means that there was a tree that was actually bringing fresh leaves, fresh twigs, and the dove comes back with such a twig. Basically, the dove gives the testimony of life after death. Life after and beyond the judgment flood that God had sent. And you know, that's exactly what the Holy Spirit did. In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit, chapter 2, descends and comes for the first time to dwell in men on the earth. Of course, he remained on the Lord. But he then dwelt in the church and in believers. And what was the witness of the Holy Spirit? You could go to Acts 2, listen to Peter, and Peter says, I want to talk about David. And when David said, thou shalt not allow thy son to see corruption, he actually wasn't talking about himself, he was talking about Christ. And he talks about the resurrection of Christ. And you go on to chapter 3, where no man had been healed, and it says again that they gave witness to the resurrection of Christ. It says, you actually nailed him to the cross, but God has raised him. And you can continue. In chapter 4, it says, let's just read that verse actually. In the book of Acts, chapter 4, verse 33, it says, And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Now let me ask you, what power was that? That was the power of the Holy Spirit. It was, if you like, it was the dove with the fresh olive leaf plucked off, bringing the testimony of resurrection. And Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. Now that's interesting, it's not only the dove flying around with that olive branch, but it tells Noah something. And Noah now has a firm knowledge. Noah knows that the judgment waters are gone. And you know, it's exactly the same for us, if you read Romans 4 in the end, it says two things about Christ in the last verse. Christ was delivered for our offenses, and he was raised for our justification. And then it says now we have peace with God. You see? That's the witness of the dove, Christ is risen, which is our justification, and which gives us peace. Now I need to rush on a little. It says in verse 12, He sent forth the dove, which returned not again unto him any more. And we've alluded to this, but that's wonderful as well, that the dove did not only rest on the person of the Lord when he was here, but the Lord accomplished a work that was so great, that after his work, the Holy Spirit can actually rest on, or even dwell in people who were dreadful sinners like you and me, on the basis of that accomplished work. It's interesting that in verse 13, it speaks about the first month and even the first day of the month. And what happens on that day is that the face of the ground was dry. It seems to me that the point is made by the date that this was a completely new beginning. Remember in Exodus 12, when God commanded the Passover to be celebrated, it says this month shall be the first month for you. And here you have the first day of the first month. It seems a new beginning, a new creation. Now God finally says to Noah that he should go out of the ark. Perhaps you admire his patience that he didn't leave the ark before, just to check things out, but he waited until God spoke to him, which is very good. And then the first thing you read about Noah is that he built an altar. You might say, well, this is not the first sacrifice. There certainly was a sacrifice in the case of Adam and Eve, when God clothed them. There was a sacrifice in the next chapter 4, when Abel bought off the firstlings of the flock. And now you have a sacrifice bought by Noah. And you know the three sacrifices there, they're not exactly the same. The main point with the first one is covering. It's atonement. The main point with Abel's sacrifice is a slightly different one. It's the question of how you can approach God. And Abel's way was quite different from Cain's. Now here it's neither atonement nor approach. Here it is, just read part of verse 21, the Lord, by the way it's the Lord here, not God, the Lord smelled a sweet savour. It is the savour of rest, the savour of acceptance. So you have atonement, approach, and now with Noah on the new earth, or you might say in the new creation, it's acceptance. But although you had offerings before, there are two things that occur here for the first time. One is the altar, and the other is the expression burnt offering. The burnt offering is that which ascends to God, that which is particularly for His pleasure, that which is entirely reserved for God, because it all goes up to Him. But what about the altar? I'm sure that Abel had an altar, but it doesn't speak of it. The Lord gives the explanation, I think, in Matthew 23, where He says, actually what is greater, the gift or the altar? The altar is that which sanctifies the gift. So the altar is a picture of the Lord, of the value of His person. And what gives value to the sacrifice of the Lord is the worth and dignity of His person. Perhaps to put it simply, if somebody else had died on the cross, had been treated by men in exactly the way in which the Lord was treated by them, would that have been anything similar in value? Would God have accepted us on that basis? Well, certainly not. What gave value to the sacrifice of Christ was His person. And so you have here the altar in connection with the burnt offering and the acceptance. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, a savour of rest. It's very interesting to me, this thought of rest in the story of Noah. You know, it started with his father, really. He said, let's call him Noah because in him we will receive rest. Now some have thought that that's because Noah later on had a vineyard and he found out how to make wine and that would give people rest from their troubles. Well, that's certainly not what it meant. But essentially his father Lamech prophesied and he said, in Noah, mankind will be transported to a new earth where rest will be found. Now you then found the rest again in this chapter where the ark rested. Then you found the dove that first didn't rest and then did rest. And now finally you find the reason or the solid basis for the rest and that is that God rests. God rests because of the value of the work of the Lord Jesus. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again cast the ground anymore for man's sake. Did you know that God had a heart? Actually I think it was here that a brother recently spoke to us about God's arm and various other human features are ascribed to God. Well, God has a heart. Of course you understand how this is meant, that God feels. And actually two chapters earlier, in chapter 6, it says that when God looked at the world and he saw, that's verse 5, he saw the wickedness of man, that it was great in the earth and that every imagination of his thoughts, the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually, it says it repented the Lord that he made man and it grieved him at his heart. What a contrast. When God looks at man as he is, he is grieved in his heart. Now, quite different, it says the Lord says in his heart, I will no longer curse the ground for man's sake. The imagination of man's heart is evil. Now, you need to help me here. Did I read this wrong? Shouldn't it say that God says I will curse the ground again because the imagination of man's heart is evil? Striking, isn't it? Can you help me with this one? It's just the opposite. The Lord says I will not curse again the ground for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. How does that work then? First God says man is so bad, I have to bring judgment. And now God says man is so bad, I won't judge again. Well, the difference is that now there's the sacrifice. What God says here is basically, if I paraphrase it, God says now I'm not looking at man anymore. In dealing with this creation, in maintaining it, in preserving frost and heat and winter and summer and seed and harvest, what I do is I look at the sacrifice. And you know, that takes us back again to this theme of the new creation. In the new creation, everything depends on God. Man is out of sight. Man is basically in the ark, shut in by God and all depends on God. All depends on the sacrifice of Christ and that is the basis for blessing. And that has some very practical implications for our daily lives. And I'd like to use just two or three minutes to show you a man who practically lived in the new creation. If you turn with me again to 2 Corinthians 5. Let me perhaps preface this by a little remark. So if I asked you, what is the new creation, perhaps most of you would have said, well, we read about this in Revelation, don't we? And I saw a new heaven and a new earth and the first heaven and the first earth were no more. And you say, well, that is new creation. Well, what we read in 2 Corinthians 5 is that if there is any man in Christ, he is a new creation or a new creature. So how does that fit together? Well, you know, when the eternal state arrives and this earth is put away, you might say it is the completion, it is the consummation, if you like, of God's new creation. And then everything will be perfect and there will be only blessing. But you know, the good news, or perhaps the better news even, is that the new creation has already started. Everyone here in this room who believes in the Lord is a new creation. Now let's just look at what that means practically. If you look at verse 13, it says, for whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. Now Paul says, we are a bit strange, we are sometimes quite different from everyone else, we are not subject to the same influences, we don't react to the same principles, but the reason is, it's for your sake and for God's sake. You see, he wasn't human in his thinking, he was governed by God's thinking. And the reason is, the love of Christ constrains us, that's verse 14, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then all were dead. You know, that's new creation again, why? Well, A, because it is beyond death, it says Christ died, and he did that, or the fact that he did proves that we were all dead. And after the death, there's only one motivation for us, which is no longer human, brother Rusty spoke about the difference of human kindness and the kindness that God wants us to show, he says it's the love of Christ that constrains us. Now what happens then, verse 15, in that he died for all, they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. Now here we have new creation again. The Lord died, and it says expressly, the Lord rose. The conclusion is, that we have died, and that we have risen, and now live for him, just as Noah was in the ark, and if the ark was exposed to the waters of death, then he was in the ark, but then the ark rested, and Noah was on the new earth. Verse 16, Wherefore henceforth we know no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, henceforth we know him no more. You know, in the old creation, everything is natural. Everything depends on whether it's your brother or your friend. In the new creation, you know people in a different way. You know that they are a brother or sister in Christ. And even Christ we don't know as the disciples at the time knew him, as the man who was walking here on the earth. We know him differently. We know him as we sang, as the leader of a chosen race, because he's the one who is risen from the dead, and who is beyond death and judgment. And that really takes us then to verse 17, this great statement, For if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. You know, in the Lord Jesus, we have been transferred, you might say, from that which is natural to that which is spiritual. Basically we have been transferred from man, if you like, to God. In the new creation, everything is about God and it's not about man. Verse 18, And all things are of God, who has reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. You see, the same applies in Paul's relationship with unbelievers. He doesn't see them in his natural relationship, that they were perhaps his relatives or what have you. He says, we have the ministry of reconciliation. And his feelings, whether towards Christ, whether towards believers, or whether towards unbelievers, were just governed by this fact, Christ died and Christ is risen. Therefore, verse 20, we are ambassadors for Christ and the reason is given again in verse 21, For he has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. The ark was exposed to the waters of judgment and therefore we are on the new earth. We are the righteousness of God in him. I think Paul actually lived that way. If you heard Paul preach, you wouldn't see Paul, you would see Christ. He would just judge everything that was natural, everything that was according to human thinking and all he wanted to do is bring Christ before people, whether believers or unbelievers. And perhaps I can just say in closing that as you read into chapter 9 of Genesis, there are three interesting things that happen that seem to be related to this idea of the new creation. Now the first one is that people from that point onwards were allowed to eat meat before they just ate the herbs, the vegetables. Now the principle is there is food, there is nourishment, there is life out of death. And you know almost every meal that you have at home gives testimony to that fact. You have some meat, it means that there is food for you that is available to you because of death. And you know that's true of us spiritually that we receive food and nourishment out of occupation with the death of the Lord Jesus. And the second thing that happens is that God gives the soul to Noah and he says, you have to judge that which is against my mind. And take that as a picture again, that is the picture of self-judgment and that has to do with the new creation as well. We have to judge that which is human. Man hasn't changed. You know God says he's still evil. You might say there is still the raven there but God says here is the sword. And what we have to do when we discover the raven in ourselves is well we have to take the sword. We have to exercise self-judgment. And the reason for that is really one thing. The reason is that God wants us to enjoy those blessings. He wants us to be in fellowship and communion with himself. And just very briefly, the third thing that happens is God says and if there is a cloud that comes on the earth, above the earth, I will put my bow into the clouds. And he says this bow will remind you that I will not bring that judgment again. And this rainbow is one of my favorites. The rainbow is something very nice not only to look at but the principle behind it. The rainbow means there are two things coming together. One is the water and we have seen the water as a picture of judgment. Another thing is the sun, the rooms, the lights of the sunshine. And the two meet and what you see is the rainbow. You see that the light is refracted into these different colors which are all in the white light but they now become visible. And that's exactly what happened on Calvary. That's what happened in that judgment when on the one hand there was the water of God and Christ was judged for our sins and on the other hand the love of God was there and became visible. And as a result you now have a display of these different colors you might say, the different features of the character of God which we can see in the first way at the cross. That God is love, that God is righteous, that God wants to forgive, receive the grace of God and so you could continue. Wonderful, I thought just to mention these in passing that there are three things that come to us as results of that new creation. I think I'd better stop here. I don't want to be too unkind to the children. If we can sing one more hymn, number 254. Death and judgment are behind us, grace and glory are before. All the billows rolled o'er Jesus, there they spent their utmost power. 254 …

… I'd like to begin with reading a few scriptures, first of all in the 2nd book of Samuel, chapter 9. These are all well known scriptures. 2nd Samuel, chapter 9, verse 1. And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Siber. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Siber? And he said, Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him? And Siber said unto the king, Jonathan has yet a son which is laying on his feet. And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Siber said unto the king, Behold he is in the house of Melchah, the son of Aniel, in Lodibar. Then King David sent and fetched him out of the house of Melchah, the son of Aniel, from Lodibar. Now when Mephilesheph, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face and did reverence. And David said, Mephilesheph, and he answered, Behold thy servant. And David said unto him, Fear not, I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake. I will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. He bowed himself and said, What is thy servant that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am? Now the New Testament, Matthew's Gospel, Matthew chapter 14. Matthew 14, and we read from verse 14. And when Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion towards them, and he hailed their sick. And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past. Send the multitude away, that they may go to the villages and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart. Give ye them to eat. And they said unto him, We have here but five loaves and two fishes. And he said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and bade, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled, and took up the fragments that remained, twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. A few verses in the next chapter, Matthew 15, verse 21. Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed with a demon, or devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. And he answered and said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. And she said, True Lord, let the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee as I even will it. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Chapter 19 Chapter 19, verse 13 Then they brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them and pray. But the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come unto thee. For such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them and departed thence. And now into the Paul's epistle, a couple of verses in Ephesians chapter 4 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Just one final verse in Colossians chapter 3 Paul's letter to those at Colossae, chapter 3 and verse 12 Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering. Sometimes the speaker will say I apologize for reading too much scriptures. Well I am sure that I am not going to apologize this afternoon because the scriptures themselves should speak to our hearts more than what I can say. I will begin with a little incident that took place. It must be now about 35 years ago. This makes me feel old. I remember being in a morning meeting. And a particular brother as he was praying, as he was giving thanks for the Lord and what the Lord had done for us. He mentioned that there is a verse in the Bible which says the charm of a man is his kindness. That made me think. What a good verse. Where in the Bible is that verse? And after the meeting I spoke to another young brother and he said we better go and find out. So we went home and we got out our strong concordance. And much to our dismay the word charm doesn't appear in the authorized version. So we went back to speak to this brother and he said I think it's from JND. So we had another task to find it in JND. And rightfully it was there. It is in Proverbs chapter 19 and verse 22. In the authorized version it says. Proverbs 19 verse 22 says. The desires of a man is his kindness. But Mr. Darby says the charm of a man is his kindness. And so we done what I hope each one of us will do here. When a brother says something that we don't understand. We go to that brother and we challenge him and says where do you find that in the Bible. And because of our persistence we found a little verse. A little verse as you know as you read through the Bible you come across verses that you think are real gems. And here is a general verse which speaks about the charm of a man being his kindness. What I would like with the Lord's help this afternoon is to speak a little bit about being kind. We read that wonderful verse in Ephesians. Be kind one to another. We live in a world where kindness is not the number one thing. But if the features that were seen in the Lord Jesus. And we hope to be able to see some of them. And to be seen in you and I as we move through this scene. Kindness has to be one of those features that is seen. So I read these different verses. In the story in the Old Testament of Mephibosheth. We are given to see a picture of kindness. And we all like to look at books with pictures in. Remembering a dear old brother Mr. Farson who used to say. I love the Old Testament because it is full of pictures. In the Old Testament we have little stories little pictures which show us New Testament truths. And in the story of Mephibosheth we have a picture of kindness. When we come to the New Testament. We don't have a picture anymore. We have the person. The person of the Lord Jesus. And for that I put down a person being kind. What a joy it is to look at the Lord Jesus in his kindness. As he moves through this scene. And then when we come to Ephesians. A practical exhortation that is given to each one of us. To be kind. And so we begin as we ought to in the second book of Samuel. And this story of Mephibosheth. Most of us would have known this story from a very young age. It is a story that we hear in the Sunday school. And a story which has been much used in gospel work. And it is a wonderful story that I am sure that most of us here who take the gospel at one time or another. Have been drawn to the story of Mephibosheth. Because although we look at this story and we see David as a wonderful type. As a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus. And throughout the Old Testament we have people that are types of the Lord Jesus. We know that David being a great picture of the Lord Jesus. There are times when he ceases to be a picture of the Lord Jesus. Because he failed and he becomes a picture of you and me. This afternoon as we look at this sort of story. We have these two dual themes that go before us. First of all David as a picture of the Lord Jesus. Showing out his love and showing his kindness to people like you and me. People that don't deserve anything. But also I want to use David as a picture of what you and I should be. That we should of course follow in the steps of the Lord Jesus. And if we see Jesus in this chapter. Perhaps we should each see ourselves as the ones that are doing this same thing. You know David had a very long history. We begin with David is it in the 16th chapter of 1st Samuel. When we come to the end of chapter 8 of the 2nd Samuel. We find there and it's in verse 15 of chapter 8. David reigned over all Israel. David is at the pinnacle of his glory. David has everything as it were settled. And it was at that time that he decided he said I want to show kindness. And you know tonight or this afternoon. As I look into this room. I am absolutely confident if we haven't got everything settled. We ought to get it settled this afternoon. Because if we are Christian here this afternoon. Our future is very bright. Our future is in eternity with the Lord Jesus. We have every blessing that God could give is given to us now. Ephesians 1 verse 4. God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. You've got them. You're not going to wait until you get to heaven to get them. You've got them now. You're justified. You're sanctified. You're reconciled. You're a son of God. What a wonderful position to be in. And being in that position. We expect the features that were seen in the Lord Jesus. To be seen in you and me. And so David. The kingdom was his. In that wonderful settled position. He wanted to show the kindness of God. And the first question I will raise is. To whom. Do we show kindness to? What are the sort of people that you and I. In our practical daily lives. Show kindness to? I'm sure each one of us here will say. We show kindness. To those that show kindness to us. You know if they send us a Christmas card. We'll send one back to them. We know what it's all like. We show kindness to people. That are nice to us. Well I'm going to read a verse. That hit. Hit me the other week. Quite a while ago. But it still hits me. It's in. Matthew chapter 5. And verse 46. The Lord Jesus speaking here. The sermon on the mount of course. And he says. For if you should love them which love you. What reward have you? Do not also the tax gatherers the same. If I just show kindness. To those that show kindness to me. That immediately puts me on exactly the same ground. As the tax gatherers. That's what the Lord Jesus said. We're no better. Than the tax gatherers. And we find that. Some of us show friends. Show kindness to our friends. Exactly so. We also show kindness to people that we feel sorry for. And that's another thing that we ought to do. If you are. In a town and you see a child that is crying. What is the immediate reaction that you have. Particularly if you have been parents. The immediate reaction is to go and see why he's crying. You have a sympathetic. Soul with that person. And you want to show kindness. And it is right. And it is proper. That we show kindness. To people. That are in great difficulties and problems. But if we are to carry out. The type of kindness that David showed. In this chapter here. It is to show kindness to those. Who are our enemies. Because although. We know that. Saul was the enemy of David. It wasn't from David's side. It was from Saul's side. Because there are two occasions. In the first book of Samuel. When David could have killed Saul. You remember the occasion. When he got right up close to Saul. And he was able to get close enough. To cut off a piece of his coat. And those who were with him. Said Saul. Said David. Kill him. He says how can I kill. The Lord's anointed. And another time. He got close enough to Saul. So he could take his spear away. Showing us that although David. Hadn't made the enmity. It was Saul. You know there are people perhaps. In our local assemblies. That we don't like. And to be honest. We don't get on with. And to be honest. We don't want to get on with them. But they're the type of people. That we need to show kindness to. And we see here. That is the sort of person. That David was going to show kindness to. Because as we read further on. In the scriptures. In relation to the kings. We find there. That when a king. Had become. A new dynasty. Had become. The king. They immediately. Got rid of everybody. That was related to the previous king. That was the done thing. Here David does. The complete opposite. He shows kindness to those. Who naturally. Would be. His enemies. And we read of this man. Called Mephibosheth. He wasn't a particularly a young man. Because we know. That he had a child. And he was told to come. To David. But there's one problem with Mephibosheth. Exactly the same problem with you and I. And that is that Mephibosheth. It says in the end of verse three. He was laying on his feet. But you know the very last. Verse of our chapter says. He was laying on. Both his feet. And Mephibosheth. Couldn't do anything. To move. Towards. David. And you know that's exactly the position. That we were in. If we've never trusted the Lord Jesus. As our own savior. That is the position. That you are in at this very moment. If we are believers. And I take it that most of us here. Know the Lord Jesus as our own savior. How thankful it is that we can say. I was in that position. And that position is amplified for us. In Romans chapter five. It says there. For when we were yet without strength. Christ died for the ungodly. And it goes on to say. We were sinners. And we were enemies. Four things. That are said about mankind. We are without strength. We are ungodly. We are sinners. And we are enemies. And I like to suggest that without strength. We don't have the ability. To get to God. This man Mephiboshus. He didn't have the ability. To get to David. But also. We are ungodly. We don't have the nature. That will want to get to God. It's illustrated by a little story. Of a. Two people that were. Were speaking about the queen. And one said I would love. To go to Buckingham Palace. And see the queen. I would love to be able to go in there. And meet her. And speak to her. And perhaps have tea with her. But the person said. You haven't the ability. You can't do it. If you got to the gates. And knocked on the door. You wouldn't even get to the door. Would you? We would get to the gates of Buckingham Palace. And that would be it. We don't have the ability. To get to the queen. But the other person. He was a republican. And he said I don't want to see the queen. You see. We were not only do not have the ability. To get to God. But we didn't want to. Because we were ungodly. And not only were we ungodly. We were ungodly by nature. We were sinners by practice. And the condition that we was in. Was enemies. But that's the sort of person. That God moved out. That's the sort of person. That Lord Jesus showed kindness to. When he saved me. When he saved you. And that's the sort of person. That we should show kindness to. And so we find that. David goes to fetch him. And he is in this place called. Lodibar. Verse 5. Some of the commentators. Disagree on what the meaning of Lodibar is. But I think most of us will have heard. That Lodibar means. The place of no pasture. And you know the position that. That we were in. Was a place where there is no real pasture. There is nothing to satisfy us. And not only was he in a place of no pasture. But if we look up the place that he was in. It was outside of the promised land. It was across Jordan. He had moved from Jerusalem. We read in chapter 4. The reason why he was lame on his feet. His nurse dropped him when the tidings came. And he had gone out of the land as it were. Into the country of Manasseh. And there he was living. In a place of no pasture. But what I want to point out here. Just a little point is. Is that when Mephibosheth came from a place of no pasture. When he came to be at David's table. And what does David say to him. In verse 7. Eat bread at my table continually. Verse 10. Shalit at my table. All is at my table. Verse 11. Shalit at the king's table. And verse 13. Continually eat at the king's table. We Christians have been brought into a wonderful place of blessing. Where we can have fellowship with the father and with the son. What would you have thought if Mephibosheth had said. Well I'm going to have a break from this fellowship. I'm going to go back to Lodibah. The place of no pasture. We would think it was absolutely ridiculous. And it is ridiculous. When people have been brought up to know the Lord Jesus. And brought up into a company of believers. That love and know the Lord. And brought into a circle where we can enjoy fellowship. With the father and with the son. To give it up. And go back to a system. Go back to a place. Where there is no pasture. The devil is always active. Telling us Christians. Us young Christians. Us old Christians. There is something a bit better elsewhere. You are missing out so much. In just coming along to these meetings. Yeah I know we are missing so much. We are missing all that this world has to offer. That will come to naught. Even the Israelites as they journeyed through the wilderness. They complained at times they said. I wish we were back in Egypt. We could have cucumbers. We could have melons. We could have the garlic. We could have things that were strong in flavor. But low in nourishment. They were things that just satisfied for a moment. Indeed Moses summed it up. When he spoke about the things of this world. He says the pleasures of sin. They last for a season. And so if we have been brought out of the lady bar. To this wonderful place. Where we are enjoying the kindness of God. Let us not go back. Into that place of no pasture. In Matthew chapter 14. These three accounts that we read of the Lord Jesus. I think gives us a little idea of the difference. Between the heart of man. And the heart of the Savior. Because you will have probably have noticed. That on all of these three occasions. The disciples say one thing. And the Lord Jesus says a different thing. In the occasion in chapter 14. The disciples say. Send the multitude away. That's the heart of man. That's my heart. That's your heart. In a difficult situation. Send the multitude away. In the next chapter. Another difficult situation. This lady. This individual. And the disciples say. Send her away. In chapter 19. The children are brought to the Lord Jesus. And the disciples say. A similar thing. The disciples reboot them. That is what man would do. But you know the heart of the Lord Jesus. Is ever towards. His people. And to add to this. This wonderful story of the feeding of the 5,000. It came. Just after. The death of John the Baptist. Had been announced. And I don't think we enter into. What it meant to the Lord Jesus. To realize that John the Baptist. His forerunner. Had been. Beheaded. That one that had came and had said. The kingdom. For the kingdom of God. Is at hand. He had been beheaded. And the disciples of John. They come to Jesus. And there's a wonderful little. Phrase here. In verse 12. And the disciples came. And took up the body. And buried it. And went. And told Jesus. You know if you've got anything. That is worrying you. If you've got anything. That's making you sad. Here is the answer. Tell it to Jesus. He understands. He knows. And the Lord Jesus. He was able to comfort those disciples. And although he was. No doubt very. Grieved and concerned about the fact. That John the Baptist had been. Beheaded. The very next verses. He had compassion. On the multitude. Here we see something. Of the kindness. Of the Lord Jesus. In action. In spite of the circumstances. Were completely contrary. To what we would normally want. To show kindness to others. It is in circumstances of difficulties. Circumstances of pressure. That sometimes we have to be prepared. To show kindness. To others. And what a wonderful way. In which we see that the Lord Jesus. Showed kindness. Because at the beginning of this. Little account. We have three. Distinct groups of people. We have the multitude. We have the disciples. And we have the lad. And you know the Lord Jesus showed kindness. To each of those groups. It would have been comparatively easy. For the Lord Jesus. On that occasion. To have fed the multitudes. Without any help. From the disciples. For thirty years. In the wilderness. The Lord Jesus fed. That multitude of people. With manner. And it would have been as easy. I would say as easy as anything. For the Lord Jesus spoke the word. And manner would have fell. From heaven. And they could have ate the food. But the Lord Jesus was prepared to use. What the disciples had. And what this little boy had. And you know this is an encouragement. I'm sure to each one of us. Because if we were to have read this occasion. And most of us know. It's available in all four gospels. So there is an important point. In the story of the five thousand. If we were to have read it. In John's gospel. Where we are directed to the Lord Jesus. As the son of God. John tells us. There's a lad here. He was only a youngster. And he had five barley loaves. They were poor people's food. Barley. And they had two small fishes. What a tremendous thing it is. That the Lord Jesus. Was able to use. What this lad offered to him. In their own and on their own. Were totally inadequate. What you've got young people. And what you've got to offer to the Lord Jesus. On your own is totally inadequate. And don't we not sometimes feel. How inadequate we are. That we have nothing to bring. And yet the Lord can use. What we have. You remember the story of Moses. In the third chapter of Exodus. When he is saying to God. I'm no good at doing this. And God says to him. What's in your hand? And he had a rod. And he says throw it down. And it became a snake. And he says use that. When you go to see Pharaoh. And then on the occasion. In the second book of Kings. With Elisha. Elisha said. What is in my house? What have we got? Can be fed. And so in this little account. I point out the wonderful kindness of the Lord Jesus. Kindness to the multitude. In spite of his sorrow. He had compassion on them. He healed them. He taught them. And here he fed them. He gave them that food. Kindness to the disciples. He allowed the disciples to pass it on. What a wonderful privilege. That we have you know. Sometimes brethren grumble if they have to preach. Sometimes they say. It's not my turn. I did it two weeks ago. I don't want to do it this week. What a wonderful privilege it is. That we can stand and speak. About the Lord Jesus. And what a wonderful privilege these disciples had. That they could distribute the food. What a wonderful day it was. For that little lad. That he could use his food. To feed the thousands. And the thought of when he got home that night. He ran in the door. And he was too tough to say anything. But all he could say is. Mum guess what happened. And his mum probably didn't believe him. You know the Lord Jesus can do with you. Things which are unbelievable. He is the one that will show kindness. We come to the next chapter. We have what might be called. Slight difficulty here. The Lord Jesus who moves out. Of the then land of Israel. To Tyre and Sidon. And in that land. There is this Canaanite woman. Who has a daughter that is. Got the demon. And she comes to him. And she says have mercy on me. O Lord thou son of David. The disciples say. Send her away. The disciples. But it might be surprised that Jesus. Didn't say. A word. Who ever thought. Why he didn't say a word. Why on an occasion such as this. Didn't he speak. I tell you. As far as I can see this woman. Approached through the Lord Jesus. As the son of David. And as son of David. He was to be the king. He was to take over the reigns. He was to rule. And the day is coming when the Lord Jesus. Will take up his position. As son of David. And will rule over this kingdom. But you know when the Lord Jesus is here. Is reigning. The Canaanites won't be in the land. The last verse of Zechariah tells us. The Canaanites won't be there. And if the Lord Jesus was fulfilling. The commission that was given by Moses. Those Canaanites. Had to be taken out of the land. You read that in Deuteronomy. That the Canaanites. Had to be taken. Out of the land. Deuteronomy 7 verse 1 and 2. And so the Lord Jesus here. In not speaking a word. He is acting. In kindness. And you know our kindness. And the Lord's kindness was never. At the expense. Of the word of God. He said. The Canaanites should not be in the land. They should be destroyed. You should smite them. He even says have no mercy upon them. Because they are sinners. And they are worshippers of false gods. And here was one. And if the Lord Jesus was to approach her. As son of David. He would had to have removed her. But he answered her. Not a word. What a tremendous mark of kindness. So if we want to show kindness. Let us make absolutely certain. That we don't show kindness. Contrary to the word of God. The word of God is very clear. That there are certain things. That we ought to do. There are certain things that we should discipline. Another example that happened a few months ago. A brother said to me. They are wrong at the Baptist church. He said because there were two people there. A husband and a wife. The husband left the wife. And another person that was in the church. And they put them out of fellowship. I said they weren't wrong. They were right. Because the bible tells us. Or he said they weren't showing him kindness. Let us never use kindness. Against the word of God. God's word clearly tells us. Certain things which are important. And that the holiness of God needs to be maintained. And here the Lord Jesus. Showing his kindness. In not speaking a word. When the woman carries on speaking. She addresses him. Not in this next verse. As the king of Israel. In verse 25. She simply says. One of the shortest prayers in the bible. Lord help me. She didn't approach him at this time. As the son of David. As the king of Israel. But she approached him. As the creator. The one who she owned everything to. We see once again. In his love and his kindness. He healed her. Chapter 19. This wonderful occasion. In which the Lord Jesus. And I'm sure again we all know this. The youngsters here. And the Lord Jesus called the children to him. There was an occasion. When a preacher was speaking. And he said. We never read of the Lord Jesus. Smiling. Well. That is true. According to the text of the new testament. We know on one occasion. The Lord Jesus was very joyful. So perhaps that would. I would rule it. But the father who said this. Who was speaking. And the girl says. Oh yes he did. And he said well when did he? He says because he took the little child. Onto his lap. And he must have had a smile on his face. And I believe you know the Lord Jesus. When he took these little children. He expressed something of the kindness. Of his heart. He took them. And he according to as it marks gospel. On the same occasion. He took them into his arms. What a tremendous picture this is. Of kindness of the Lord Jesus. You know often we might think. That children are. They make a lot of noise. And perhaps we think that children are. It's nice when they're not there. And. Let us never get that idea into our mind. The disciples they had that idea. They said send the children away. But you know the kindness of the Lord was here. We see it not only to the multitude. We see it not only to this woman. But we see it to the little children. He showed kindness. To the children. You know perhaps we do have to put up. With something. A bit of noise amongst the children. Perhaps we do have to put up with them. Doing things that we don't always like. We also have to remember. That we're all children at one stage. And we've always done things. What a wonderful thing it is. And what a wonderful point we can make. That the Lord Jesus. Showed kindness to us. And how gentle he was for us when we went astray. When we done things that we shouldn't do. And here we have a wonderful picture. Of the Lord Jesus showing kindness. To children. One of the ways. In which we can show kindness to children. Is we don't go on too long. When they're waiting for their tea. So I'm not going to be much longer. When we come into the epistles. We have the very practical things. Of being kind. I took the bother to look up the word kindness. In the dictionary. The actual word kindness is. There are three different words that are used. Perhaps a few more. But generally about three. And I was amazed to see. That it is in the epistle to the Ephesians. And the epistle to the Colossians. That we are brought face to face. With this challenge. To be kind. It wasn't to the Galatians. That company that had so much difficulties. And so many problems. It wasn't to the Corinthians. It was to the Ephesians. That company that had. The highest truths as we often talk. That company that had. All spiritual blessings. Although of course that was true of everyone. But this company in Ephesians. In Ephesians where the Apostle Paul brings. These wonderful truths. To them he gets down as it were. To the basic fundamental things. Of Christianity. And he says. And be kind. One. To another. Perhaps we can all know what it is. To be the opposite to being kind. And in the previous verse. We have there a list of things. Let all bitterness. How often are we prone to be bitter. Against people. How often is there to be wrath. And this word is. Hot anger. Then of course there is anger itself. We know that it is not wrong to be angry. Because the Lord Jesus himself. Was angry on that one occasion. Is it Mark chapter 3. We read be angry and sin not. And clamor. Well that means to. Like a raven. And all malice. These are the things that would mark. Us as after the flesh. But you know here. In this verse it says. Be kind one to another. Tender hearted. In Galatians chapter. Chapter 5 we read there. The fruits of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, long suffering. Kindness, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against that there is no law. Someone is going to say to me. There is no kindness there. But if you read in the new translation. It says. Love, joy, peace, long suffering. Kindness. You know if we are to show kindness one to another. It is only going to be. As a result of the spirit of God working. In our hearts. It is only going to be as we have steeped ourselves. In the word of God. We see it first in the Lord Jesus. In a wonderful way. I have just read three portions. About the Lord Jesus. I am sure that we could have read anywhere. In the gospels. As we watch the Lord Jesus move through the scene. And we could pick out times when he showed. Wonderful kindness. You know the end of this verse. In Ephesians says. Even as God for Christ's sake. Has forgiven you. There is no real excuse. Our kindness should be. As the Lord Jesus. Has shown kindness. And so I just trust. That these few little words. Will encourage us to be more kind. One to another. To show kindness. We know the opposites of kindness. And if we look at this verse. With the opposites that we have looked at. And we see this. But against that particular person. Let us show kindness to them. Let us come alongside them. And speak to them. That is how the Lord would have us act. May this be so for his name sake. Now I am going to sing. Not me personally. Pick another hymn. Each of these hymns has the word kindness in it. And this one. 221. Hymn 221. Happy those who trust in Jesus. Sweet their portion is insure. When the foes on other sees us. God will keep his own secure. Happy people. Happy though despised and poor. Though the Saviour never slumbers. Ever watchful is his care. Though we cannot boast of numbers. In his strength secure are we. Sweet their portion. Who their Saviour's. Kindness share. Hymn 222. Kindness share. Hymn 221. …

… I hope each one has got one of these sheets that I've tried to prepare for you this afternoon. You can see from there that our subject is to look at the types of the Lord Jesus Christ that are mentioned in the Old Testament and that are represented by various Old Testament saints, or sometimes we say Old Testament worries. Of course we realise that there are many types of the Lord Jesus in the Bible as a whole, that there are types which are represented by people, of which we're going to concentrate on this afternoon, but of course there are other items and things and incidents in the Word of God that also represent the Lord Jesus Christ. We thought in the prayer meeting of the Lord Jesus as the manna, for instance. We can think of him represented in various offerings. We can remember him in his death, represented as the children of Israel going through the Red Sea and through the River Jordan and such like. But this afternoon, because it's such, I think it's a very wide subject, and looking down that list as I'm sure you have, you'll see that there are certainly two or three that I've undernarred about for a good few weeks as to whether to put in or leave out, and in fact space has largely dictated my decision in the end of those to leave in. And I'm sure as you, and as we go through them together, there are things that you will think about, that you could add. And certainly, even coming down the car as I was looking at my sheets, I thought, why didn't I put that in? Why didn't I put this in? And it seems that every time you would look at this subject, I would hope that we would leave appreciating more of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because on this cold winter afternoon, I think our hearts need to be warmed. Our hearts need to be encouraged to think of him, the author and the finisher of our faith. So that there are in these people, these men that we've got listed here, some of them, we'll perhaps briefly touch on it, are perhaps bitter well known as types of other things in the scriptures. Thinking perhaps of Enoch. Enoch is often thought of as a type of the church. The church and Enoch that was taken before the Noah, again a representative of the remnant of Israel as Noah went through the flood, and that Enoch was taken away before the flood. They're types in another sense. But if we can concentrate and think of them as types of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then it's obviously true, but I think very important to say, that none of them can fully or even remotely represent completely our Lord Jesus Christ. That it needs, and I think I've got 19 names here, that it needs 19 people to even begin to fully represent everything that's been revealed to us about him. And we know that eternity will be spent learning and fully appreciating all that he is and all that he has done for us. Now some might say, well how do you know that these men are types of the Lord Jesus? I've included the last column because I found it interesting just to note where the New Testament fairly definitely says that these people are types of the Lord Jesus. And I must admit to being surprised to find that so few of them are actually mentioned in the New Testament as types. But I'm sure we could ask everybody here, we could go out and ask many many Christians of different persuasions and ask them, do you think David, Joseph and Moses are types of the Lord Jesus? And I'm sure the answer would come back very definitely yes. And then of course that wonderful scripture that the Lord says as they were journeying on the way to Emmaus in Luke 24 verse 27, and he said, and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures things concerning himself. The word of God is littered with references and pictures and types and figures of him. Some of these people are in fact brought to our attention mainly to give a contrast to the Lord Jesus Christ. If we think of Adam, we tell that Adam is a living soul and that Christ is a life-giving spirit. We think of Adam as being the first man, earthy, but the Lord Jesus as being the second man out of heaven, a direct contrast. We know that Moses brought in the law, but the Lord Jesus brought grace and truth. So there are some occasions where there is that contrast and that contrast in itself helps to illuminate something of our Lord Jesus. So what I would propose to do is that if we look at each of these men mentioned in the Old Testament, I'm sure all of them familiar to you, and just remind ourselves as to the main ways in which they are types of the Lord Jesus, what as you can see I try to do is to pick out themes and themes that I was interested in to see where they would actually fit in. And so hopefully we might have a bit of time at the end to glance down those columns and to see what might be said and what they reveal to us either in their entirety or in other features. So if we start with that first man, Adam. The scripture tells us that in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 22 that as in Adam all die, in Christ all are made alive. And Adam is given to us as a type, as one who was given dominion over all earthly things. And there if we keep looking at the Lord Jesus and keep pointing the light so to speak at him, we can surely see how he is given dominion. We can perhaps think of Adam on the earth, that first man, that he had dominion over all living things. He had dominion over everything that was there. If we perhaps could turn and have a look at Hebrews chapter 2. And many of the references are found in the book of Hebrews. But Hebrews chapter 2 verse 8 tells us, Thou has put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. So we as the Lord's people can recognize that the Lord has dominion. He has dominion over everything. And how we look forward to that day when the whole world will bow before him and own that he does have that dominion. But we got that contrast with Adam. We saw the disobedience of Adam. The disobedience in eating of that forbidden fruit. The effect that that has had upon all of us. All the world, everybody who has ever lived. That it brought in death. And the great contrast with the obedience of Christ. That Adam disobeyed, Christ obeyed and brought in life. And then we can remind ourselves of the way in which Eve was formed. That Eve was formed from Adam's rib. But during that deep sleep that the woman, Eve, was formed. And we can think there again of the church being formed. That that deep sleep could represent the death of Christ. That through the death of Christ that the church, those that love the Lord Jesus, have been brought in. And if we move on to Abel. That Abel, perhaps we would say, is not a particularly strong type of the Lord Jesus. But we know there that he offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice. That came brought of the fruit of the earth, which had already been cursed. But that Abel was, through faith, able to offer that more excellent sacrifice. That the Lord Jesus offered himself as the most excellent sacrifice. And surely that is a thought worth remembering. But if we move on to Enoch. Very little is said of Enoch. It's perhaps worth referring to the few verses that we do have about him in Genesis chapter 5. We've got the age of which he lived, which is obviously important. But if we just concentrate on verse 24. It tells us that Enoch walked with God. And he was not. For God took him. Perhaps three simple phrases there that we're told of Enoch. But when we think of, it mentions that Enoch walked with God. And we think of the walk of our Lord Jesus Christ. Perfect in every way. That he walked with God. What a wonderful thing that is to say about a man. That he walked with God. That he pleased God. And we think of those exclamations from heaven itself. That were made about our Lord Jesus Christ. That here is my beloved son. That he pleased God in everything that he did. And on the Mount of Transfiguration. Saying that the Lord Jesus had pleased God in everything that he did. But if we look to that phrase. That God took him. And we've already briefly mentioned to the fact that Enoch can also be a type of the church. That God took him away before the judgment was made upon this world. A wonderful thought for us. That we're taken away before God executes judgment in this world. But then if we think of Enoch being the father of Methuselah. We think of Methuselah as being the longest man that ever lived. And that being the father of Methuselah. Perhaps in a weak way, in a slight way. We can think of the Lord Jesus being the father of those that have lived the longest. That we have that eternal life in a very much greater way. And then we have Jude 14 in the New Testament. We certainly tend to forget, I tend to forget. That Enoch was mentioned as a prophet. But if we just briefly refer to that verse. It says the 7th from Adam prophesied of these saying. Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints. Quite remarkable. That in the very early history of this earth. But the prophecy that this man Enoch made. Being a prophet. Making known the mind of God for his generation. That he prophesied about this very fact. That the Lord was going to come with ten thousand of his saints. It seems to me a remarkable prophetic venture. Saying that this wonderful thing. And we know that it refers to us. That the Lord Jesus will come with us. When he returns. And every eye shall see him. So if we move on to Noah. And we think of again. Perhaps not the strongest of types. But we go back to that time of Noah. And we think something of the circumstances. And the conditions that Noah lived in. But first of all he was a righteous man. Now how that would refer us to the Lord Jesus. As being that righteous man. The one who did everything that was right. That in so much a greater way. Because we know that all these men sinned. And all these men had failures. But the Lord Jesus was the perfect righteous one. How thankful we are about that. Because if he wasn't the perfect Lamb of God. Then he wouldn't have been able to do that great work. And take away the sins of the world. That he was perfect in his generations. And that again he walked with God. How was he received? That he was received in a way that was certainly antagonistic. That men were ambivalent to him and his message. That he preached that the judgment, the flood would come. For those many years. That he was seen faithfully building that ark. Through which they could have been saved. That they were completely against what he said. That he preached righteousness. But the people living at that time. Completely just ignored and refused to accept his message. And then we move on. You can see that I put these lists down chronologically. As they lived upon this earth. And we come to Melchizedek. Melchizedek, a wonderful type. It's mentioned there definitely three times in Hebrews. As Melchizedek being a type. If we'd perhaps read the Old Testament. And looked at the few verses where we'd read of Melchizedek. We could perhaps have passed over it. Without really realizing its true significance. But here was a most incredible mention. That he was without father. Without mother. Without genealogy. Having neither beginning of days. Nor end of life. That somewhere in the Old Testament as a type. It was brought to attention. That there was going to be a man. The savior. The Lord Jesus Christ. Who was going to have without father. Without mother. Etc. Most marvelous type. But of course Melchizedek was the high priest. And when we think of this man meeting Abraham. As he'd come back from war. And defeated with obviously God's help. The enemies and those that had taken lots. He's called the king of righteousness. The king of peace. Thoughts that we'll meet in a few moments. But as the high priest. When the Lord Jesus is mentioned. As being of the order of Melchizedek. That we think of the present ministry. Of our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. That he is our high priest. That he is there to intercede for us. What a wonderful thought that is. Really I'm sure of many hours of ministry. In the way in which our Lord Jesus Christ. Is in heaven now. And that he's there interceding for us. And that he's there before the father. Bringing our case so to speak before him. But if we move on. And think of Isaac. More than one type of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we think of that most famous situation. When Abraham took his only son Isaac. And that as they were going up that Mount Moriah. And the son Isaac turned to the father. And said where is the lamb? And Abraham could reply. God will provide a lamb. What a wonderful type hidden there. Not even hidden but shouting at us really. From the Old Testament. Of how the father would give up his son. That Isaac walked with his father. I think it's a tremendous thing to realize. That both of them went together to the cross. That was our Lord Jesus Christ. Walked on this earth. And he went steadfastly as a flint towards Jerusalem. That is he went to that awful place. That he walked with his father. That God did indeed provide a lamb. That in some aspects that he was offered by the father himself. And that as Isaac is that type. As one who went into death. And was raised as one from the dead. That we are brought to that most important place. The cross. Calvary itself. And our Lord Jesus Christ. Dying in our place. In our stead. So that our sins could be forgiven. So that we could be with him in heaven. The type is truly remarkable. We would think of. We don't know how old Isaac was at that time. But we would think of that young man. Obediently. Laying down his life. Of obediently. Of getting on to that altar. Of letting his father. Tie him up on that altar. And of letting his father. Do such a thing to him. It is something that I think is thrown into contrast today. Where we see such lack of obedience. That a son would be willing to go to those lengths. In simple obedience to his father. And then we think of our Lord Jesus. Who in simple obedience. Did always those things that pleased the father. But then a thing that we see on a number of occasions. How that a bride was obtained for Isaac. We see this in numerous times. How that a bride was obtained by the Holy Spirit. And that the bride came from Isaac's own kindred. He would perhaps speak to us of a heavenly type. That we are the heavenly ones. There's a form in that bride. And that he loved her. It tells us in the end of that chapter. That Christ loved the church. And gave himself for her. So we come now to Joseph. Now Joseph as I'm sure we all know. Is a most wonderful type of the Lord Jesus. A most blessed one to study. And as we move through those chapters. In the end of Genesis there. Things are so obvious. And they leap out at us. When they bring us to perhaps appreciate more and more. Of what the Lord Jesus went through. For our sakes and his future position. But we think don't we. Of the way in which Joseph was the loved one of his father. That Jacob loved him more than any of his others. But how did his brethren envy him. How they betrayed him for those 20 pieces of silver. We know it was 30 pieces of silver. In the case of our Lord. That he was wrongly accused. And went into the dungeon. That he was taken. So he spent many days in that dungeon. That he was taken from the pit. And from the dungeon. And elevated. Immediately. In such a short space of time. To that great position of power. To be ruler of the world. How that surely fills our hearts. When we think of the Lord Jesus. Being down into the very depths. But elevated. And sitting at God's right hand. But the pit which would speak to us. He was put there because of the envy of his brethren. Do we sometimes realize and appreciate. That the Lord Jesus came unto his own. And his own received him not. That they were envious of him. That the Jewish Pharisees and the scribes. For envy. Sent him to the Romans. That there were Jews involved. And that there was the Gentiles involved. The Gentiles, Potiphar. And obviously the lawyer at that time. They falsely judged Joseph. He was there wrongly. And surely our Lord was put on that cross wrongly. He was wrongly accused. But we know that he was sent to preserve life. That he was elevated to that position of great power. That he ruled over Egypt. Which speaks to us of the world. And yet we see again this aspect of him being given a wife. We see that he was given a Gentile wife. Different from Rebecca. A Gentile wife. Speaking again of his church. And we think of the children that were born to Joseph in Egypt. That they were claimed by his father. For himself. And that the bride is always intimately associated with him in his glory. That aspect of the bride brought out. Of the bride in all the glory that was given to Joseph as he ruled this world. And we can see the glory that will come to the church. Composed mainly of Gentiles. That they will be with him in that glory. And that we can see there that the descendants of Joseph were placed in the most fruitful parts of the country. And that is only when the brethren were fully prostrate. And bowed the knee before him. That he revealed himself to them. You can see that picture almost dispensationally speaking. How that Joseph was elevated by the king, by Pharaoh. That his brethren didn't own him. They didn't know him. But there came a time when they did know him. And that they were prostrate before him. Speaking of Israel. The Jews. Who don't know him at this present time. But in a future day they will fully own him. And they will be with him as well. Then obviously Joseph's brother. Benjamin. See perhaps another contrast with Benjamin. That his name there is son of the right hand that his father called him. And son of my sorrow which was given to him by Rachel his mother. But some have considered that to be a type rejected during Israel's tribulation. We think also of the son of my sorrow. And we can see the contrast. The life of the Lord Jesus as he lived here upon this earth. That he was a man of sorrows. Appointed with grief. That he is now elevated and is sitting at God's right hand. If we move over the page. Look at Moses. Again another wonderful type of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can't help to go into all the aspects of the life of Moses. That would lead us to him. My thought as I think I've said and just reiterate. Is to try and get an overview. To try in the time that I've got available. See aspects from all over the Old Testament. Through these people. To try and help us to see how wonderful the Lord Jesus is. You see that Moses was raised by God. When the enemy of the people was supreme. That Moses was raised up to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt. And that as we think right at the beginning of his life. That the king tried to kill him at his birth. There we obviously know of how the wise men came and Herod the great. Tried to kill him at his birth. That as we look that Moses was able to lead the people out of Egypt. To serve God. That Moses delivered the people from the power of Pharaoh. That as the children of Israel went through the Red Sea. That they were delivered from the power of Pharaoh. I think something that we need to remember. That we are delivered from the power of Satan. That he's not just saved us, brought us with the price. But that the Lord Jesus Christ has delivered us from the power of Satan. That we no longer belong to him. But as we think in this case of the marriage of Moses. That he was given Zipporah. Again a Gentile wife. That he had two sons. And that this would perhaps remind us of the Gentile church. Given to Christ in his rejection. That Moses was rejected at this time. He was in the wilderness. He wasn't accepted by his own people. And the church was given to him. As the church is today. While the Jews still reject their Messiah. That God was able to speak to Moses mouth to mouth. A unique phrase mentioned in the scriptures. That God spoke to Moses mouth to mouth. That Moses had this very intimate, this very close relationship with God. And it speaks to us doesn't it of the relationship the Lord Jesus had with his father. That it was mouth to mouth. That he spoke with him. That he communed with him. That he prayed on the mount. That in the garden of Gethsemane he communed with his father. Moses as we know was the meekest man on all the earth. And to think of the Lord Jesus Christ coming into this world where he was disowned and rejected. Where he didn't claim what was rightfully his. As being the meekest man that ever lived. Truly a wonderful thought. And as we look at the reactions of how people treated him. We see that the children of Israel murmured against him. They grumbled against Moses. They rebelled against him. And we think of the reaction that the people, the Jews in particular, had against the Son of God. Their Messiah as he came into this world. How they treated him. How they would take him to that brow of the hill and seek to throw him over. How they mumbled. How they plotted to kill him. Terrible thoughts that they did against the Son of God. But the type of Moses as being the intercessor. The number of times that the children of Israel did those things that were terribly, heinously wrong. And Moses had to speak to God on their behalf. That he interceded for them. He pleaded for them. He was that mediator between God and man. As we know the Lord Jesus is. But he was their leader. That he was in some sense the apostle and the prophet. Wonderful type of the Lord Jesus. Moses' brother Aaron. The type mainly as the high priest again. Ever living to make intercession for us. But the job of the high priest was to offer up sacrifices and keep the people in relationship to God. Thankfully, I'm sure, the majority of us in this room say that we belong to the Lord Jesus. We've been bought with a price. He's died for us. But as we live in this world, the high priest is making that intercession for us. Keeping us in relationship with God. How necessary that is for us. That we kept in the closeness and the preciousness of that relationship. That he died to secure for us. We do have the phrase, Aaron and his sons. Mentioned a number of times in the Old Testament and the Pentateuch in particular. And there we have that type of Christ and the church. That Christ identified himself with the priestly company, his brethren. As we move on and think of Joshua. That name meaning saviour, deliverer. Jehovah the saviour. That he was only one out of the two that lived in the wilderness and was able to go into the land. That he was the victorious leader. That he brought them into the promised land. He was their leader and captain. The type of Christ risen from the dead. The one who went through the river Jordan. And who was brought up out of the other side, out of death. And who led his people to be victorious in the land. Boaz. We know that Boaz was a mighty man of wealth. The type of him as the kinsman redeemer. We know that our Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed us by his blood. That he has paid the price. And that he has brought us back to God. That he has redeemed us. But Boaz would speak to us of the fact that he is the kinsman redeemer. The one who was the nearest family member. And that when someone who was a near relative, a closer relative to Ruth. And she came back from that, well came into Israel from the land of Moab. That the nearest kinsman couldn't or wouldn't redeem Ruth. But that he as the kinsman redeemer was able to redeem her. The nearest kinsman perhaps speaking of the law. The law couldn't save us. The law couldn't bring us into that relationship. The law couldn't pay the price for our sins. But the Lord Jesus Christ as our kinsman redeemer paid the price. He was a mighty man of wealth. And he was able to pay that great price. We are not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold. But with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we think of Ruth again as being a gentile. That she was one who was brought in to the family. We know that she was mentioned in the genealogy. In that special place. And Moabites mentioned in the genealogy. Brought in. That as a type in the future Boaz could be thought of as the one who raised up Israel through this desolate remnant. Samson. Here again perhaps we think of Samson and all his failings. All the things that he did wrong. But we can think of him, I'm sure, as a type of Christ. That he gave up his life. The Lord Jesus gave up his life. He willingly died. He willingly pulled down those pillars in the temple of Dagon itself. And he destroyed 3000 of his enemies. Samson was delivered up to the Philistines, their enemies, by his own people. The Lord Jesus, in an awful terrible way, was given into the hands of the Romans. In an awful way. By his own people, the Jews. How that rankled with Samson. How that appalled him. That he had fought the Philistines. He had defeated and killed many of them. And yet his own people delivered him up. And we know that he was forsaken and they fled away from him. And that he was delivered up by his own people. But Samson was a Nazirite. And our Lord Jesus was the true Nazirite. The one that was separated. The one that was marked out. And that through his death, the Lord Jesus brought deliverance to the whole world. If they would but accept him. And David, of course, is, I think, one of the three best types, if we can put it as simply as that. David, that one that was a man after God's own heart. That God chose him. That David was the one who was going to care and feed his people. David was the shepherd who looked after the sheep. And David was the one who was anointed when he was unknown in his humility. That the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him at that time. And of course we know that at the beginning of our Lord's ministry, the Spirit of Jehovah certainly came upon him. And then we think of that great event. That tremendous event where David, as a young lad, went down alone to meet the foe. What a tremendous type that is. Of the Lord Jesus Christ going down into the valley. Down into death itself. And facing the foe, Satan, himself alone. We know that the Lord Jesus was the only one who could defeat Satan. And David here speaks of the Lord Jesus defeating Goliath. Defeating Satan. Winning that great victory over Satan himself. David was hunted by Saul in the wilderness. And we know the Lord Jesus was certainly hunted and searched out in a wrong way by his own people. But some women sang praises of David. And thankfully today there are those that love the Lord Jesus and would sing his praises. As David gradually, over a number of years, got his rightful place as the king. That he can be thought of in a future way. As the man of war. As the one who defeated his enemies. And as the one who defeated his enemies before he became king. And the Lord Jesus will come a second time. And he will defeat his enemies at the Battle of Armageddon. Before the Millennial Kingdom. Before he becomes king. He will defeat his enemies. That in the place of... Perhaps I better just mention, draw your attention to Abigail again. That Abigail, a wife that was brought to him in his rejection. And called him Lord. Speaking of the church and how while the Lord is rejected. We can call him Lord and own him as Lord. But that Mephibosheth sat at his table. And that the grace that came from David. That he searched out that who from the house of Saul he could show favour to. And David's son Solomon. Solomon, we know, speaks and gives us, I think, one of the best pictures. Perhaps along with Joseph. Of what it will be like in that Millennial Kingdom. When the Lord Jesus will rule as king. What a great day that will be. When all the enemies will be defeated. David defeated all the enemies. And Solomon rules there. Our Lord Jesus Christ will rule. There will be peace. There will be prosperity. There will be righteousness. There will be wisdom displayed in all its magnitude. There will be the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Known throughout the world. That the Queen of Sheba could exclaim the half had not been told. And we look forward to that time, don't we? When as the world goes by and casts dispersions on his name. That they will see him in all his glory. That they would come, they will come. From all the earth to hear his wisdom. And bow before him. And I think it's worth pointing out. That we might remember that Solomon was castigated. Because he loved many foreign women. But we can think that he married Pharaoh's daughter. Another Gentile. And that the church can be thought of as reigning with him in his glory. That's a wonderful thought, isn't it? That we will reign with the Lord Jesus. With him in his glory. That we will be there. And we will be in that prominent place. Elisha. Elisha, the prophet. The one who acted in grace. Except, of course, where grace was spurned. And the resurrection was mocked. The miracles that Elisha did. Reminders of the miracles of the Lord Jesus. That Elisha was able to raise people from the dead. A very rare thing today. Certainly, throughout the pages of history. That this would speak of the one who has been raised from the dead. But the one who was able to raise from the dead. That we will be raised if we go into death before the Lord Jesus comes. Jonah. Well, a New Testament reference there. We know Jonah being in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. That the Lord Jesus was dead those three days. Three days. Three nights. And that as Jonah was spewed out of the fish and brought back, so to speak, from life again. We know that our Lord Jesus was brought back to life. That God raised him from the dead. And we see that type mentioned. That Jonah was a prophet. And that he was a prophet from a place called Gathipha. Which I'm told is in Galilee. And the Lord Jesus lived and did his early ministry in Galilee. That Jonah was a prophet to the Gentiles through Israel. As our Lord Jesus Christ is. And then perhaps we can think of Zerubbabel. The one who, at a later day. His name meant there that he was a stranger at Babylon. A dispersion of confusion. And that he was head of the Jews who returned from exile under the decree of Silas. And that they built the altar in Jerusalem. And that sacrificed. And the second year started the temple. And he caused the temple to be rebuilt. Reminding us of that future day. When that temple will be rebuilt in that coming kingdom. So we've looked through. A little bit briefly. Some of the main aspects of how these men were types of the Lord Jesus. But perhaps. And I would encourage you to think about it. Because I'm sure I've nowhere near. And I couldn't get into the page. Explored many of the themes. That would run down these people. I was interested for instance. And I can't say I got too far. They're just looking at the names. I've put them there for you. For your consideration. I was interested in the very fact of their fathers and mothers. If you look down there. You can see that fathers. Of course except for the notable exception. Always mentioned. The mothers. Only occasionally mentioned. And we know that relationship. Between the Lord Jesus and his father. Obviously very precious. I tried to look at the tribes. Where appropriate. To see what tribes were mentioned. Didn't get too far with that one. But saw that the town of Bethlehem. Came through quite prominently. Perhaps as we might expect. When we look at the moral ways of these people. The phrase that hit me a number of times. Was that of walking with God. That seemed to be emphasized. By at least three of these people. But then we get the characteristics as a whole. Brought together. We have the idea of meekness with Moses. Humility. We have obedience with Isaac. Faithfulness. Faithfulness perhaps in the case of Noah. Of grace in the case of Elijah. And you build up a picture. Because not one of these people. Can anywhere near represent. The moral glories of our Lord Jesus Christ. And there are many more there. I'm sure to explore. But when we look down the reaction column. Direction to our Lord Jesus. We find that the overwhelming reaction. Is against him. And was against. These worthy Old Testament saints. Terrible it was. Many of these men did marvelous. With the help of God. Marvelous things. But you see time and time again. That they were against him. And against his message. I think Solomon was the one there. That is poignant in being the opposite. His accomplishments. As we would expect. We get the idea of saving. And delivering the people. Mentioned over and over again. There's one who came to save his people. To deliver them from the power of the enemy. And the idea of ruling. Seems to come through as well. Death and resurrection. Obviously important points of the gospel. And it is amazing how many of these types. Bring that to the fore. That in the Old Testament. Before the Lord Jesus came. That they showed people. That this Messiah. The Son of God. Would have to die. And praise be to God. To be raised from the dead. We even get Enoch. But Enoch didn't die. As a picture of the future. And I think one of the most lovely ones. Spoken about it a fair bit. Was the marriage theme. The marriage theme that runs through. We have. Don't we? That the church. Adam and Eve. Brought him through the results of death. Brought him through the Holy Spirit. As mentioned as the bride for Isaac. We have remarkably the number of Gentiles. That married these people. That the Gentiles were brought into blessing. The church made up of Jew and Gentile. That the church was brought in. While the Lord was rejected. We saw that in Moses and David. That the church was with him during his exaltation. As the case of Joseph. And that in the case of Solomon. That the church was there. Or will be there. Reigning with him. That's quite remarkable as we look down there. And then as we consider the roles of the Lord Jesus. Far too many to really put down there. And enumerate. Far more than any one person could even hope. To be able to cope with. Humanly speaking. The manifold ways. And roles. That the Lord Jesus took and takes today. The future has started off in fact. In looking to see how dispensationally. We could take these types. And see how they referred to the dispensations. That decided not to concentrate on that theme. But we've got the tribulation mentioned. That's in the case of Benjamin. We've got the raising of Israel. By Boaz. Defeating the enemies before the millennium. Case of David. The brothers bowing down before him. Jews bowing down before him. Joseph. Millennium with Solomon. Building a temple with Zerubbabel. And then the eternal theme coming through. With Melchizedek. So I leave these thoughts with you. I would surely encourage us all. To look at them carefully. To fill in the gaps. I filled in quite a few gaps. When I was able to do that even last night. And I'm sure that they would speak to us. Of what a wonderful saviour we have. How fantastic and magnificent it is. That we have one. Who has been revealed to us. In many facets and different ways. In such detail. And things that are beyond our comprehension. May it be that we're able to praise and worship him. In some way as we ought. Could we close by singing hymn number 151. Lord Jesus. When we think of thee. Of all thy love and grace. Our spirits long. And fain would see. Thy beauty face to face. Hymn number 151. …

… The Hebrews and chapter 1 Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Who, being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. I think we are having a very interesting day. We've already had a demonstration of what clever people would call parallax. And that fits in very well with the kind of thing we are talking about today. Just to remind you, it's about six o'clock, and if you were standing in the middle of the center aisle, eleven with the two clocks, and you looked at them both at the beginning of this meeting, more or less, they would both say six o'clock. But at that time, if I was standing here, looking at that clock, I would think it was about three or four minutes past six o'clock. But if I was looking at that clock from here, it would look as though it was three or four minutes to six o'clock. You see, it depends what angle I'm looking at the clock. And when you work it out, and you take account of the fact that the minute pointer, there's a gap between the pointer and the face of the clock, you'll be able to work out why it seems to be different. Now, we are going to look at someone tonight, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is absolutely perfect from whichever angle you look at him. And so much for that. We've also learned that if you read the Bible, God marks out things that are significant by grouping them together, either in threes, or sevens, or nines. And we've had some demonstrations of that. And again, that will help us. When we do that, you've got to have a little bit of caution, because when God speaks, because he's a triune God, he speaks in a threefold way, and he often demonstrates things which are perfect or complete by using the number seven. And when there are things that speak about the fullness of the Holy Spirit, things happen in three times, three sets of nine, you have to be very careful not to jump to conclusions, because the devil, the great copier, the great counterfeiter, very often does things that seem to be good, because they're in threes, sevens, or nines, and when you look carefully, you find that it's the devil, the great counterfeiter, who's copying God, making people think that he is as good as God. Now, we are going to look at a seven today. But it's one of God's sevens, not one of the devil's sevens. So, whether it's the first time we've considered this, or whether you've looked at it many times before, here is one of the great sevens of scripture. What I'm going to look at now are reasons why Jesus is in heaven. Now, there may well be more. I'm always happy when someone comes afterwards and says, You've said there are seven, but what about this one? Sure enough, there'll be more. But there are at least seven reasons why Jesus is in heaven. And as we go through them, very simply, we'll see why it is put in that particular way. To make life easy for us, and God does make it easy for us in reading the scriptures, all the scriptures I'm going to refer to are in the epistle to the Hebrews. And while we'll be jockeying back and forwards in Hebrews, we'll not be going further afield than that. Now, these first three verses, very important verses, they're about the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the things I thought Edwin was going to ask us this afternoon was there are three chapters in the New Testament in particular which tell us about the personal glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, you would have all been shouting out straight away, John won, Colossians won, Hebrews won. Well, this is one of them, Hebrews won. And this is the first thing, and it's always important first, to think about the person before you think about things that are true of the person. Now, in verse three, you've got this term, the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person. Now, we all think of things differently, so I'm going to give you two sets of headings. I'm glad some of you have pens and papers and you're not making shopping lists, you're thinking of something that I've said that you'll write down and that will trigger off your future studies. The first reason why Jesus is in heaven is because of who he is. That's the first thing. The Lord Jesus is in heaven and it's right for him to be in heaven because of who he is. Now, if you want a more technical way of saying that, you can say the Lord Jesus is in heaven because of his personal glory, because of the person that he is. And that word is in verse three of this. And, you know, when you think of someone, before you start thinking about things about him, you've got to say, now, what sort of person is this? The Lord Jesus, yes, he came into the world born a baby, a Bethlehem, but it wasn't long before people began to realise that he wasn't an ordinary person like everybody else. There is something special, there is something absolutely unique about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. Indeed, he is God the Son. As to his person, he is God. He is the creator and sustainer of the universe. And because he is God, heaven is God's home. And because of that, it is right that the Lord Jesus should be in heaven. I'm moving quickly on so that we don't go over time. So then, the first point is, Jesus is in heaven because of who he is, his personal glory. Now, as I say, give other reasons, you'll be building them up in your mind and you'll be wanting to remember them. Bearing in mind that little statement in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 4, about verse 12, where it says something like this, a three-fold cord is not easily broken. It didn't take men long to discover that instead of having one thick cord, if you made a lot of fine cords and twisted them together, that would be far stronger than one on its own. And that's demonstrated in that phrase, a three-fold cord is not easily broken. Each strand you add to a cord, you get greater strength and you get greater flexibility. And what we are thinking about tonight is not a three-fold cord, or a four-fold cord, but a seven-fold cord. And the first one, the central one, that is basic to the rest, is that the Lord Jesus is in heaven because he is God. Now, move over further in chapter 1 please, to verse 9. God speaking to the Lord Jesus, well, we'll read verse 8 as well. Unto the Son, God says, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And then again in chapter 2, in more nines tonight, aren't we? It must be significant. Chapter 2, verse 9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor. And he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. Again, next. Next. Good time could be spent in thinking what these verses mean. But in simplicity, we move on from the central strand of that very strong cord about the Lord Jesus, that Jesus is in heaven because of who he is. And the second one that we have, which entwines around the central one, tells us this. The Lord Jesus is in heaven because of what he is. Not only who he is in person, but what he is in the kind of person that he is. Now, in parallel with that, the second heading is, Jesus is in heaven because of his moral perfection. You know, there are many words in the English language and probably in others, which are not easy to explain. We know what we mean, but it's difficult to put into words. And this word moral is one of them. Moral things are about understanding the difference between doing what is right and doing what is wrong. And not only doing the right thing, but having the desire to do the right thing. Now, there have been good men and good women who have lived in the world since the beginning of the creation of Adam and Eve. But only of the Lord Jesus can it be said that he in himself, as to his thoughts and his words and his deeds, that he's absolutely perfect. Now, that's what we mean. With everyone else that's ever lived, God in heaven can look down and see some blemish, some imperfection, some fault, which means he's not suitable to live in heaven. There are sins, there are sinfulness, there are wicked thoughts, there are imperfections, which mean that that person is not suitable for heaven. But of the Lord Jesus, however you look at him, whichever aspect of his life he lived, whatever he said, whatever he did, the central truth about the Lord Jesus is that there's nothing that anyone could ever point at which would mean that it would keep him out of heaven. He would never be debarred from heaven for anything about him at all. He is absolutely perfect. So the second reason why Jesus is in heaven is that he is morally perfect. Not only in heaven because of who he is, but he deserves to be in heaven because of what he is. Now, I will pause there because I'm speaking about Jesus. Now, there are many people in the world who speak about Jesus in a very flippant way, a very irreverent way, and I wouldn't want to be like that or for you to think that I was like that. But in the book of Hebrews and the New Testament, more than any other book really for the number of chapters, the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, Creator, Sustainer of the Universe is spoken about as Jesus. Now, why should that be? The nation of Israel, when the Lord Jesus presented himself as their long-promised Messiah, they didn't believe him. They didn't want him. They jeered at him. They mocked at him. They said this, Jesus, speaking of the Lord Jesus in a very disparaging way. But when God wanted to talk about the Lord Jesus as being absolutely perfect in all his ways, he directed a Jew to write to the Jewish nation and to say, this man that you've thought so badly about is absolutely perfect from whatever angle you look at. And to emphasize that, the Holy Spirit said to the writer, all the way through, wherever you can, use his personal name of Jesus. Now, that's why the name of Jesus comes up so often in the epistle to the Hebrews. That the ones that the Jews despised, that so many in the world at the present time want nothing to do with, that the Holy Spirit highlights him as the one who was thought nothing of when he lived in the world, but that he deserves to be at the very highest spot, and we read this, as to who he is and what he is, there's no reason at all why he should not be in heaven. So, instead of being right at the bottom of the heap, in man's estimation, God says he's in heaven rightly, crowned with glory and with honor. So, we move on to chapter 10. I'm taking it in the order I am for reasons that I hope are emerging as we go along. Hebrews 10, verse 12. Speaking of Jesus, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God. Spoiled for choice really, there are so many verses that tell us this truth. Yes, the Lord Jesus deserves to be in heaven because of who he is, his personal glory. He deserves to be in heaven because of what he is, an absolutely perfect man. But this now moves on, and we read that he's in heaven because of what he's done, because of the work of the cross. And among the many verses in Hebrews we could go to, this one is very good, very near the top of the list. In chapter 9 it says, Once in the end of the age hath Christ appeared to put away sins by the sacrifice of himself. If there were no other reason for the Lord Jesus to be in heaven now, this would be absolutely sufficient in itself. The Lord Jesus is in heaven among other reasons to demonstrate that the work that he did at Calvary in dealing with sin and sins is demonstrably complete. God says, I want to demonstrate that the work that Jesus did on the cross was completed entirely to my full satisfaction. And I'm going to demonstrate that by giving him an exalted place in heaven. And you can look at him and you can say, the fact that he's there in heaven means that the work of the cross was totally satisfactory to God. See, each of these strands in this sevenfold cord is sufficient in itself. If there was only one reason given in the Bible why Jesus is in heaven, it would be sufficient. But each one that's added as the Bible says, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little, each strand that's added means that the whole truth is more secure and more for the glory of God. So we've considered who is the Son of God. We've considered what he is absolutely perfect by God's absolute standard. And we've moved on from who he is and what he is to what he's done. I suppose we're moving chronologically through what we know about the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we've moved on from the kind of person he was in the world to consider the work that he came to do just before the Lord went to the cross. We would say anticipatively knowing that he was going to do it just after that. The Lord says to his Father, the Son said, I have finished the work thou gavest me to do. Now when the work was finished we read that God raised him from the dead and gave him glory. And that glory is defined in these verses that we've read. That God says the token, the proof, the guarantee that the work of the cross is absolutely finished never needing to be repeated is that God has set Christ on high. Chapter 12. Chapter 12, verse 2. Looking unto Jesus see what I mean? The personal name is used. Reverently, carefully, gently, pinpointing the person who was our Lord and Savior. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was said before him endured the cross despising the shame and was set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Now, you Bible students will be used to linking certain chapters together. Chapters 1, 8, 10 and 12 because these are the chapters that emphasize where Jesus is now and the basis on which he is rightly in heaven. And the trigger to prompt our minds is that at the present time he is set down at the right hand of God in heaven. And you will examine those and find that they fit in very well. From another angle, a four-fold statement as to why he is set down on the right hand of God on high here in our consideration tonight a seven-fold reason from slightly different points of view. Now, if you just go back to chapter 10 verse 38 it says the just shall live by faith. Now, as you know, that's a quotation from the book of Habakkuk. In Habakkuk the statement is made the just shall live by faith. There are three parts to that statement. The first part is about justice and those who are just. Those who are right with God. The just. The next, the middle bit, is about life. The just shall live. And the third part of the statement is the principle on which the just live their lives. The just shall live by faith. Now, in the New Testament the Holy Spirit quotes that phrase three times. In the epistle to the Romans which is all about justice and the justice of God the righteousness of God we find the emphasis is the just shall live by faith. In Galatians the subject matter is among other things the life that we live the true life before God that the emphasis is the just shall live by faith. And in Hebrews chapter 10 where we've just read from the emphasis is the principle on which they live their lives the just shall live by faith. Now, after that heading at the end of chapter 10 chapter 11 is a catalogue of good examples of just people who lived on the principle of faith. And then when we come into the beginning of chapter 12 after many good examples of just people who lived by faith you come to the only perfect example the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what chapter 12 verse 2 is about. The climax of the line of faith by the way if in considering chapter 11 without digressing too much if you wonder why of those who died in faith because it says all these died in faith if you wonder why Abel is the first one that's mentioned is dying in faith the answer is very easy he was the first one that did die in faith. Whether or not you include Adam is up to you and I certainly would but the reason Abel the line of faith the line of those who died in faith is mentioned Abel was the first faithful person to die when he was murdered by his brother. But the climax is given chapter 12 verse 2 looking away from everything and anyone else even looking away from all these good examples in chapter 11 the supreme only perfect example is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what's the emphasis then here? I would say this in considering those who live by faith and die in faith the Lord Jesus is the perfect example in this the only proper terminus for the life of faith lived to perfection by the Lord Jesus Christ the only proper terminus for that the only proper terminal point is glory at the right hand of God. Sufficient in itself I say even if the other six were not true here is a substantive reason stands on its own feet as to why Jesus my saviour is rightly in heaven you couldn't think of any other proper answer to the life that Jesus lived upon earth than that it should be glory at the right hand of God and so we have it as the terminus the only proper terminus of the path of faith now we will be in heaven not because we are perfect but because the work of the cross is perfect we know all about our failings we know that we sin but if we confess our sins God is faithful to forgive us our sins because the Lord Jesus at the cross died and paid the price to God for every sin that we've ever committed but it will be all glory to Jesus again I use his personal name because the epistle to the Hebrews does it will be a wonderful thing to say now there's someone there who's there in his own right because the life that he lived when he was on earth was without spot and without blemish and the only right terminus for the path and the life of such a one now they are relatively easy but turn back turn back please to chapter 4 and we have to think of something a little bit more difficult chapter 4 verse 14 seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens Jesus the son of God let us hold fast our profession for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin chapter 8 now of the things which we have spoken this is the son we have such a high priest who was set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the lord pitched and not man for every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices where for it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer for if he were on earth he should not be a priest seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law one of the many sets of good things in the epistle to the hebrews is not a 3 and it's not a 7 and it's not a 9 it's a 10 every now and again the writer says we have things that the christian has that the jews of israel could never have in the way that we have them now and in chapter 4 one of the things that we have we are told we have a great high priest priest one of the reasons why jesus is in heaven unlike the others even if none of the others were true it would be true to say that this is a sufficient reason for the lord jesus to be in heaven now and this reason is because he is our high priest now there are two words about messengers which have a special force one is the word apostle and the other is high priest now in chapter 3 beginning with the verse verse 1 we are told that for the christian jesus is both the apostle and the high priest now jews knew what high priests were about they knew first of all that moses really you could use the word about him he was their leader he was their apostle he got god's message he came out from the presence of god to pass on the message god's message to the people of god Aaron the high priest went in front of the people with messages on behalf of the people to present to god moses was god's representative with the people Aaron was the people's representative in the presence of god now our lord jesus does both but we're not thinking of the apostle at the present time we are thinking about why the lord jesus is in heaven and is in heaven as the high priest in two ways we really need chapters one to seven of the epistle to the hebrews to tell us about what the bible talks about the wilderness priesthood of the lord jesus christ what does that mean we live in the world god is in heaven keeping sins out of it that's a separate consideration we are so weak and feeble and ineffective in ourselves that we need someone to represent us in the presence of god our lord jesus in the presence of god i deal with all these weaknesses infirmities difficulties and things like that when the people of israel were in the wilderness they would have been in a very difficult position without a high priest but in the mercy of god aaron represented the people in the presence of god and he went to god with all the things that needed sorting out and he kept their relationship with god right but you see it's not just a question of all the aches and pains of this life for you and me it might be enough if we knew we know we're going to heaven because the bible says so it would be sufficient for us if we knew as it is true that whatever comes along we can turn to the lord jesus unburden ourselves with all our problems and difficulties and he would smooth right through life the chapters one to seven or certainly two the end of two to seven are about but that's not sufficient for god god wants to resolve all the difficulties we have so that we can feel free to go into the presence of god now to that end the priesthood of the lord jesus our representative in the presence of god is absolutely vital now there are other books in the bible which say that christians are priests of god but this book is so it's so important in this book to think of the preeminence of the lord jesus that he's the only priest that is spoken of in christianity in hebrews christians are spoken of not as priests but as worshippers and the priesthood of the lord jesus our representative in heaven in the presence of god is so that unburdened of our difficulties with everything from our side sorted out that he'll be able to conduct us praising god in the very presence of god now that is what we get in chapters eight to ten end of chapter two to the end of chapter seven the wilderness priesthood of the lord jesus chapters eight to ten and we had the word at the beginning of chapter eight the sanctuary priesthood of the lord jesus now that is what we get but happily the best illustrations of things the bible teaches us are given in the bible itself and if we were to turn to john's gospel chapter thirteen you get a lovely illustration of these two things the lord jesus lord of all and yet he bowed down and he washed his disciples feet they had a long day a hot day they were dirtied from the dust of the road they were weary they were sweaty and they were uncomfortable and the lord jesus before anything else eventually he understood it was the lord's will and even if he didn't understand it he should submit to it but having done that having sorted out their needs after the heat and the burden of the day and your needs he says you'll be in no position and this is the words the lord jesus used you'll be in no position to have part with me in my things now that's a wonderful illustration of the distinction the difference between the wilderness priesthood of the lord jesus as our high priest sorting and being comfortable in his presence he can take us into the present the very presence of god and be involved indulging in praise and worship and adoration well this is given in picture form as the high priest now the simpler way of saying this the lord jesus is not only in heaven because of who he is because of what he's done or how he lived on earth he's in heaven now again a substantive reason stands on its own feet he's in heaven now a prime reason is because of what he's doing now as the high priest over the house of god we must keep moving chapter six please middle of verse 18 another we have we have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us which hope we have another we have as an anchor of the soul sure and steadfast which entereth into that within the veil whither the forerunner is for us entered into the veil now the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus made a high priest after the order of Mel Kisly look at that word the third word in verse 20 forerunner again even if nothing else was known about the lord Jesus if we know that the bible teaches us that he is our forerunner that is sufficient reason in itself why the lord Jesus Christ is in heaven his presence there is the guarantee that we will be there now we can think of many reasons why God in his grace has made us fit for heaven but when we think of many other reasons who he is what he is what he's done what he's doing now the lord Jesus it is right for him to be in heaven because of where we are going he is our forerunner even now entered into heaven and we have one more verse thirteen to which of the angels says God at any time sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool God as such speaking to Jesus as such says I'm going to establish you in glory at my right hand not only as the guarantee that those who trust you as saviour will get to heaven but also as the guarantee that the whole universe will one day acknowledge Jesus as absolutely supreme the supreme authority of the lord Jesus to be demonstrated very soon is another reason why the lord Jesus Christ is in heaven now now I'll be happy if you can give me further reasons as to why he is there but in the meantime I'm very happy to accept this as one of the good sevens of the bible reasons why Jesus is in heaven and he's been kind enough to be my saviour what a wonderful person now let us sing our closing hymn number 29 O blessed saviour son of god who hast redeemed us with thy blood from guilt unto thee and worthy thee proclaim number 29 O blessed saviour son of god who hast redeemed us with thy blood from guilt and guilt unto thee with thy blood Amen …