Friday, August 28, 2020

 

Tongues

1 Corinthians 14  The greatest of these is still love.

For about two thousand years it was almost unknown and unheard of, and then in the middle of the last century there was an Englishman by the name of Irving, a tall fellow about six feet, five inches tall, with his hair uncut, long, flowing over his shoulders, a Presbyterian, and associated with the world-famed Dr. Chalmers, and he led a movement, a tongue-speaking movement.  And it has appeared again in this century and in our day. Because of the way churches have gone in Australia, we here have been overwhelmed by the "successful" Pentecostal churches such as Hillsong. We have a tendency in Australia to magnify them as large, blessed by God, and successful.  However, while they have one or two large churches in Australia, the actual number of adherents to Pentecostalism in Australia is actually significantly lower than the adherents to  either the Baptists or the Evangelical Anglicans in Australia.  For instance, the numbers attending Anglican churches in the Penrith region is many times larger than the number attending Imagination AOG church. They just do better advertising.

The myth perpetuated by their advertising is of success, and being the way to go.

But the warnings Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians 14 should be quite sufficient to warn us that an over emphasis on the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues, which is the main deal in Pentecostal churches is both unhealthy and doesn't receive God's blessing.

 

The Corinthian church had a number of offensive situations that were neither "decent nor in order" in their worship services that Paul is seeking to correct in chapters 11-14.

  • Women dressing improperly for worship (11:1-16).
  • The Lord's Supper being abused by the rich, without concern for the poor in the congregation, who came with nothing to eat (11:17-34).
  • An over-emphasis on speaking in tongues, and an under-emphasis on prophecy and other gifts in worship services (chapters 12 and 14).
  • A lack of love towards one another in worship (chapter 13).
  • Confusion in their worship services (14:26-33a).
  • Women speaking out of order in the services (14:33b-35).

 

But these problems were only symptomatic of the bigger problems addressed in the earlier chapters:

  • Pride and division
  • Immorality
  • Pettiness

Remember there are a couple of key words in Corinthians.

Knowledge puffs up, love builds up.       

Do all things decently and in order.

 

There are even more important Doctrinal problems associated with tongues:

  • New revelations vs. the Sufficiency of Scripture.
  • The Means to get it: Versus the Sufficiency of the atonement.
  • Interpretation Problems  glossa vs babble

 

Babel and Acts 2 and babble

 

 

What are the facts of glossolalia?  When I turn to the second chapter of the Book of Acts: "When the day of Pentecost was fully come, there came suddenly a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind," the first miracle, "and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire," the second miracle [Acts 2:1-3].  The marvelous miracle of Pentecost is presented in that glorious pictures. 

Now the third miracle was: "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" [Acts 2:4].  Now, there were dwelling there in Jerusalem Jews, Hellenists from all over the world.  And they heard every man [speak] in his own language, the glorious works of God, "and they were amazed and marveled, saying, Are not all of these which speak Galileans?  How hear we then every man in [our] own tongue, wherein [we were] born?" [Acts 2:8]. Parthians, and Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Latins. 

It was a phenomenal miracle, three of them: the sound as of a rushing mighty wind, the fire as it parted and lambently flamed upwards over the head of each apostle, and the preaching of the gospel of the Son of God in languages.  And all of the people, all of those representatives of those languages could hear it and understand it, and they were amazed by it! 

I turn the page now to the tenth chapter of the Book of Acts.  In the household of Cornelius at Caesarea, when Peter was done with his sermon in verse 44 of chapter 10, "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all of them which heard the word.  And those Jews that were there with Simon Peter were amazed because on these Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God" [Acts 10:44-46]

Later in Ephesus Paul met some former disciples of John the Baptist who had not yet heard of the crucifixion resurrection ascension and giving of the Spirit. "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came upon them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied," magnified God [Acts 19:6].

 

Was tongues in the Corinthians' church it an un-understandable language?  Is it an unknown tongue.  In the second verse, Paul says: "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God:  for no man understandeth him.  It is an unknown tongue."  And in verse 14: "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. " It is an unknown tongue probably to the speaker and to many of the hearers.  But it is probably not a special "prayer language" or a special "angelic" tongue (1 Corinthians 13:1).

 

 

 

This chapter is not endorsing or promoting tongues, but it is a series of mandates to restrict it!  In every way possible, Paul is seeking to control, to dissuade, to discourage! 

One:  "In the church, I had rather speak five words with my understanding," five words with my understanding, "that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue."  "Let us speak five words intelligently, understandably, than ten thousand in an unknown tongue." 

Second  "Let your women keep silence in the churches:  it is not permitted unto them to speak.  And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home:  for it is a shame for women to speak in the church" [1 Corinthians 14:34-35].  Now I turn the page in my Bible.  I turn the page, and here in the eleventh chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul has just described how a woman ought to dress when she prays in public and when she prophesies in public [1 Corinthians 11:5].

Now this man Paul is stupid if he cannot remember that one page over he just got through writing how a woman is to dress when she prays in public and when she prophesies, prophemi, when she speaks out in public; and turn the page, and he writes, "Let the women keep silence in the churches; it is not permitted for them to speak.  For it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church."  Well, the reason and the answer is plain.  He has spoken here of these women in the very heart and middle in the chapter on glossolalia, and he is talking about a woman speaking in an unknown tongue!  He's talking about speaking in tongues! 

Well, why would Paul object so to a woman speaking in an unknown tongue?  When you study ancient Greek history, it is very apparent, most apparent.  If you have ever visited the ancient site of Corinth, the sea is right here and the city is here; the ancient city was built here.  And right there in the most impressive Acrocorinthus you could ever imagine, the Acropolis of Corinth: far more majestic, higher, larger than the Acropolis in Athens crowned by the Parthenon – the Acropolis of Corinth, and on top of that Acropolis was a glorious Greek temple to Aphrodite.  Her Latin name is Venus, and in that ancient day, they worshiped the goddess Aphrodite, Venus, in sexual orgies.  When a man went up to worship Aphrodite, that's the way he worshiped her.  The filth and the dirt of those ancient religious worships lie untranslatable in the language in which they have lain for thousands of years.  You don't translate it into modern language.  And every one of those temples had women dedicated to the goddess.  And those women, in order to carry through those orgies of worship, worked themselves up into frenzies! 

And Paul said if there were to happen by an unbeliever, and he stopped, and he looked in, and there your women are speaking in unknown tongues, he would say, "Well, we have a little colony of Aphrodites here.  Let's go in and take part in the orgy."  "No!" said Paul; such a thing is unthought for; it is unnameable in the house of God and in the churches of Christ!  Let your women keep silence.  It is a shame, as up there in Aphrodite, it is a shame for a woman to speak in an unknown tongue in the church.  And you take the women out of the unknown tongues movement and it will die overnight.  The frenzy, the ecstasy, the unknown glossolalia is kept alive by women, and Paul says, "No!"

 

The Purpose of Tongues In God's Intention

What is its purpose?  God has a purpose at Pentecost.  At Caesarea in the household of the Gentiles you saw it, and at Ephesus you saw it, and here he is speaking of it. This thing is in the Bible.  Well, what does it mean?  Where did it come from, and what is its purpose? 

Paul, under the inspiration of God, interprets what God has done, and what it meant.  You listen, verse 21, 22: "In the law" – that's in the Old Testament – "In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that they will not hear Me, saith the Lord.  Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not" [1 Corinthians 14:21-22].

Well, what does it mean?  What is Paul speaking of here?   He is quoting here Isaiah 28:11 in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament "it is written," then he quotes Isaiah 28:11: "With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak to these people and yet for all of that they will not obey Me."  They will not repent and believe Me and trust Me.  Now, the historical context of that prophecy of Isaiah was this: the Lord said to His prophet Isaiah, "You say to these people, 'I have spoken to you plainly.  I have spoken to you in intelligent language.  I have spoken to you in a language you can understand, in your mother's tongue, but you are obstinate, and recalcitrant, and incorrigible, and disobedient.  Now, says the Lord God, I am going to speak to you in a language that you cannot understand, with foreign tongues.'"  And the historical context is God brought in the Assyrians, He brought them in to take Israel captive. And they couldn't understand Assyrian, and God brought in the Babylonians, and they couldn't understand Chaldean.  And the Lord spoke to Israel as a sign in these other tongues and other languages, and yet they didn't repent, and they didn't believe. 

And the sign of the foreign tongues of the Assyrians, the Babylonians and the Medes and Persians and then the Greeks and Romans was a sign to Israel that they had had it!!

 

Why that was the same sign that occurred so early in the book of Genesis Chapter 11.

1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech." 8 So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused  the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

 

Now Paul takes that prophecy out of Isaiah, and he applies it to what God is doing to the Jewish nation and the Jewish people.  "Wherefore," he says, "tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not."  It is a sign!  Well, I can see that now plainly.  Pentecost, there were three signs to the Jewish nation and the Jewish people, to the Jews in Jerusalem.  At the beginning of this new dispensation, there were three – there were three signs from God that the gospel, that the Lord Jesus Christ, the giving of the Holy Spirit is the beginning of a new dispensation, a new era [Acts 2:2-4].  First:  the sound as of a rushing, mighty wind: pneuma, breath, a type of the Holy Spirit.  Second: fire that clove, that split, that parted, flaming above each one.  Fire is a sign of the Holy Spirit.  Third: the gift of tongues; and they spake the word of God in the languages of all of the people, the Jewish people who had gathered there for the feast day from the ends of the earth; it was a sign to the Jewish nation.    And the same thing happened at Caesarea.  The speaking in tongues was a sign, as Paul says; it is a sign, for there were those Jewish brethren who came with Simon Peter into the house of the Gentile Cornelius [Acts 10:45-46], and when they returned to Jerusalem in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Acts, Peter and those Jews were called on the carpet.

You went into the house of a Gentile – and it is not lawful for a Jew to go into his house, much less eat with them – and Paul – and, and Simon Peter replied, "But, my brothers, we saw the sign from God!"  That's what he said: "this thing that happened at Pentecost, the sign from God that this is the gospel of the new dispensation, that same sign saw we at Caesarea, for we saw these Gentiles speak with tongues, even as we saw at Pentecost" [Acts 11:15-17].  The gift of tongues was the sign gift as Paul says to the Jewish nation, to the Jewish people in introducing the new dispensation. 

It was a gift to the church signifying the end of the divisions and dispersion begun in Genesis 11 and  the gathering of a new people regardless of what language they spoke.

The unity of the church as a gathered body gathered from every tribe tongue people and nation into one body, one church, is an amazing overcoming of the one thing that divides peoples: their languages!

But to a Gentile, but to us, to us, if the church comes together and you speak in tongues, and there comes a visitor by, he will say, "You are mainesthe!  You are mad!  You are insane!"  But if a man prophesies, if he promethe, if he speaks intelligently, and there come in that man unbelieving, the secrets of his heart will be manifest, he will be convicted in his soul, and he will bow down and worship God and say, "God is among you in truth" [1 Corinthians 14:23-25].  The sign was for the Jewish nation and the Jewish people as you see at Pentecost, as you see at Caesarea.

It was not a good sign. It was a sign of rejection! It was a sign of the end of Jewish exclusiveness. The Jews thought they had God by the toe.  No.  He is God. He sent His Messiah. The Jews rejected Him. This Messiah is now for all nations!

And so, tongues were for a sign, and when the sign had done its purpose, it ceased. 

And to recreate the sign is an affront to God!  It is not faith!  It is presumption! 

There was the historical act of God in the parting of the Red Sea under the hand of Moses – and we stand there and say, "Lord God, do it again!  Part the Red Sea again!"  Why, You did it, do it again!  Let's see it!"  It was a sign under the hand of Moses delivering God's people in a new dispensation, that of the law.  Do it again?  It had served its purpose. It was a once for all sign.

And Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind, and Elisha saw the chariot of fire and the horses of fire [2 Kings 2:11-12].  And we stand by the side of a godly prophet Isaiah, a John the Baptist, a Peter, a Paul, and we say, "Do it again!  Let's see you go up into heaven in a chariot of fire!  Do it again." 

Would you have the Lord Jesus crucified again and resurrected again before your eyes? It is an affront to God, saying that you are more important than the Saviour. You want God to be your performing monkey doing what you command for your own .. what? Aggrandizement? Sinful doubts? Conceits? Pride???!!!  And so pride turned tongues into something not good in the church at Corinth.

 

Now look at verses 23-25. A church meets.  There come in those that are unbelievers, if you are talking in tongues, will they not say, "You are mad?"  But if all prophesy and speak out to edification, to encouragement, to faith, to trust, to belief, if all prophesy and there come in one that believeth not, he's convinced of all, he's judged of all, and the secrets of his heart are made manifest, and the Spirit of God convicts him.  And so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is among you in truth [1 Corinthians 14:23-25].  That's the way, says Paul; that's the way.  The sign was for the Jewish nation at the beginning of the new dispensation.  It served its purpose.  It is done.  It has ceased.  No need for this kind.  But now, when you come together in church, let God call the lost to faith and the commitment by a plain and an understandable word.  And the simpler you can make it, the more effective will God use it and bless it. 

 

For God does not call His people to faith by signs, or by wonders, or by miracles, or by voices, and by tongues, and by strange sounds; but when God speaks to your heart, it will be in a plain and a simple language, and that is all that we could ask.  Trusting Jesus, we are not looking for an intervention from heaven.  We are not looking for a sign or a wonder.  It is enough that "Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures; that He was buried, and that the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures" [1 Corinthians 15:3-4].  And it is enough that Jesus has promised "Those that come unto Me, I will in no wise cast out" [John 6:37]. They that received Him, "to them gave He the right to become children of God, even unto them that trust in His name" [John 1:11-12], and that's enough. 

The Provision of God For Consolation   Upbuilding Exhortation.

ὁ δὲ προφητεύων ἀνθρώποις λαλεῖ οἰκοδομὴν καὶ παράκλησιν καὶ παραμυθίαν.

6 Νῦν δέ, ἀδελφοί, ἐὰν ἔλθω πρὸς ὑμᾶς γλώσσαις λαλῶν, τί ὑμᾶς ὠφελήσω, ἐὰν μὴ ὑμῖν λαλήσω ἢ ἐν ἀποκαλύψει ἢ ἐν γνώσει ἢ ἐν προφητείᾳ ἢ ἐν διδαχῇ;

12 οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς, ἐπεὶ ζηλωταί ἐστε πνευμάτων, πρὸς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας ζητεῖτε ἵνα περισσεύητε.

26 Τί οὖν ἐστιν, ἀδελφοί; ὅταν συνέρχησθε, ἕκαστος ψαλμὸν ἔχει, διδαχὴν ἔχει, ἀποκάλυψιν ἔχει, γλῶσσαν ἔχει, ἑρμηνείαν ἔχει· πάντα πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν γινέσθω.

 

What is the provision of God for the upbuilding of the church.

Cut our pride.

Add in Love

Add in Scripture

For a man to come to the church today and say, "I have a revelation from heaven; I'm going to add a twenty-ninth chapter to the Book of Acts."  Or, "I am going to write a twenty-third chapter to the Book of Revelation."  And that's what they tried to do back there in the Montanist heresy.  Why, today, we would stand up and say, "But, my brother, this Bible is finished.  God said so.  And you are not to add to it and you are not to take away from it [Revelation 22:19].  So whatever your vision is, whatever your prophecy is, whatever your gift of the knowledge is, it has no use any longer, for the mature has come, the teleios, the complete, the perfect has come. 

Add in mutual ministry.

 

Add in Gospel Ministry.

 

This is what church is all about.  Everything else is just secondary.

 

 


 

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Luke 17

1 And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2  It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."

5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

7 "Will any one of you who has a servant  plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? 8 Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants;  we have only done what was our duty.'"

11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,  who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." 14 When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19 And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."

 

 

And this week the news in the USA is even more terrible. Did you hear that in Wisconsin, the tension between Police and Black Lives Matters movement has seen many more killed?

Furious protests over the shooting of black man by police continued last night with buildings and cars torched. Protesters ravaged  Wisconsin  after  Jacob  "Jake" Blake, 29, was shot multiple times in front of his horrified children. Kenosha police were attempting to arrest Blake when Rusten Sheskey, a seven-year veteran of the department, fired his weapon seven times into the Black man's back after he was arrested while he was pacifying a domestic dispute between two neighbours. Authorities on Wednesday said a 17-year-old had been charged with homicide after two people were killed and another seriously wounded by gunfire amid a chaotic night of demonstrations and destruction in Kenosha unleashed by the weekend police shooting of Jacob Blake. The shooting came as self-declared militia members and armed counterprotesters met protesters.

One of the most memorable sights of late twentieth century news was the videotape of the beating of Rodney King by California police. It was a memorable TV moment when King looked into the camera lens and asked, "Why can't we all just get along?"

Getting along is one of the most basic and yet one of the most difficult challenges of our lives. Israelis and Arabs, Albanians and Serbs, blacks and whites, men and women, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, parents and children, Catholics and Protestants, management and labor—why can't we all just get along? This "getting along" business isn't so simple, but Jesus offers some practical advice on how to do it. It may not always work. We may do what Jesus says and the other person may do the opposite. But, it's a good idea to listen and follow Jesus' advice—be-cause that's the right thing to do. Jesus' list of some of the things Christians should do to get along with others is written in Luke 17.

Number 1 on Jesus' list in Luke 17 is something not to do:

"Don't cause another to sin."

In Luke 17:1-3 Jesus said to his disciples:"Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves."

Jesus acknowledges that we live in a fallen world where there are always temptations to sin. But he explains that it is a terrible thing to be the person who causes somebody else to sin. The potential list of examples is very long.

The human condition makes stumbling blocks inevitable. The destructiveness of sin is seen throughout general culture. Intellectuals often directly assault Christian belief. Criminal offenders regularly lead others headlong into sin. The icons of pop culture lure multitudes away from truth and life. Even some within the religious culture of faith, pastors and teachers who engage in spiritual compromise, lay huge stumbling blocks before "little ones," people who are weak and vulnerable as they are being drawn to Christ. Kent Hughes

" . . . woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch your-selves."

Repeated surveys indicate that a high percent-age of prostitutes were sexually molested when they were young. Those who abuse the young are terrible people who cause others to sin.

And what about those who produce films and videos that incite others to violence? I would put them in the same category. Add to this list those who teach children to swear, introduce teens to drugs, seduce the innocent, create a wedge in a marriage that ultimately destroys it or otherwise cause people to sin in ways they would not other-wise have sinned.

Sadly, the list is long. Jesus admits that sin is an inevitable part of our fallen world when he says, "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come."

I think He is saying there are things that you are justified at getting mad at, and  of you are not mad at it, there is something wrong with you. If you aren't mad about child sexual abuse then there is something wrong with you.

Never be surprised by the creativity or the extent of wickedness. But never be the one who causes others to sin!

Jesus warned us not to cause others to sin and then added, "So watch yourselves."He seemed to think that corrupting other people is easy to do. You don't have to set out to do it; you can do it unwittingly, accidentally. But the way to avoid corrupting others is to always watch what you say and do because you are a constant influence on others.

It would be better to die (even a horrible death) than to cause a little one to stumble and ultimately incur the woe of which Jesus warns. Better for the disciple or leader or pastor to die than to teach errant doctrine. Better to die than to have a lifestyle that trips others. Better to die than to have attitudes that drive others away from Christ. Kent Hughes

 

Watch yourselves! Second on Jesus' list for getting along is controversial.

It is to "repeatedly forgive."

According to Luke 17:3-5, " 'If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, "I repent," for-give him.' "

Here Jesus deals with a problem almost everyone everywhere faces. Someone sins against us. It may happen in any one of 10,000 ways. The other person lies, cheats, steals, assaults or other-wise behaves offensively. We may be the victim or we may simply be the observer of someone else's sin, but it offends us. What should we do?"First, go to the other person and confront that person about what they have done. This is not usually easy! Most of us would rather tell someone else or carry a grudge, but that's not what Jesus tells us to do. Go to the other person and deal with the problem. Accept the responsibility yourself. Don't dump the responsibility for confrontation and rebuke on someone else. It's your job. If you are not willing to do this then you will have to let it go.

There may be some exceptions. An obvious exception would be a child who is somehow sinned against by an adult. It may be better to go to another adult to handle the situation. And, recognize that not every offense can be confronted. Some people are offended many times a day and feel they must confront every offense. The reality is that we have to let some things go. No one of us can resolve every difficulty. Sometimes the other person will apologize and make things right. You are blessed. Now forgive—forgive and let it go. If he does it again, forgive him again. If you are sinned against seven times a day then forgive seven times a day.

 

When Jesus' followers heard this advice they said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"In other words, "You are really going to have to help us on this one because it's really tough to keep forgiving someone who repeatedly sins against you."Well, Jesus will help us. He will increase our faith. He will help us rebuke and he will help us to for-give. That is the Christian way. Think about it! What is the alternative? The alternative is to resent the person who hurts us, try to get even and hold it against that person for the rest of our life. Any non-Christian is quite capable of such unforgiving attitudes and behaviour. Jesus asks Christians to be different, to handle the extremely difficult and offensive relationships of life with godliness and forgiveness. In January 1999 a close friend of a friend,  a missionary doctor and his two sons fell asleep in their Jeep in a small village in India. During the night an anti-Christian mob attacked their vehicle, stuffing straw in the windows and under the truck and setting it on fire. They watched as Dr. Graham Staines, his 10-year-old son Phillip and his 6-year-old son Timothy burned to death. His wife Gladys was left a widow with their third son as her only family. Lorelle and I met her a couple of years ago. She had to decide what to do. She decided to stay in the village, forgive those who killed her husband and boys and continue the work of caring for leprosy patients. She grieved the loss of those she loved. She said that she was filled with sadness.  "Whoever did this, we will forgive them."

Most of us will never have so much to forgive in our lifetime. If Jesus can help her to forgive so much, surely we can trust him to help us forgive far less.

Let us not be filled with resentment. Let us not hold grudges. Let us not carry hurt and anger against neighbours, family, friends and coworkers. Let us do as Jesus calls us to do—forgive.

Live By Faith

Number three on Jesus' "getting along" list is to live by faith. Jesus said, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."

This statement of Jesus is often misapplied. Some think if their faith is big enough and strong enough they can perform spectacular miracles. If that is what Jesus meant he would have suggested that big faith could enable a person to change lead to gold or make short people tall or sick people well. But, listen to the example Jesus uses and the context from which he speaks. Jesus says that a little bit of faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to pick up a mulberry tree and plant it in the ocean. Why would anyone want to do such a thing? What good would it do to plant a tree in the sea? Jesus' example is far-fetched to help us avoid misapplication. He's not talking about performing miracles; he's taking about getting along with people.

They asked for faith so they could adequately rebuke and forgive others. How were they able to make the connection between faith and the ability to forgive? They may have learned it on other occasions when Jesus said essentially the same thing, though in a different order. For example: Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." (Mark 11:22–25) Hughes

The point is that those who live by faith in God can live Christianly in their relationships. They can live so as not to cause others to sin. They can forgive those who repeatedly sin against them. They can behave toward others in a good and godly way that would be impossible without faith in God. Those who trust God to empower and control their lives can do something supernatural—bigger and better than jumping a tree from land to sea—they can treat others right even when others treat them wrong! Faith is confidence and trust in God. It is the conviction that God can do through you what you know you could never do by yourself. It is belief with all of your heart that God is in charge of your life. It is doing what is right even if there is no way of seeing how it can ever turn out for good. In order for us to all get along God's way—don't cause others to sin, repeatedly forgive, live by faith and

Faithfully serve God.

Jesus finishes his list in Luke 17:7-10 with a very unusual parable:"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say,'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "

duty never finishes.

In the parable Jesus asks: "Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he had come in from the field, "Come at once and sit down at table"?

Jesus' listeners knew that there was no master that did that. Masters were more likely to say, "Hey you, prepare supper for me and afterwards if there's time you can eat and drink." The Greek word that is used here is the word doulos and although in many of our English Bibles it is translated as "servant", it may rightly be translated as "slave" over whom the master had complete control of every detail of life. We think of slavery as peculiar to the USA before the Civil War sometimes forgetting that slavery has been around throughout history all over the world, including currently in Australia.  The Immigration Department believes there are about 5,000 people in slavery, many in the Bankstown area; Filipinos who have come out as employees to nanny or clean houses, but are held as captives with their passports taken by the "employers" and told that they would be arrested if they tried to leave or demanded their agreed upon pay. There are many places in the world today where people are still in slavery.

Slaves don't work eight-hour days. They don't finish in the field or the fold and then come home and relax. When a slave finishes one task there is another and when that is finished there is yet another task. The master seeks to get all of the economic benefit that he can out of his slaves. They go immediately from chore to chore and it never, never, never ends. No days off. No vacations. Their duty is never finished. The life of a slave seems so difficult and distant, but is it all that different to our lives today? We may not be slaves, but our duties are never finished. Take parenting for example. Parents begin their day by getting up early in the morning to prepare themselves and their children for the day. Then the parent goes off to work and has a difficult and demanding day, comes home weary, exhausted, ready to collapse, only to find hungry children who have wounds that need to be bandaged, homework that needs to be helped with, lives that need to be loved. Finally at some late hour you are ready to collapse in bed with too many hours gone by and too few hours before the alarm goes off and the process begins all over again. Parenting is a duty that never finishes.

The same is the case with ministry. When you become involved in serving God through serving others, it is a never-ending duty. 

As Christian we are to do whatever God calls us to do, regardless of the hours or difficulty. There is no place for whining or complaining. It is our job to serve others whether we get praise or gratitude or not.

In the area of northeast Canada called Labrador there was a Christian physician named Dr.Grenfell. He was called to a home with a sick mother and father who both died shortly after he arrived. As there was no one else to make arrangements he set up the funeral and conducted the service himself. When the burial was complete five orphans were left sitting on top of the grave mound with nowhere to go and no one to take care of them. In his own words, he thought that he had done all a doctor should have to do, but "it looked as if God expected more." It became his Christian duty to care for those five children. Jesus taught that as Christians we are servants/slaves of Jesus Christ. We are to do whatever he wants us to do, go wherever he wants us to go, without complaint or expectation of special gratitude or reward. Our assumption should always be that God has given us his only Son, forgiven our sins, is with us through all the circumstances of life and guarantees us forever in heaven. There is nothing we could ever do to deserve such generosity from God. We will always be in debt to him. It is our privilege to serve him and even to suffer for him. Frankly, this teaching of Jesus sounds very strange to our ears. We tend to assume that we are in charge and God owes us. We are upset with God if he asks us to do any-thing we don't want to do. We are disappointed when God gives us less than we request. We feel cheated when our lives have pain or problems. There are many people who spend their lives whining and complaining and even being angry with God. We must not forget that we are Christians who follow Jesus Christ who is described in Philippians 2:6-8:

" Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on the cross!"

In other words, Jesus never asks us to experience anything he has not experienced for us. There is nothing that he ever asks us to do for him that he has not already done for us.

duty seeks no thanks.

There is yet another temptation to sin in the doing of duty. It is the temptation to think that because we do our duty we are worthy of God. It is a tragically common phenomenon.

There are those who say, "God owes me. I have given him money, time and prayers. I have been faithful in diligently serving others in involvement in church and charity and now I have come to a crisis in my own life and I need his intervention. I demand it!" When they don't get what they want, God is considered to be a bad debtor who doesn't pay his bills.

There are those who say, "I deserve it. I have been involved for years in doing what God has called me to do. I have been a faithful servant for years and now I deserve special treatment." They may even expect preferential treatment in heaven.

Then there are those who, although they probably wouldn't say it, actually think, "I'm better. Look at all I have done through the years and look at what she hasn't done. Look at what he started to do and never finished. I'm better than them all."

How tragically mixed up such conclusions are, for when we think such things and when we say such words we have neglected the truth that we are all sinners.

If we got what we really deserved we would be eternally lost. God has rescued us from sin and hell through Jesus Christ. He has redeemed us by his generosity and given us the stunning privilege of being his servants and living for him. Our lives should be expressions of gratitude for that which he did for us that we never deserved. What we do is our duty as those who have been redeemed – not a cause for pride and elevation in our sight or God's. Our service is simply the thank you that we offer to a God who has done everything for us.

Maybe it's best expressed in a parable of our own.

 

duty doesn't make worthiness.

There is yet another temptation to sin in the doing of duty. It is the temptation to think that because we do our duty we are worthy of God. It is a tragically common phenomenon.

There are those who say, "God owes me. I have given him money, time and prayers. I have been faithful in diligently serving others in involvement in church and charity and now I have come to a crisis in my own life and I need his intervention. I demand it!" When they don't get what they want, God is considered to be a bad debtor who doesn't pay his bills.

There are those who say, "I deserve it. I have been involved for years in doing what God has called me to do. I have been a faithful servant for years and now I deserve special treatment." They may even expect preferential treatment in heaven.

Then there are those who, although they probably wouldn't say it, actually think, "I'm better. Look at all I have done through the years and look at what she hasn't done. Look at what he started to do and never finished. I'm better than them all."

How tragically mixed up such conclusions are, for when we think such things and when we say such words we have neglected the truth that we are all sinners.

If we got what we really deserved we would be eternally lost. God has rescued us from sin and hell through Jesus Christ. He has redeemed us by his generosity and given us the stunning privilege of being his servants and living for him. Our lives should be expressions of gratitude for that which he did for us that we never deserved. What we do is our duty as those who have been redeemed – not a cause for pride and elevation in our sight or God's. Our service is simply the thank you that we offer to a God who has done everything for us.

 

 

The way to get along is to not to cause others to sin, repeatedly forgive, live by faith and become the servant of others in the name of Jesus Christ.

 

 


Wednesday, August 26, 2020

 

Psalm 72 The Kingdom of Our Lord

 

 

Psalm 72  The King Who Reigns

Of Solomon.

 1 Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son!
 2 May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice!
 3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness!
 4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy,

and crush the oppressor!

 5 May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
 6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth!
 7 In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!

 8 May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!
 9 May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!
 10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!
 11 May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!

 12 For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper.
 13 He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.
 14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.

 15 Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him!

May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day!
 16 May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field!
 17  May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun!

 May people be blessed in him,  all nations call him blessed!

 18 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
 19 Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Amen and Amen!

 20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

 

As we read through this Psalm, have in mind Isaac Watt's paraphrase in the hymn

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun does its successive journeys run,
his kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more.

2 To him shall endless prayer be made, and praises throng to crown his head.
His name like sweet perfume shall rise with every morning sacrifice.

3 People and realms of every tongue dwell on his love with sweetest song,
and infant voices shall proclaim their early blessings on his name.

4 Blessings abound where'er he reigns: the prisoners leap to lose their chains,
the weary find eternal rest, and all who suffer want are blest.

5 Let every creature rise and bring the highest honors to our King,
angels descend with songs again, and earth repeat the loud amen.

Solomon is connected with this Psalm and 127. If the inscription is translated "of Solomon," then he was the author and wrote of himself in the third person. This would make it a prayer for God's help as he sought to rule over the people of Israel. But if the inscription is translated "for Solomon," David may have been the author (v. 20), and the psalm would be a prayer for the people to use to ask God's blessing upon their new king. If Solomon did write the psalm, then it had to be in the early years of his reign, for in his later years, he turned from the Lord (1 Kings 11; Prov. 14:34). But beyond both David and Solomon is the Son of David and the one "greater than Solomon" (Matt. 12:42), Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel.

 

2 Samuel 7

' 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince  over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.  Your throne shall be established forever.'" 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

 

The Righteous King (vv. 1–7)

The Lord was King over His people, and the man on the throne in Jerusalem was His representative, obligated to lead the people according to the law of God (Deut. 17:14–20 14 "When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, 'I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,' 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, 'You shall never return that way again.' 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.  18 "And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by  the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.).

He had to be impartial in his dealings (Ex. 23:3, 6; Deut. 1:17; Isa. 16:5) and make sure that his throne was founded on righteousness and justice (89:14; 92:2).

Note that righteousness is mentioned four times in verses 1–3 and 7, and see Proverbs 16:12.
 12 It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.
 13  Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right.

Messiah will one day reign in righteousness and execute justice throughout the world (Isa. 9:7;   6  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;  and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace  there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

 

Isaiah 11:4–5; 1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.   2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.  He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,  4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.   5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.   6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.   7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.   8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,

and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.   9  They shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

 10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.   11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush,  from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

12 He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.  13  The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
 14  But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west, and together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them.

 

Jeremiah 23:5–6; 5 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'   7 "Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land."

 

Zechariah 9:9  9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.   10  I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.   11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,  I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.   12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.   13 For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior's sword.  14 Then the LORD will appear over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning; the Lord GOD will sound the trumpet and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.   15 The LORD of hosts will protect them, and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones, and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine, and be full like a bowl, drenched like the corners of the altar.   16 On that day the LORD their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land.  17  For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!  Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women.

 

It is because Jesus fulfilled God's righteousness in His life and death that sinners can be forgiven and have peace with God (Rom. 5:1–8), and He is our "King of righteousness" and "King of peace" (Heb. 7:1–3). Solomon's name is related to the Hebrew word shalom, which means "peace, prosperity, well-being."

 

God promised David an endless dynasty (2 Sam. 7:16, 19,26 18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! 20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them  great and awesome things by driving out  before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24 And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O LORD, became their God. 25 And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. 26 And your name will be magnified forever, saying, 'The LORD of hosts is God over Israel,' and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27 For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house.' Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28 And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever."),

and this was fulfilled in Jesus, the Son of David (Luke 1:31–33).

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

 

David used a similar metaphor in 2 Samuel 23:34. Godly leaders are like the refreshing rain that makes the land fruitful and beautiful, so that even the newly mown fields will produce a second crop. They are also like lamps that light the way (2 Sam. 21:17), shields that protect (84:9; 89:16), and the very breath of life that sustains us (Lam. 4:20).

Ver. 6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, etc. This is spoken and promised of Christ, and serves to teach us that Christ coming to his church and people, by the gracious influences of his Holy Spirit, is most useful and refreshing to their souls, like showers of rain to the dry ground, or a meadow newly cut to make it spring again. Christless souls are like the dry ground; without the moisture of saving grace their hearts are hard; neither rods, mercies, nor sermons, make impression upon them. Why? They are without Christ, the fountain of grace and spiritual influences. Before the fall man's soul was like a well watered garden, beautiful, green, and fragrant; but by his apostasy from God, in Adam our first head, the springs of grace and holiness are quite dried up in his soul; and there is no curing of this drought but by the soul's union with a new head; to wit, Christ our second Adam, who has the Spirit given him without measure for the use of all his members. Now, when we are united by faith to Christ, our Head of influences, the dry land is turned into water springs; Christ "comes down as the rain" by his Spirit of regeneration, and brings the springs of grace into the soul. He is the first and immediate receptacle of the Holy Spirit, and all regenerating and sanctifying influences, and out of his fulness we must by faith receive them. And when at any time the springs of grace are interrupted in the soul by sin or unbelief, so as the ground turns dry, the plants wither, and the things which remain are ready to die, the soul hath need to look up to Jesus Christ to come down with new showers upon the thirsty ground and decayed plants.

1. As the rain is the free gift of God to the dry ground, it comes free and cheap to poor and rich, small and great, and cost them nothing: so Christ with his blessings is God's free gift to a dry and perishing world; for which we should be continually thankful.

2. As nothing can stop the falling of the rain; so nothing can hinder Christ's gracious influences, when he designs to awake, convince, or soften a hard heart. When those showers do fall on sinners, the most obstinate will must yield, and cry, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

3. As the rain is most necessary and suitable to the dry ground, and to the various plants it produces, and also to the different parts of every plant or tree-- such as the root, trunk, branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit; so Christ is absolutely necessary, and his influence most suitable to all his people's souls, and to every faculty of them--the understanding, will, memory, and affections; and to all their different graces, faith, love, repentance, etc.; to root and establish them, strengthen and confirm them, quicken and increase them, cherish and preserve them.

4. As the rain comes in diverse ways and manners to the earth, sometimes with cold winds and tempests, thunders and lightnings, and at other times with calmness and warmth; so Christ comes to sinners, sometimes with sharp convictions and legal terrors, and sometimes with alluring invitations and promises.

5. O how pleasant are the effects of rain to languishing plants, to make them green and beautiful, lively and strong, fragrant and beautiful! So the effects of Christ's influences are most desirable to drooping souls, for enlightening and enlivening them, for confirming and strengthening them, for comforting and enlarging them, for appetizing and satisfying them, transforming and beautifying them. A shower from Christ would soon make the church, though withered, turn green and beautiful, and to send forth a smell as of a field that the Lord hath blessed; and likewise some drops of this shower, falling down upon the languishing graces of communicants, would soon make them vigorous and lively in showing forth their Saviour's death at his table. John Willison.

 

The righteous King Has A Universal Reign (vv. 8–11)

God promised Abraham that he would give his descendants all the land from the River of Egypt in the south to the Euphrates in the north (Gen. 15:18 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites."), and He reaffirmed this promise through Moses (Ex. 23:31).

Both David and Solomon ruled over great kingdoms (1 Kings 4:21, 24; 1 Chron. 9:26), but neither of them ruled "from the river [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth" (v. 8). This privilege is reserved for Jesus Christ (2:8; Zech. 9:9–10; Mic. 4:1–5 1 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it,   2 and many nations shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law,  and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.   3 He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore;   4  but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,  and no one shall make them afraid,  for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.  5 For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.   6 In that day, declares the LORD,  I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted;   7 and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.  8 And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.).

 

As Solomon's realm embraced all the land of promise, and left no unconquered margin; so shall the Son of David rule all lands given him in the better covenant, and leave no nation to pine beneath the tyranny of the prince of darkness. We are encouraged by such a passage as this to look for the Saviour's universal reign; whether before or after his personal advent we leave for the discussion of others. In this Psalm, at least, we see a personal monarch, and he is the central figure, the focus of all the glory; not his servant, but himself do we see possessing the dominion and dispensing the government. Personal pronouns referring to our great King are constantly occurring in this Psalm; he has dominion kings fall down before him, and serve him; for he delivers, he spares, he saves, he lives, and daily is he praised.

The Righteous King Has A Compassionate Reign (vv. 12–14)

The king of Israel was looked upon as God's shepherd who lovingly cared for God's flock (78:70–72; 100:3; Ezek. 34). Any citizen had access to the king to get help in solving legal problems, and the king was to make certain that the local judges were being fair and honest in their decisions. Solomon didn't reach this ideal, for even though he had a vast bureaucracy, his officers didn't always aid the people (Eccl. 4:1). The picture here is surely that of our Savior, who had such great compassion for the needy and met their needs (Matt. 9:3 6). Not only does He hold their blood (life) precious to Him (v. 14; 116:15), but He shed His own precious blood for the salvation of the world (1 Peter 1:19). The word "redeem"  is used for the "kinsman redeemer" of Ruth.

The Righteous King Has A Prosperous Reign (vv.15-17)

God's covenant with Israel assured them of prosperity so long as the rulers and the people obeyed His commandments. The Lord also assured David that he would always have an heir to his throne if he and his descendants obeyed God's will (2 Sam. 7:11–12, 16). Because of the promise of the coming Savior, it was important that the Davidic dynasty continue. But in the case of Jesus, He reigns "according to the power of an endless life" (Heb. 7:16). He is the life (John 14:6), and He is alive forever (Rev. 1:18). He is King forever!

Israel's prosperity would be not only political (the king), but also economic (gold), spiritual (prayer), and commercial (thriving crops). In fulfillment of His covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:1–3), God would bless all the nations through Israel, as He has done in sending Jesus Christ (Gal. 3). The prophets wrote of this glorious kingdom, and their prophecies will be fulfilled (Isa. 35; 60—62; Ezek. 40—48; Amos 9:11–15; Mic. 4; Zech. 10; 14). There will be abundant grain even on top of the hills in the most unproductive land. The grain fields will look like the forests of the cedars in Lebanon (1 Kings 4:33).

The Righteous King Has The Glorious Reign (vv.18-19)

The closing benediction (vv. 18–19) is not a part of the psalm proper but forms the conclusion to book II of the book of Psalms (see 41:13; 89:52; 106:48). A fitting conclusion it is, for it focuses on the glory of the Lord. Solomon's kingdom had its share of glory, but the glory did not last. When Jesus reigns on earth, the glory of God will be revealed as never before (Num. 14:21; Isa. 6:3; 11:9; 40:5; Hab. 2:14).

 


This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?


Free Hit Counter