Day 141
Pray (AC-ts) Read - Acts 1v6-11 Message - Scott Woodburn When it comes to our understanding of the Gospel we rightly proclaim Christ and Him crucified. This good news is followed by even more as we boldly declare that Christ is risen. Yet that is often where we stop. There's another important bit that comes after the resurrection called the ascension. Ah yes! The ascension! The going up of Jesus to heaven. It immediately rings a bell but perhaps the purpose of it has escaped our attention. This week we will consider the ascension of Christ. Amazingly it was predicted in the Psalms (68v18) but we find a full description of it in Acts 1 thanks to the pen of Luke. Jesus commissions His disciples and sends them out to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth (v8b). He also promises that the Holy Spirit will come upon them empowering them for the mission ahead (v8a). Just as He had told them this, right before their eyes, Christ was lifted up from the earth, before disappearing in the clouds (v9). So far, so wonderful, but what are we to make of this remarkable event? The power of the ascension isn't so much the miraculous nature of it, after all people don't just lift off from the ground and ascend into the heavens everyday. The disciples were amazed by what they had witnessed but angels come with a gentle rebuke and ask "why do you stand looking into heaven?" (v11). They have work to do and need to get on with it because Jesus will return in the clouds (v11b). So although we didn't get to witness this awesome event we are not hard done by. The catechism reminds us that that the ascension was part of Christ's exaltation. His humiliation is over and now He is exalted to the highest place. Paul puts it this way "God raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come." (Ephesians 1v20-21) In these verses we find our encouragement and the importance of the ascension. Where is Christ today? At the right hand of the Father. What is He doing? Reigning. There isn't a power on earth that can topple Christ. There isn't a kingdom that will defeat the Kingdom of God. There isn't an authority with the ability to silence the Gospel. Jesus is our great high priest and while no further sacrifice is necessary, we shouldn't believe that Christ is inactive. As American Presbyterian Kevin DeYoung puts it "Christ is reigning, so we can rest." These are fearful days. Days of riots and rage. Days of pandemic and potential second waves. Days were good is called evil and evil called good. We struggle to make sense of these days. We struggle to make sense of the events that rock us personally. Where is our comfort and hope? At God's right hand. We trust a crucified, risen and ascended Saviour. He intercedes on your behalf. He gathers His church. He defends His bride. He defeats and restrains His enemies. Nothing hides from His vision. Nothing escapes His notice. May our focus today become a little bit less tethered to the troubles of this world. May our fears shrink as we gaze upon the sovereignty of Christ. May we remember that "our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Philippians 3v20) Jesus is the ascended Christ and even as we read, Christ reigns. Pray (ac-TS) Sing Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 36. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification? A. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end. Day 142 Pray (AC-ts) Read — Psalm 103:1-3a Message Alan Burke There are days that we need to motivate ourselves, exhorting ourselves to action, can be hard, that job that we have been putting off that needs done, that phone call that we really should make, that apology that we need to give that would have been better done before now. Sure those things can all wait, just put them on the long finger, they can be added to the to do list for next week, maybe the week after. I know, I’ll just sit here five minutes more, I deserve a break after all and those things aren’t really that important. The problem is, we can then be guilty of forgetting, months down the line we bump into that person we had said we were going to call with, that wee job that we had intended to do or get done is no longer a wee job but a big one, that apology that we had intended to make and never is now to late. Here the Psalmist motivating himself, exhorting himself to praise the Lord with all that is within him (1a). He is motivating himself, exhorting himself to praise the Lord with everything that he is, not only with his lips but also with his life. For in Hebrew thought, the inmost being means in our entirety. So the psalmist is saying with my entire life, I will give praise the Lord my God, in what I say, in how I live, all of it will be lived to his glory. I don’t know about you, but there are times that with the business of this temporal life, the stuff that we end up trying to juggle, work, family, hobbies, that things just get the in the way of living in this way, with our inmost being praising the Lord. It’s very easy to say thanks, isn’t it, but its another thing all together to show that you are thankful in how you respond, in how you live. But the psalmist is exhorting himself, urging himself, encouraging himself to in every way live to the praise of God, living for his glory, that will overflow into the rest of his life. For we like the psalmist come before the God who is known to us, who has revealed himself in creation (Ps 19:1-6, Rom 1:18-21) and to us through his word (2 Tim 3:16, Heb 1:1-14). That’s the significance of LORD in capital letters, this is the personal name of God, that teaches us that God is a personal God, who is over all, ever present, accessible, near to those who call on him and who are directing their praise to him, and this personal name of God is used eleven times in this psalm. So the praise of the psalmist as well as his people today in in response for what God had done, we to be in awe at all that he has done though creation, thought-out history, for all the benefits of God that come to the individual that overflow to the whole community. Today as we come before the God who is known, though Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah of God. That is how we are able to enter the joy of this psalm, in the praise of God, through Jesus Christ. He is our Saviour though him, God has shown more of His goodness and Kindness to us, we know far more than the original hearers and singers of this psalm knew and understood, and we look forward now to the great and glorious day that he returns or that we go to be with him for eternity. The knowledge of this, knowing who he is and all that he has done for us, should lead us to responding with praise, praise to him with our entire being, in all of our lives. Remember his benefits, the blessings that he has shown to us each day and by his grace through Jesus Christ. We can find it hard to motivate ourselves, to exhort ourselves to the praise of God, because we are forgetful people, we forget the goodness of God to us, but remember the forgiveness of sins (3a) that we have received though Jesus Christ that means we have eternal security, not in what he have done but he has done for us, this alone is reason to Praise him with our soul, our inmost being, praising his holy name. Pray (ac-TS) Sing Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 37 What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death? The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, (Heb. 12:23) and do immediately pass into glory; (2 Cor. 5:1,6,8, Phil. 1:23, Luke 23:43) and their bodies, being still united to Christ, (1 Thess. 4:14) do rest in their graves, (Isa. 57:2) till the resurrection. (Job 19:26–27) Day 143 Pray (ACts) Read - Psalm 68 Message - Scott Woodburn As a child one of the highlights of my year was the trip into Belfast with a pocket full of birthday money. The first stop would have been Elliott's to buy some fancy dress or magic tricks or plastic pranks before heading down to SS Moore. If I went with my mum we'd get the number 17 bus into the city centre. If it was my dad he would tell us we were getting the bus but inevitably he would walk us all the way into town. I remember trying to keep up with him as he marched us down the Beersbridge Road and over the Albert Bridge. I would have much preferred the bus, but I put up with the march because I knew what was coming at the end. We spoke on Monday of Christ's ascension, His going up into heaven and we see it predicted in Psalm 68. The Psalm begins by calling the people of God to worship. When God arises His enemies are scattered (v1), therefore we are to sing praises to His name (v4). This is another Psalm of David and it is thought that is written when the Ark of the Covenant was brought into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6). It was a time of victory and a time for a triumphant procession into the city. God had acted on behalf of His people in the past. He had led them through the wilderness (v7) and He had scattered Kings before them (v14). He was the God who on a daily basis would bear up His people, He was the God of salvation (v19). And so you can imagine this victory march as it made its way into the city. David writes of the singers and the musicians in the procession of God towards the sanctuary (v24-25). It is a scene full of singing, noise, colour, joy and victory. Later in Ephesians Paul takes verse 18 and applies it directly to Christ. Jesus is the greater David whose victory march sees Him ascend to heaven. At the transfiguration Jesus speaks with Moses and Elijah of His coming departure (Luke 9v31). His procession leads Him to Golgotha and the grave and while to many it seems that this is a march that ends in defeat, Christ instead wins the great victory. He stands again on the third day and finally ascends to glory in full sight of His disciples. Jesus is the fulfilment of verse 18. He is the victorious King who leads a host of captives to freedom (v18b). Christ doesn't bring us freedom with a military campaign, instead He has bound Satan and plundered his house (Mark 3v27). Christ has set the captives free from sin and will lead them home. He today receives what He is due, the praise of His people who know that Christ is their greatest treasure (v18c). We sing "Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!" (v35). Even the rebellious cannot stand (v18d). Jesus has triumphed over them, disarming the rulers and authroities and making a public display of them (Colossians 2v15). As Moses led the people from Egypt to the wilderness to the promised land, so Jesus leads us out of exile. He has broken our chains and remains constant as we aliens and sojourners travel this barren land. The road may be long and fraught with danger and trouble but our destination is not in doubt. Christ leads our procession "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (Isaiah 35v10) Pray (acTS) Sing Westminster Shorter Catechism Q38 What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection? At the resurrection, believers, being raised up to glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity. Day 144 Pray (AC-ts) Read — Psalm 103:8-12 Message Alan Burke Feet and inches versus meters and centimetres, pounds and ounces verses kilos and grams. You are either one are the other, actually that’s not strictly true, Europe might have came in told us we couldn’t sell things in pounds in ounces but I know I can eat a 20 oz steak but if it was on a menu as a 500g I don’t honestly know what that looks like even though its roughly the same. It’s about 5 miles from here to Downpatrick, it took too much mental effort today to figure out that’s 8km so I googled it. There are other things that we are nearly exclusively metric these days, like spanners that is unless you are screwing at something before 1970’s when the likelihood it’s imperial, Royal Mail works in metric, the weigh of that letter matters and its measured in grams. Here we learn more of more of God’s very character and what it is to be forgiven by Him so that we can come before him the Holy God. Look at what the psalmist says, the Lord God is merciful and gracious (8), this a fundamental truth of the very character of God (Ex 34:6), not only is he merciful and gracious, he is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (8b), he does not always chide nor does he keep his anger forever (9). How can we quantify what God has done, how do we measure it, well it is in distance but not in feet or inches or meters and centimetres, its as high as the heavens are above the earth (10). The psalmist is painting a picture of the greatness of the Love of God towards those who fear him and it is beyond measure, just as far as he has removed our transgressions from us as far as East from the West. In truth we can’t even begin to understand the greatness of the Love of God, but these words help us in some way grasp in some limited way at least greatness of the immeasurable love and grace of God towards us, for when God forgives sin, he completely removes them, the height and breadth of His mercy is vast. Because God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. All of this isn’t dependant on our efforts, ability, it's not dependant on we can do but through what God has done on our behalf. It is through Jesus Christ who took our sin upon his shoulders that we have forgiveness though faith, through faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God our heavenly Father. In his gracious activity towards has removed the consequences of our sin as well as the sin itself from us, he redeems, he rescues, he protects, he crowns us with his love and compassion. Pray (ac-TS) Sing Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 39 What is the duty which God requireth of man? The duty which God requireth of man, is obedience to his revealed will. (Mic. 6:8, 1 Sam. 15:22) Day 145 Pray (ACts) Read - Ephesians 4v1-16 Message - Scott Woodburn Theology is never just an exercise of the head, it isn't just knowing stuff about God. As we grow in knowledge of the Lord so our hearts are stirred with love and devotion. The ascension therefore isn't an obscure moment that can be overlooked. Jesus has ascended to heaven and today reigns at the right hand of God. His ascension fulfilled Psalm 68 and we know that Christ is the greater David who leads our procession to glory. Today Paul outlines the practical implications of the ascension. The apostle quotes from Psalm 68 in verse 8 with the verses before and after outlining the implications. If you remember nothing else from today's devotion may you remember these words...unity and maturity. Paul writes that we are to walk in a manner worthy of our calling (v1) and that walk is marked by unity (v3). The creed that runs from verse four to six shows us our common faith. There is only one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God. Therefore this creed should cause us to contend for unity in the body. We who are many have become one by the blood of Christ. We are not foolish enough to believe that churches will never experience turmoil and nor do we believe that every member of every church will be best pals. But the Lord teaches us how we are to deal with disagreements. If your brother has wronged you then you are to go and tell him his fault hoping that things can be sorted out (Matthew 18v15). If he hasn't listened then return to him with the support of two or three witnesses (Matthew 18v16). If he still will not listen then the matter is to be brought to the spiritual leaders of the church with potential discipline to follow (Matthew 18v17). With those individuals in your life who have wronged you, have you followed the principles of Matthew 18 to seek the restoration of the relationship? Do they even know that they have grieved you? I notice that in this passage there is no mention of gossip. Slandering your enemy to one of your friends will not restore a broken relationship. Equally there is no mention of a passive aggressive approach. In other words ignoring your enemy whilst firing dirty looks will not restore a broken relationship. In light of the ascension we are to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (v3). Additionally Christ's ascension means that He has given gifts to the church (v8). Throughout history there are have been different offices held in the church of Jesus Christ (v11). We no longer have apostles or prophets but the goal remains the same - to bring the people of God to full maturity. No longer children (v14) but mature adults in the faith (v13). The people of God are to fully equipped (v12a), the work of the ministry is to be carried out (v12b) and the church is to be built (v12c). This doesn't happen with gimmicks or smoke machines but the regularly preached Word and the faithful administration of the sacraments. We've all probably said at a time "I get nothing from church.", "There's nothing there for my children.", "I don't like the music.", "This church is dead". To these declarations I would ask "Is the Word preached? Are there opportunities to sit at the Supper? Do Christians meet to pray? Is the Bible studied? Is the Gospel proclaimed?" If these things are true about your church then you are very blessed indeed. The Spirit is surely moving where such activities take place. When normality returns, cherish the place where you worship God. Our church hopes to return to live worship on September 6th. What will mark our return? I hope unity and maturity. May grudges have been put to death during lockdown. May the Spirit give us renewed hunger for the things of God. May our discipleship be shaped by our theology. Christ has ascended to the highest place giving gifts to His church. Therefore "we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." (v15-16) Pray (acTS) Sing Westminster Shorter Catechism Q40 What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience? The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience, was the moral law. Day 146 Pray (AC-ts) Read — Psalm 103:13-17 Message Alan Burke For some men the ideal of what a man should be is personified by the silver screen. Depending what era you grew up in depended on which man’s man you looked up to; Cary Grant, John Wayne, Steve McQueen, Bruce Willis. Men who were men, hard working, rough around the ages, could drink you under the table, womanises, letting the women do woman’s work and rear the weins. Today as we look to the psalmist’s description of the Lord God, he portrays what it is to be man and a father that knocks the idea that some have on its head. For God the God of grace (3), the one who is compassionate and gracious (8) is also a Father to his people. God the Father is not called Father because he copies earthly fathers. He is not some pumped-up version of your dad or the men that we watched on the silver screen he is a Father who is compassionate to those who fear him (13). This means that God shows warm compassion, a compassion which goes the second mile, which is ready to forge sin, to replace judgement with grace, it shows his favour towards us. It is love that is so vast it cannot be measured (11). He is our Father and he is also our Creator (14), he has made us from the dust of the ground, not gold, gemstones or granite but dust all to help us understand our dependance on him. For our lives our frail, from dust we come and to dust we will return, just like the flower in the field (15) we flourish in the right conditions even so we are just like the grass and the wild flowers are so brief in their glory (16). We are just the same, but we can have certainty in God and who he is, and how he cares for things as fragile as flowers; how His covenant love will be even more displayed to us. For just as God promised to Abraham he would be with his offspring, that promised is reaffirmed here, but it goes further, how the faithful are to expect that God will set his saving love on their children’s children (17). This is the crowning privilege that God gives to his faithful: though their lives are short and appear almost insignificant, that those who know and love him may still contribute to the future well-being of the people of God by their godly and prayerful parenting and grand-parenting. We have a God who is compassionate and gracious towards us, even though we do not deserve it, we can come as his children, heirs with Christ Jesus (Jn 1:12-13). He has shown us his abundant grace even though we don’t deserve it, in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, our sin has been atoned for (1 Jn 2:2), he has graciously removed the guilt of sin, and lift off the burden as far as the east is from the west, bringing cleansing that we can come before the Lord God. Pray (ac-TS)) Sing Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 41 Where is the moral law summarily comprehended? The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments. (Deut. 10:4, Matt. 19:17) DAY 148 Pray (AC-ts) Read - Acts 3v22 & Luke 4v18-21 Message - Scott Woodburn When I was saved I immediately believed that I was going to be a preacher. It came as no surprise to my mother as apparently I would come home from church in the 1980s and preach the morning sermon to her. It was however something of a surprise to me, nevertheless I was new in the faith and so I started reading everything I could get my hands on. Suddenly a world of theology was before me and slowly but surely I realised what I believed and why I believed it. I wasn't a Baptist or Pentecostal, I was Reformed. This realisation came about as I studied the Westminster Standards. They helped me make sense of the Scriptures and one question in particular stood out. Question 23 of the Shorter Catechism asks "What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?" with the answer "Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation." I suddenly realised that the Old Testament wasn't disconnected from the New. The stories, the rituals, the structures, everything, all of it pointed to the truth that Christ was the fulfilment of the entire Old Testament. All of those prophets like Elijah, and those priests like Aaron and those kings like David were types that pointed forward to the One who would be the true prophet, priest and king. That One is Jesus and by the grace of God we will look this week at how He fulfils these roles. It is Peter who in Acts 3 reminds his hearers of what Moses once promised in Deuteronomy 18. Moses once proclaimed that another prophet was promised, this coming prophet was to be listened to and indeed any failure to listen to Him would mean destruction. Moses' words of course would be fulfilled in Christ. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus Himself applies Isaiah 61 to His ministry and publicly declares His prophetic office. Jesus is the true prophet anointed to preach the Gospel to the poor. He comes to heal the brokenhearted and to deliver the captives from their sin. The blind will see and the crushed will be liberated. Jesus spoke these words about Himself and the day that He spoke them, Isaiah 61 was fulfilled (v21). It is as we read in Hebrews 1v1-2 "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world." We are living in the last days and if we want to know what God has to say, then we listen to Jesus. When we turn our ear to Christ we realise the emptiness of much of what the world has to say. President Trump refers to "fake news". We hear how politicians like to consider the "optics" of every situation or in other words how an event will make them look. Even this week many are squirming, trying to give answers to the A-Level/GCSE results mess. Who to trust? Who to listen to? Only Jesus. It's often stated that George Orwell once said “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” We can't actually prove if he said it or not but its a quote that speaks to 2020. Truth is called error and error is called truth. What can be done? Let God be true and every man a liar. Let Christ's Word ring in our ears. He is the great prophet foretold in the Scriptures. Today we would do well to take God at His Word. The Lord declares "This is my Son, my Chosen One, listen to Him!" (Luke 9v35). Pray (acTS) Sing Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 43. What is the preface to the ten commandments? Day 149 Pray (AC-ts) Read — Psalm 111:1-3 Message Alan Burke Physiology tell us that the human heart is a muscle about the size of our fists that pumps blood around our bodies, beating around seventy times a minute. It is divided into four chambers, upper left and right atria and lower left and right ventricles,, each part of it is so vital to our survival as it takes oxygen-rich blood and pumps it through a network of arteries in the body. Yet figuratively we speak of the heart as the place of ones emotions, we say things like ‘my heart goes out to you’, ‘a heartfelt plea’, ‘in my heart of hearts’, ‘their hearts in the right place’, ‘they have a heart of gold’, ‘a change of heart’, ‘she broke his heart’. Here the psalmist begins with, Praising the LORD, literally a Hallelujah (1a), praising him for what he has done and who he is. Praising the one who flung the stars into space (Ps 8:3-5), the one who set the earth on its foundations (Ps 104:5), the one who made the mountains and valleys (Ps 104:8), the one who made us in his image (Gen 1:27). For the mention of his God’s name should evoke this response in his those who are his servants, those who profess to know him, those who acknowledge him as the LORD God. The psalmist declares that he will extol him, give thanks to the LORD with his whole heart (1b). Figuratively the psalmist is saying, every single part of me will give thanks to the Lord, my inner life, my character, my emotions, my intellectual activities, whether out in the field, in the home, giving thanks, extolling the LORD. No trouble, no coldness, no struggles within, nothing stops him from giving the LORD his complete praise. He will do this gathered with the upright (1c), literally those who are just, righteous, who’s who have faith in the Lord, so the psalmist is gathering with God’s people and they together praise the LORD their God. Joining praising the LORD in the midst of life for His works, his wisdom and goodness, shown in creation and salvation, praising him for his providence (2). His divine acts as his personal involvement with his world of creation, his royal splendour are clearly evident in all his words as well as his work (3). Hallelujah, Praise the LORD indeed this day, with your who heart, because of who is is and all that he has done. Not only did he put the stars in their place (Ps 8:3-5), set the earth on its foundations (Ps 104:5), made the mountains and valleys (Ps 104:8), made us in his image (Gen 1:27), he has brought salvation to us (Tit 2:11). Salvation that we do not deserve (Rom 3:23) though Jesus Christ (1 Tim 2:5). This should lead us to praise for we are included the upright of this psalms through faith (Eph 2:8), nothing who bore our sin on himself (1 Pet 2:24). This should lead us to praise like the psalmist that doesn’t hold back from shouting for joy to the LORD, nothing interfering with the praise that we give. There are times of trouble, coldness, struggles within, will come, in those times I encourage you to look to the Lord, think upon what he has done and give praise to him. Pray (ac-TS) Sing Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 44 What doth the preface to the ten commandments teach us? The preface to the ten commandments teacheth us, That because God is the Lord, and our God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments. (Luke 1:74–75, 1 Pet. 1:15–18) DAY 150 Pray (AC-ts) Read - Psalm 110v1-7 & Hebrews 5v5-6 Message - Scott Woodburn For most of my twelve years in Edengrove I've done my best to preach from both old and new testaments. I contend that all Scripture is God breathed and therefore not an inch of it is out of bounds for the Christian. With that principle in mind, a few years ago I preached through the entire book of Leviticus. I don't know if anyone remembers that series and I don't know if you've read Leviticus, but let me give you a picture from that book that has always stayed with me. The Lord spoke to Moses and told him that if anyone brought an offering to the Lord it was to be brought in this manner "If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him." (Leviticus 1v3-4) Please notice that the offering was to be without blemish and as the worshipper drew near they were to lay their hand on the head of the animal. In order words they were to identify with it, they were to claim it as their own and it would be acceptable in the sight of God. The Levitical system of worship was temporary. In Hebrews 10 we are told that it was a shadow of the good things to come. Indeed it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. A perfect sacrifice was required and it was brought by Christ who was the blemish free lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world. Christ is our prophet and He is also our priest. His sacrifice was once and for all, never to be repeated because instead of bringing a lamb to the slaughter, He brought Himself. His blood was able to take away the sins of His people. Psalm 110 is Messianic because in verse four we are told "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.'" Later in Hebrews 5, this verse is applied directly to Christ. Who is Melchizedek? We meet him in Genesis 14, as a prophet he blesses Abraham and in turn Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. Long before the book of Leviticus and the priesthood, Melchizedek was also called "the priest of God most high". Melchizedek is also called the "king of Salem" (Genesis 14v18). So Christ comes not as a temporary priest offering sacrifices every year, but instead he comes in the line of Melchizedek who was prophet, priest and king. Look at Hebrews 7 to see the superiority of the order of Melchizedek. Christ belongs to this order and He is a priest forever. We find comfort in this place. Jesus lives to intercede for us as our great high priest (Hebrews 7v25). He knows our weakness as He was tempted and tried in everyway and yet remained sinless (Hebrews 4v15). Child of God are you sturggling to keep going today? Does it feel that the world and its granny are against you? As the worshippers of old drew near to God laying their hands on the animal they brought, may we cling to Christ and "with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4v16) Pray (acTS) Sing Westminster Shorter Catechism Q45 Which is the first commandment? The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Alan
|