Some more morning meditations...

Following on from our short post the other day we are going to continue with our 'morning scenes' and look at...

A morning at the cross (Mark 15:1, 20, 22, 25)

Here was a morning like no other; many mornings had been before, and many since but not like this one! Unique due to the events unfolding just outside Jerusalem, this morning stands apart in history. This was a morning that would see the very Son of God journey to Calvary bearing his cross and giving his life for the sinner!

Mark, the vibrant and dynamic chronicler can only express this event simply yet poignantly using just 10 words; "and it was about the third hour, and they crucified him". Oh the wonder of it! That the very eternal Son of God would come to this earth, step into this scene of time and be subject to hours and days, mornings and nights, weeks and years! And that there should ever be an hour, at approximately 9am on that day, when he would be taken and crucified. What a tremendous truth this is, one that is too much for us to take in and understand - but we believe it! We thank God for the death of Christ at the cross of Calvary, because of this we are saved!

The account in Mark uses the phrase "they crucified him" thus emphasising the role and guilt of man in those events. Yes this was the divine plan, God was playing out his sovereign and permissive will in the events at Calvary but nevertheless, wicked men were the willing agents - a truth which is born out in the preaching in the early Acts where people like Peter boldly proclaimed the guilt of those Jews, to convict them of their sin and their need for repentance (Acts 2:23, 3:15). Just as a side note, I trust that when we publicly preach the Gospel or indeed witness to others, that we do preach about sin and how men must repent toward God in order to be saved! It is all very well preaching about the love of God and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, but the message is somewhat incomplete unless we tell men they are sinners and that they need to repent and come before God humbly for forgiveness! We have the authority of the Word of God for this, and true repentance is crucial if men are to be saved.

Praise God that this morning at the cross was eventually followed by a morning at the tomb - a morning of resurrection! I'm reminded of the words of the hymn - "He arose, he arose, Hallelujah! Christ arose!" I find it interesting that the Apostles in those early days of the Church, also preach this truth as they addressed the people, how important it is to preach a risen Saviour! He's alive today and is ascended and at God's right hand in majesty and power! How crucial this truth is to our faith, that the Lord Jesus rose, the work was complete and perfect and God has received him back into heaven, where he ever lives to make intercession for us. I hope we believe this and maintain this truth vigorously. It should encourage us and fill us with joy, hope and cheer as we seek to serve the risen Saviour. We close by thinking of the majestic words of the Lord Jesus in Revelation 1:18 "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold I am alive for evermore, Amen..."

Yours in Christ, Mark

New things

As we look towards another New Year my mind has been exploring some 'new things' that we read of in the scriptures. I hope these thoughts are encouraging and uplifting and may spark further study among you.

New doctrine - Mark 1:27

"And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him."

Correctly rendered, the question is more of an exclamation; "what new or fresh teaching!". As we approach the end of 2012 and look to the year ahead, we do well to continually meditate upon the incredible earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. The people of his day had never seen anything like it! Time and again we read in the gospels that the people were 'astonished', 'amazed' or that they 'marvelled' in fact there are over 40 mentions of these 3 expressions alone. Shouldn't we ever be amazed by the life of our Saviour whilst down here upon this earth? His walk, his ways and his words, every facet was filled with power, purpose and authority. Surely testifying to that truth that here was one who is God manifest in flesh!

A new testament - 1 Cor 11:25

"After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."

There are several passages that relate the institution of the remembrance supper, and each brings out a subtle shade of meaning:

• Paul here brings out the remembrance aspect. When we gather on a Lord's Day morning, it is always to remember him, his person and his work. Sometimes we may dwell almost exclusively on his death on Calvary, or on our blessed position and our future in heaven with him, but Paul correctly reminds the believers that it is to remember him.


• Matthew in his account identifies the cup as speaking of his blood which was shed "for the remission of sins", and this too brings out another aspect. Remission means pardon, deliverance, forgiveness and all this has been made possible by the shedding of his precious blood.


• Mark says that it was "shed for many" and we should thank God daily that we are included in the many!


• Finally Luke brings a more personal meaning as his account says "shed for you" and this should move us as we hear the words of the Saviour to us personally. How it should move us to serve him and worship him with all the more dedication and fervour!

A new tomb - Matt 27:57-60

"And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock..."

This reference reminds us that the Saviour became despised and rejected by men, and suffered and died on the cross. However, throughout this tremendous event we as believers can rejoice in that we see God's will being carried out and fulfilled to the letter at Calvary! Nothing was done that should not have been, and all things were done that should have been. Matthew tells us that the new tomb was Joseph's own, fulfilling the prophecy found in Isaiah 53:9 "And they assigned him a grave with the wicked... yet he was with a rich man in his death" Surely here was a perfect work, finished and completed by our blessed Lord and Saviour. As we go into a new year we take heart in the fact that God's Word is perfect and endures forever, and his purposes will be fulfilled, always!

A new song - Psalm 40:3

"And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God"

Now finally as we close these thoughts my mind went to this verse in the Psalms, which reminds me of the daily occupation of worship and the joy that should be ours as we consider our Saviour and offer praises to God.

David, the sweet psalmist of Israel tells us 3 important things about the new song:

• It is FROM God - He has given us this new or fresh song, and has put it into our mouths.


• It is ABOUT God - the subject and character of the new song is spiritual, as the word song here means a psalm or a hymn and it is described as praise unto God.


• It is TO God - He is the object and recipient of the praise!

What a lovely thought as we celebrate the beginning of a new year - To be found meditating upon the person of Christ and occupying ourselves with the praise and worship of God! We have been given a new song when we came to know him as Lord and Saviour, so let us live with this in mind for 2013!

May God richly bless his people everywhere and may we all be encouraged and strengthened in our testimony, both collectively and as individuals.



Yours in Christ, Mark

Lessons concerning the ark (1 Samuel 6)

The ark is sent back by the Philistines following 7 months in their land. They send it back on a cart pulled by 2 dairy cows and it makes its way to Bethshemesh, west of Jerusalem. The men of Bethshemesh rejoice to see the ark return to them and show their joy by offering a sacrifice to God there and then using the cows and the wood of the cart.

There can be no doubting that this was an admirable and appropriate response - they were so glad to see that which spoke of the things of God again, that they spontaneously made sacrifices to God using the available materials to hand! They didn't wait, they didn't put it off, they didn't go home to do other things first! Their hearts were ready to worship there and then and they wouldn't let anything get in the way of that. This should speak to us today...

Are we slow to worship? Of course we are not solely talking about on a Lord's Day morning, for worship can be given at any time! Are our hearts in a state of readiness to worship?  Do we let other things get in the way of giving worship? Are we too lazy to worship, or to prepare to worship? Perhaps for the younger men who may be reading this - are you too self-conscious to worship publicly? Too concerned with what others may think of your contribution? Let me encourage you in this: prepare something simple, that your heart is taken up with and go for it. "Just do it" - as the Nike slogan says. If your nerves or insecurity is stopping you from publicly worshipping, then let me tell you, the best remedy is to take the plunge or forever sit in silence! What a tragedy this would be, but very sadly it happens.

[caption id="attachment_198" align="alignleft" width="264" caption="An aerial shot showing some ancient ruins at Bethshemesh"][/caption]

The attitude of praise from the men of Bethshemesh stands in stark contrast to what happened next. For some reason, which is not given or described, the men of Bethshemesh decide to look into the ark. Did they not know there would be consequences? Did they do it out of ignorance? Or did their curiosity get the better of them and cause them to knowingly disobey the commandment of God? We do not know, but the holiness and righteousness of God demanded that there be judgement for such a transgression, and he smote the men of Bethshemesh so that 50,070 lost their lives.

Here is what I learn from this; praise and worship is good and needful, but we must also be knowledgeable of God and his ways. We should always show reverence when handling the holy things of God and be obedient to his Word! What does Samuel later say to Saul in chapter 15:

"Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

We do well to heed the lessons of 1 Samuel 6 - Worship is vital, it should be spontaneous, natural and also genuine and from over-flowing hearts. However we must also recognise that we deal with a holy and a righteous God when we come into God's presence, and we handle holy things when we handle his Word. But moreover, God values more than anything else obedience to his Word and a willingness to do his will, to honour him and put him first in our lives.

God give us help and discipline to put this into practice in our lives.

Yours in Christ, Mark

Hannah - A godly woman

We mentioned in our previous post that Hannah is a lovely Bible character and as we move into chapter two of Samuel there are some lovely observations we can make...

We finished our thoughts last time by looking at Hannah's thankfulness and praise for answered prayer concerning a child, and this continues into chapter two. The first 10 verses are Hannah's praise and thanksgiving to God and these verses stand in stark contrast to the bitterness and sorrow of chapter one. I think this is important, as life can be just like that; elation and happiness one minute, when you feel indestructible and that nothing can go wrong, and then everything can go wrong and events can combine to leave us feeling helpless, worried and in despair!

What I think this sequence of events in 1 Samuel shows us is to get into a routine of bringing things before the Lord, and when we see answer to prayer or experience blessing, to immediately give thanks to God and acknowledge his goodness and guidance in our lives. Unfortunately I find I am very quick to bring something before God in time of need, but a lot less quick to give thanks when he answers prayer and I see his hand in my life!

Hannah shows a tremendous knowledge of God in her prayer, so much so that it was a challenge to me. The way she prayed bore the hallmarks of a woman that lived close to God and obviously communicated regularly with God, so that her prayers expressed a knowledge of the character and attributes of God! Surely we who have the full scriptures and have been saved by the grace of God and indwelled by the Spirit should also be able to pray in the same way? A case in point is her acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God in verses 6 and 7. She confesses that it is God that controls life and death, and God can make men poor and rich as he wills, just as he can exalt or humble a man. What a lesson this is, and what grace to accept Gods will in these matters!

v19 is lovely. Every year Hannah came up with her husband and would bring Samuel a new coat. I had never given this much thought before, but I realise now that this must surely have been very difficult for her, as it seems as if this yearly visit was the only time she got to see her soon whom she had given to the Lord. Each year the coat would have been made a little bigger, and as she made and prepared it in the home ready for the yearly journey it would have been a constant reminder of her noble sacrifice, but also the great blessing she had been given from God. I think therefore it is lovely that God saw fit to further bless Hannah and give her 3 sons and 2 daughters, as I think this godly woman would have been an excellent mother from what I can see in these chapters. She was a spiritual woman who put God first in her life, and experienced great blessing as a result. It put me in mind of the scripture:

"Them that honour me, I will honour"

 

 

Three things found in David's youth... (part 1)

[caption id="attachment_67" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The hill country around Bethlehem"][/caption]

I first thought about this mini study a couple of years ago for a Friday night youth work, but I honestly believe there are some practical lessons for us all here in this study and I share them with you now for our mutual benefit. As there are three things this will divide neatly into a three part post over the next few days, so keep hitting the site for the next instalment!

1. Sheep

Of course we remember that it is as a young shepherd that we are introduced to David, and we find him caring for his father Jesse's flocks (1 Sam 16:11). It is here that David learns a lot of the skills and characteristics hat will prepare him for service. He is caring, feeding and protecting the sheep, engaged in profitable activities that will serve him well throughout his life in relation to being a leader for God in Israel. This is a challenge to us - those of us who are young or not long on the Christian pathway, what habits and traits are we learning and picking up as young people? What activities are we engaged in and how are we spending our time? I challenge myself with this as I myself struggle with managing my time and often find myself being distracted by frivolous and worthless things!

Of course sheep were to come back into David's life at other stages and I thought of Nathan's parable in 2 Samuel 12. The prophet paints a vivid picture and chooses something that David will understand, a picture of a lamb. Of course we remember that the purpose of the parable was to rebuke David for his sin with Bathsheba and this gross sin would cost him greatly. But recovery and forgiveness was possible and David would repent of his sin and be restored once again. The lesson for us is that we should strive to live holy lives well-pleasing to God - "be ye holy". However there may be times when we fail, yet we have the promise of the Word of God; "if any man sin he has an advocate with the father" There is always forgiveness and restoration with the father, we can never be cut off from him! However we should keep short accounts with God, repent when we fail and ask God to forgive us. Our failure should be the exception rather than the rule however, and it should not be so that are lives are constantly marked by repetitive sin and failure.

I would consider one last mention of sheep in David's life, this time in his old age at the inauguration of his son Solomon as king in 1 Chron 29:21. David sacrifices 1000 rams and 1000 lambs on this auspicious occasion. Here we see the sheer extravagance of David's praise and worship and this is something that marked David's life, his abundance in worship and thanksgiving to God. Remember when the ark was brought back, he danced and praised God! Of course this too should mark us as believers, both when we gather together publicly and in our own lives we should be ready and abundant worshippers! The father seeks for worshippers, (John 4:23) he deserves our praise and like David, we should be happy and willing to offer it.

I trust these simple thoughts will have been a challenge and encouragement to us. Later we will look at the second of the three things found in David's youth that influenced and characterised the life of this great man.

Yours in Christ,

Mark