The Carpenter's Chapel (5)

Wednesday, 13th October, 2004

When someone is hurting we often ask the question, “What can I do to help?” Often we get the simple reply, “Just pray.” I know when that happens I tend to think, “Are you sure that is all I kind do?”

Yet, the Word of God treats helping in prayer as a mighty work. It is not “just pray” but it is a true source of help.

2 Corinthians 2v10-11

who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver; in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us, with you also helping together by prayer for us, so that the gracious gift by many persons be the cause of thanksgiving through many for us.

Barnes gives us a clear picture of what Paul is saying here.

Have you ever noted how close to another you are drawn when you are labouring in prayer with them? There is nothing better for the unity of the church that share our needs and burdens in prayer. O how often we miss the joy of assisting each other in prayer!

There is truly no greater comfort that to KNOW that others are praying for you when you are going through a trial. More than that, Samuel viewed not praying for another as being sin. In 1 Samuel 12v23 we read, “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:”


The next time someone says, “Just pray” may we take it to heart, realise that prayer is the greatest help we can give, and not sin against them by ceasing to pray for them.

 

Amen.

Thank you Roger. I feel that as Christians we don't always value the power of prayer. When asked to pray for someone I often ask if they would like me to pray With them as well as for them.

What a privilege to come to our Lord in prayer.

God Bless

Sheila

 

Thanks Roger; Paul would pray without ceasing for the Body of Christ.

 

Amen. Our actions DO speak louder than words.

Thank you Jim for this devotional.

God Bless

Sheila

 

Friday, 15th October, 2004

This will be my last devotional until Tuesday the 2 November. Thanks to my co-workers for filling in. Please pray for Mary and I as we fly to the Chicago area and the for three boys while we are gone.

On Wednesday we looked at the importance of being a “helper in prayer” for those who are going through affliction.

Today we want to just look at one little phrase at the end of 2 Corinthians 1v11 – “..by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many of our behalf.”

Here Paul addresses another purpose for afflictions in the Christian life. We know from other places in scripture that suffering has several purposes and we are not going to recount those here.

In this verse we have a purpose for affliction that we don’t often consider. The end result of affliction and deliverance from is that thanksgiving may be offered up to God. Giving of thanks is a key part of our walk with the Lord. Thanksgiving is a sacrifice, it pleases God, and most of it acknowledges that God is good and that He ALWAYS does the right thing.

How do we give thanks in every situation? We remember verses like “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knoweth them that trust in Him” If we really believe that God is good, if we really believe that He is a stronghold in the day of trouble, and if we really believe that He knows them that trust in Him we cannot help but offer Him our “sacrifices of praise!”


The next time you are called upon to suffer affliction, don’t look inward at your own troubles – praise God that when you come though there will be cause for MANY to give thanks to God.

 

Saturday October 16, 2004

“And he saith unto him, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.’ “
(John 1:51)

Here Jesus expands the prophecy of Jacob ladder, that is recorded in Genesis 28:12: “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” He is saying that He, as Christ is the ladder of which the angels of God will ascend and descend. At the end of His ministry, Jesus would declare, "I Am the Way" and that only through Christ is there access to heaven.
In Jacobs dream (Genesis 28:12), angels were ascending and descending on a great ladder between earth and Heaven. Christ promised a future reality in which He Himself would be the ladder to the opened heaven.
But it was to be "hereafter." Until Christ came to die and rise again, heaven was closed, for nothing unclean could enter there and death had "passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12). Even those who died in faith could only be "comforted" in "Abraham's bosom" deep "in the heart of the earth" (Luke 16:22,25; Matthew 12:40), because "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4).
Then Christ died and rose again "to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (Hebrews 9:26) In His spirit, "He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth," and "when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive" (Ephesians 4:8-9), leading all pre-Calvary saints with Him into heaven.
Then was fulfilled the wonderful scene predicted in Psalm 24:7: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in."
Since the wonderful day when Christ ascended back to heaven "to be absent from the body" is "to be present with the Lord" (2Corinthians 5:8). Heaven someday will even receive our resurrected bodies. John prophesied it this way: "I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice...said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter" (Revelation 4:1). Heaven thenceforth will be open eternally to all the redeemed. "The gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there (Revelation 21:25)
Before we begin chapter two, please note that the writer John has omitted several events. First, the preaching of John the Baptist in the wilderness, the temptation of Christ by the Devil, and the baptism of Jesus was only mentioned as a reference to the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus.

 

Sunday October 17, 2004

Chapter 2

“And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus saith unto her, ‘Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.’ His mother saith unto the servants, ‘Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.’” (John 2: 1-5)

As Jesus begins His public ministry, notice that His first miracle is a private affair, a wedding. He and His disciples are invited guests along with His mother, Mary. Cana of Galilee was Nathanael's hometown (21:2). It is to be noted that Jesus, in attending, gives His blessing upon weddings and the vows of husband and wife which fulfill the commands of Gen. 2:24.
A problem develops as the wine pots are empty. Mary turns to Jesus and announces, "They have no wine" She still remembered the words of the angel to her years ago, and had no doubt heard the proclamation of her cousin, John the Baptist declaring her Son, Jesus to be the Lamb of God. It seems she wanted Him to perform a miracle so that He would be recognized and exalted.
The answer of Jesus is a gentle rebuke to remind her that He was to follow the will of His Father in Heaven. All the works of Christ were to bring glory to the Father, but the day was coming when the Son would be glorified. Jesus speaks of this day as His "hour." Dr. Oliver B. Greene listed eight references in John to this specific "hour": 2:4; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23,27; 13:1; 16:32 and 17:1. The term "hour" is similar to the term "cup" used by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. This hour/cup is the suffering, the sacrifice and the separation that came to Jesus as He bore our sins on the Cross. So in 2:4 Jesus remind us to "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37:5) "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6) Let's make sure that we are following God, instead of telling God what we are going to do.
Mary responds in submission and in faith, trusting God to deliver the means necessary to meet needs. She now gives what has to be the wisest advise that any person, other than her Son, Jesus, has ever said since the creation until now: His mother said to the servants,
"Whatsoever He saith to you, do it." (v.5)
There has been way too much mysticism concerning Mary down through the years Supposedly Mary has appeared to this or that person, giving some warnings or bits of advice. Well, rest assured that if God allowed Mary to speak today, she would have the same advice for us that she gave nearly 2000 years ago:
'Whatsoever HE saith to YOU, do it!"

And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. (John 2: 6-12)
Jesus used six large (2 or 3 firkins is 20 or 30 gallons) waterpots which had been used for ceremonial washings. They were filled to the brim with plain water, leaving no room for any other mixture to be added. Then they were to serve from these waterpots to the governor of the feast. The water was miraculously turned into "good wine. Yet most people in attendance knew nothing of the miracle.
We come now to the controversial subject of the wine itself. Was it intoxicating drink, or a very good grape juice? The Greek word, oinos, can be used for both. Westminster's Dictionary of the Bible tells us, "Water was the usual beverage of the Hebrews, though they also frequently used milk. Wine was in common use. Wine was offered as an ordinary hospitality and was served at festivities...The Hebrew people were, as a rule, simple in their mode of living and temperate; but the danger of excess in the use of even light wine, especially at feasts was clearly discerned...precautions were taken to guard all men against excess. The means to prevent the danger line from being crossed were:
First, the wine was weakened by water.
Second, there was a governor of the feast, one of whose duties, at least where Greek customs were observed, was to fix the proportion in which the wine and the water should be mixed and to determine how much wine each guest might drink.
Third, warnings concerning the danger of lingering over the wine, of tampering with the cup when it delights the eye, and of making strong intoxicants were urgently given."
(John Davis, Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, p.143, 641.)
Numerous are the verses that warn us against drunkenness.
(Dt. 21: 20-21; 29:6; Pro. 20:1; 23:21,29-35; Isa. 5:22; Hab. 2:15; Rom. 13:13-14; 1Cor. 5:11; 6:10; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:18 and 1Pet. 4:3)

Notice that the wedding in Cana and the Lord's Supper shows us that, while Jesus was from the town of Nazareth (therefore, a Nazarene), He was not a Nazarite (Num. 6: 1-21). They were not able to have any fruit or liquid of the grape, or cut their hair or come into contact with any dead bodies. Jesus "supped" (1Cor. 11:25) of the "fruit of the vine." (Mt. 5:41). Therefore, Jesus probably did not have long hair as many drawings of Him depicts.

 

Tuesday October 18, 2004

I am happy to be filling in for our brother, Roger.
Zeal.
Jim's last devotional concerned some mis-directed zeal that nearly ruined a man. But there is a good, healthy zeal for God and this is what today's devotional concerns.

“And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” (John 2:13-17)
The Passover draws Jesus back to Jerusalem. 2:12 mentions His mother and "brethren." It is one of many verses that mentions Mary's other children born after the birth of Jesus. The Bible says that Joseph did not know May intimately until after Jesus was born. (Mt. 1:25) This verse also mentions Capernaum, which became the new hometown of Jesus (Mt. 4:13). Many of the events recorded in the rest of this gospel would occur in this Galilean city.
Now it is time for the Passover and Jesus heads back to Jerusalem and to the temple in particular. Here He finds many things unacceptable to the point that Jesus made a whip of "small cords" that Dr. Oliver B. Greene translates, "literally means a cord made of rushes...these rushes were used as bedding for the sheep." (Greene, p. 114). This is possibly compared to a green tree switch! Anyway, Jesus drove out the large animals and ordered the birds to be taken out as well, declaring: "Make not My Father's house a house of merchandise." (2:16) What we need to realize here is that many would travel to Jerusalem and would rather buy an animal for sacrifice than to bring one. The problem was not the sale of these animals and the free-market system. The problem was the location. The priests and leaders had brought the merchandise into the temple and profited thereby. Also, these leaders, according to John R. Rice, "Made a rule that one had to have special temple money to offer in the temple, so they made a profit on the exchange of money. The people would come from far away and want to buy a sacrifice to offer there and they must pay higher prices, and these that sold the cattle and sheep and doves were profiteering. So the spirit of reverence for holy things and the spiritual lessons picturing Christ and spiritual truths were wholly obscured by the merchandising of these people." (Rice, p.56)
Note that John is the only Gospel to record this first cleansing of the Temple. The second cleansing occurs as Jesus enters Jerusalem for the last time, a few days before the Cross. There are similarities, yet they are not the same. One possible reason for its exclusion from the other narrative is the John, being one of the earliest disciples, is speaking of things which happened before all of the disciples were gathered. Some scholars place John 2-4 prior to the call of the disciples in Mt. 4:17.
2:17 Refers to Psalm 69:9. Psalm 69 is quoted 7 times in the New Testament, each referring to the Messiah. Other references to this zeal for God: Exodus 32:19: Moses after coming down from the mount with the Ten Commandments; Numbers 25: 1-3: Where Phineas the priest slew two immoral people and stopped the plague of God upon the people.
A good zeal for God is what we need more of today.

 

How right you are Jim. Sadly it can be all too easy to forget in whose light we walk. Great devotional,

God Bless

Sheila

 

Thursday October 21,2004

“Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.” (John 2:18-22)

Now the Jews ask for a sign (2: 18-22). Notice that the religious leaders didn’t argue with Jesus as they knew He was righteous and just in His zeal in cleansing the Temple. They began to wonder if Jesus was a prophet and thereby this demonstration was some kind of sign from God. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea and many other of God's prophets did unusual things to get the peoples attention. But Jesus answers them with a remarkable statement: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (2:19) He didn't do a miracle before this audience of unbelievers, though the Lord would do miracles presently while in Jerusalem during the Passover feast. (2:23) But what He did to answer he priests was profound. He transitioned from the earthly temple of stone to the temple of His body. He declares that soon they would destroy His body on the cross. But now He asserts that after three days, "I will raise it up." At least the Pharisees believed that God could resurrect a body, and Jesus proclaims that He, as God, would raise it Himelf! Here He declares both His power and His Deity.
Everett Harrison in his commentary of John states: "On the positive side His coming would mean not merely the cleansing of the temple but the supplanting of it by His own person (v.21)." What He was saying is that not only did Jesus cleanse the temple, but He replaced the temple with His own body. The Jews came to the temple made of stone to meet God, but Jesus, through His own body becomes the way to God.
His disciples would learn the meaning of this sign after Christ's resurrection, but the religious leaders never had a clue! It would haunt them as the phrase "Destroy this temple" would be on their lips years later at the trial of Jesus (Mt. 26:61) as well as when they mocked Him while He was on the cross (Mt. 17:40). We do well to be careful not to worship a building, but rather the God that is greater than any building made with man's hands. Again, the disciples would remember and learn from this sign, yet the Jewish leaders were too proud to ask and too lost to understand!

 

Amen. Thank you Charles.

God Bless

Sheila

 

Amen.

Thank you Jim. I do so enjoy your devotions.

God Bless

Sheila

 

Yes Jim, quite true.
We should always say, with David:
"Truly I was glad when they said unto me, let us go unto the house of the Lord."

 

Saturday October 23, 2004

“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” (John 2:23-25)

Chapter 2 concludes with a footnote to the Passover feast. While Jesus was in Jerusalem, many "believed" when they saw miracles at the hands of Jesus. However the Lord "knew" their level of belief was just a surface level, emotional thrill and not a saving trust.
(Acts 8:9-21) This verse in John helps us define "belief" as more than an emotional, intellectual or charismatic whim. Romans 10:17 tells us that saving faith is based upon God's Word.

Perhaps the most frightening attribute of God is that He knows all about us. Everything! As the Psalmist said:

"O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off." (Psalm 139:1-2)
He has "searched" (literally "penetrated") us and "known" (understood) us. And since God is both omnipresent and omniscient, it obviously follows that nothing escapes His conscious knowledge about us. He observes our ordinary activities and innermost thoughts.

The Lord Jesus, as God in flesh, knew all about these that "believed in His name." This means that we are transparent to Him; we cannot deceive Him in any way. He knows what we are going to think; we cannot hide anything from Him. God knows what only we know about ourselves, and those things we won't even admit to ourselves.
The apostle Paul once observed: "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). This very intimate and complete knowledge about us is what makes God's salvation such a marvelous matter.

"For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)

God loves us in spite of what we have become. Yet, since He knows what we could be, He gives us eternal life through His son so that we will realize, one day, what He knows we shall be.

 

Thank you Charles,

God bless

Sheila