Ephesians 1:1-3
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
13 times in our New Testaments, the author started his letters by addressing himself as Paul. His name was originally Saul, it was a name that perhaps the apostle would naturally be proud to be associated with the first king of Israel, which meant asked for. He was proud of his heritage and his religion, and perhaps saw himself as the one asked for to destroy the church.
There is a pride in us all in the flesh. Romans 12: 3For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Whether it be our service for God in the local assembly or our daily life in this world
But when he met the Lord, a bright light came into his life. When we were first converted, was it not that the Lord was shining bright in this dark world that we live in, shining out of the darkness of our hearts that we bowed to Him?
And his name became Paul, the little one. Acts 13.
He was content to be little, “less than the least of all saints,” that in him Christ Jesus might exhibit His boundless patience. It is only when we are little, that Christ can filled more in us.
What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ (Philippians 3:7-8).
an apostle: the sent one. The greatest Apostle is our Lord. Hebrews 3: consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. In a sense, all of us are apostles if we believe that God has sent us to testify for Him in this world. But in the Bible, we also classify particular group of disciples that the Lord has personally sent to spread the gospel to establish His church, and in the groud, Paul is unique in that he only saw the risen Lord, and he was particularly sent to the Gentiles. But the Lord said unto him (Ananias), Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
by the will of God. That is a difficult lesson for us to learn, first of all to recognise that everything happens by the will of God, and secondly to learn to submit to it. When I was young, I was ambitious, I wanted to dictate my own life. As I get older, I learn that to try to be that, everything I do, I do it for the Lord. And everything that happens, it is of the Lord. It [is] the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.
to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Saints are God’s chosen people, you are a saint because God has called you and chosen you. You are not a saint because you live a saintiful life, but rather because of our high calling by God to be saints, let us strive to live saintifully. One of the mark of a saint is that he is a believer, faithful in Christ Jesus. The saints which are at Ephesus tells us that it is a local church that Paul was writing to.
Grace: not that save, but that keep.
Peace: not peace with God, but peace of God. The lord was sleeping in a boat in the tempest. People were praying to their god that they will be protected in life, nothing bad will happen and have peace. As believers we pray for the peace of God in our hearts. whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: hath, have you possessed it now, or are you still waiting for it. cf Joshua.
Genesis 4
1And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 8And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Good afternoon, and thank you for coming to our gospel meeting. I want to speak to you about 3 things. First of all, I want to speak about 2 characters of God. Then I want to speak about 2 ways men attempt to get back to God. And finally, 2 masters from whom we all have to choose one to serve.
In Genesis 4, we have the account of the first offspring on mankind. Cain and Abel are possibly the first two sons of Adam and Eve. The Bible recorded how at this point, the fall has happened. Men have disobeyed God and the fellowship between God and men has been broken. As a result, men have been expelled from Eden, we can no longer get back to God and have fellowship with Him like before. And so we have here one character of God, God is absolutely holy and sin has broken our relationship with God. But we also have here that God is gracious, because He allowed Cain and Abel to bring offering to Him, to remedy the broken relationship.
In the bible we read of The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty. How we wish that God is only gracious and long suffering, and disregards our guilt. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. And so we learn the 2 characters of God: God is longsuffering but He is also absolutely righteous, and sins cannot just be swept under the carpet and acquitted.
We read how in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering to God. And so we see here men’s first attempt to get back to God. What this tells us is that within the heart and soul of each of us, there is a recognition that something is missing in our life if we are separated from our God. You can fill your life with all the entertainments of this world, you can try to make your life as meaningful as it can be. We hear that so often in the news, from people around us how doing some activities is so meaningful. You can fill up your time with all the schedules of life, and yet in process of time it came to pass, if you don’t have God in your life, you will know that something is missing. Life is unfulfilling. The big question what is life all about will keep knocking in your head. The first question in the The Westminster Shorter Catechism is What is the chief end of man? and the answer Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever. Someone once asked the Lord Jesus, what is the great commandment, and He answered: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment.
Now if you have come in seeking the meaning of life and seeking God, good. But I want to warn you that you can also easily turn away from God because of your disobedience. As much as Cain attempted to come to God, he eventually went out of the presence of God, and never come back again.
And so what was wrong with the offering of Cain that was rejected by God? And that brings us to the second part of our talk, which is the 2 ways men try to get back to God. We read that Cain was a tiller of the ground and he brought the fruit of his ground as an offering to God. I want to tell you that that was a very great effort. In Genesis 3, God said to Adam: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. Cain is able to turn a ground that is cursed with thorns and thistles into fruitful produce. There is a lot of sweats involved. He must be feeling so good and confident, that surely God will appreciate my offering. You know Cain and his descendants were very talented people that are fathers of human civilisations, they were the first to master technology such as metallurgy, they invented the first musical instruments and farming. Genesis did not explicitly say why God rejected Cain’s offering, but we learn from the New Testament that By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. And so Cain did not give his offering by faith. I can infer from this that Cain gave his offering by work and sweats. And God has no respect for that. The Bible says that But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
On the other hand Abel, keeper of sheep, brought his firstlings and Hebrews tells us that this is a more excellent sacrifice. A lamb has to be slaughtered in the offering, and blood shed. And so in contrast to his brother’s offering that is by work and sweats, Abel’s offering was by faith and blood. Abel’s name is from the Hebrew word Hebel, meaning breath or vapour. The Bible tells us that our life is like a vapour, as short as that. Do you see the problem when we boast about our work in this fleeting life to the everlasting God? If I can use a human metaphor, it is as if God just blinks and Cain has come to this world and gone, and yet you could just hear the echo of his voice, ‘did you see my great work?’, and demand respect from God for that. Abel on the other hand, offered a more excellent sacrifice, the firstlings and the fat thereof, but dare not look at himself or his efforts as the basis of getting respect from God.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Not only is the offering of our ‘great’ work unimpressive in the eyes of the everlasting God, people who trust in their work are ignorant and proud. Not of works, lest any man should boast. The proverbs says that These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him, and top of the list is a proud look.
The Lord Jesus once talked about two men praying to God, one is a priest and the other a sinner.
10Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Did you realise that throughout human history, there are only two ways men approach God, the way of Cain or the way of Abel? People say that all religions are the same but did you know that there are only two types of religions? The one covers ALL religions who expect salvation by doing (by work); the other, the message from the Bible, that we must be saved by something done. So you see the whole question is very simple. Can you save yourself (Cain’s way), or have you to be saved by Another (Abel’s way)? If you can be your own savior, you do not need my message. If you cannot, you may well listen to it.”
The Gospel today is that Abel’s offering is exactly the type of God’s plan of salvation. Abel’s offering of a lamb to the slaughter is exactly the Bible’s subsequent revelation of what the Lord Jesus, the Son of God is for each and everyone of us. At the beginning of the Lord’s public ministry, John the baptist pointed to Him twice and called, Behold the Lamb of God. God has given us His Son, as the Lamb of God. The Bible says that he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter. A more nobler blood than that of an animal has been shed for you. The question for you today is that would you still trust in your own work to go to heaven, or would you come humbly by faith and present as Abel, the lamb of God as an offering to God? Oh my friends, there is now a new and living way to get back to God, would you take the step of faith and believe that you can be made right with God? You don’t need to bring anything, simply trusting, for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of work but a gift.
I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small,
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Now, very quickly the third part of my talk. There are only two masters for you to pick. Either God, or Sin. Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire. If you reject God’s salvation, sin lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire. You cannot fight sin, he is too powerful for you. What you should say or do, you don’t, what you should not say or do, you do. You know that. That has been the experience of all of us. And so we read of how Cain was angry, his countenance fell, and he murdered his brother and went out of God.
Esther
Esther 1: 1Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:) 2That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, 3In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him: 4When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.
Esther 2: 5Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; 6Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. 7And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. 8So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.
17And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther’s feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king. 19And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king’s gate. 20Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.
Esther 3: 7In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar. 8And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them. 9If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed
Esther 4: 1When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; 2And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.
4So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not
13Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. 14For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? 15Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, 16Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
Good evening. I am going to divide my talk tonight into 4 parts.
1.The comfortable life of Esther
2. The challenge that was presented to her
3. Some Christ like typology
4. A current affair
The comfortable life of Esther
The reason that I chose to speak on the character of Esther was that Esther’s character was very relatable to us. I know she was a Queen and that is not very relatable. Esther lived at the time when the Persian Empire was at its peak. During this time, the dispersed Jews enjoyed more freedom living under the Persian rule than that of the Babylonian. Life was relatively comfortable, and many were happy to keep on living in exile. Even though the Persian kings allowed them to return to rebuild Jerusalem, only a minority returned as recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah. The majority, including Esther, chose to live a more comfortable life in exile. And it is a picture of Christians today, while all of us have been called to come out of the wilderness of this world, we have to confess that majority of us are quite happy living comfortably in a life that is not very different from the rest of the world. The harvest is ready, but the workers are few. And so while there were permission and call to return to rebuild Jerusalem, majority chose to stay back. Are we too comfortable living with the world and its ways? We cannot live a double life, and only be Christians when we are in the meetings, and live like any worldly people outside of the meetings, pinning our hope to things that are perishing like them. That will be like the Provebs saying, a dog returns to its vomits.
And the danger of going along with the world too much is that we will displace God out of our lives and conversations. God is not mentioned at all in the book of Esther. Have you ever been among non Christians, and instead of acknowledging God, you use a term that is less offensive to them, like ‘thank goodness’ instead of thanking God?
One of the easiest way if we want to settle in the world comfortably is not to tell them that we are Christians. That will be really sad because we are actually admitting that we are frightened of the world more than we are of our God. For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed. And we read how Esther kept secret her identity. I sometimes wondered if the Persian King were to know that Esther was a Jewess, he may have protected the Jews from the beginning and Haman would not have got his way. The book of Esther may not even need to be written. Oh may God give us faith to be bold to confess and trust Him. By the way, I am not trying to judge Esther, I just see so much of myself in her life.
When I first read the book of Esther, I thought that our God was so smart, He planned a Queen in the Persian empire to deliver His people from a massacre. I could not be more wrong, because when you read Ezra and Nehemiah where things were done by God’s explicit commandments, one of the things they took really seriously was not to give their daughters to foreigners. It’s considered an abomination in Ezra and Nehemiah actually beat them, pulled their hair off and cursed them. There are 4 things I think we can learn from this event of Mordecai encouraging Esther to eventually became the wife of a Persian King.
- Esther did this at the advice or instruction of Mordecai, who was like a father figure to her. We must always refer to the word of God, and not merely just advice of even Godly men. Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
- The end does not justify the means. Obedience is better then sacrifice. Our God does not need us to achieve His purpose. As Mordecai said to Esther, For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place. We must not use our own ways, contrary to God’s words when serving Him.
- God is sovereign, He can use men’s error to achieve His purpose. Think of what Joseph said to his brothers, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.
- And so God is so gracious. I suspect Esther not only did not want the Persians to know that she is a Jewess, I think she did not want too many Jews to know either because it was such an abomination. How God turned her error of judgement to marry the Persian to one who is remembered in the Feast of Purim. Brothers and sisters, we all make mistakes in our lives. Sometimes the mistake is life changing, like getting into the wrong habits, even marrying the wrong person and get put out of the fellowship. Sometimes it seems a mess too big to be made right, may the story of Esther encourage us to always trust in our God.
And so Esther was made queen, and Mordecai was able to sit in the King’s gate.
A signal honor, doubtless, but how low had she stooped to obtain it! How had she lost that character of holy separation to Jehovah which should ever have been hers! How truly was she degraded in her very exaltation! The favored wife among many, and her lord an uncircumcised Gentile! How low had the nation fallen when Mordecai, one of the noblest of them all, could rejoice in such a dubious honor being accorded her! And how low spiritually must the Church be, to seek, as she does, the patronage of the world! This can only be purchased by the loss of the holiness and separate character enjoined by the word of God. Such is the lesson we would seek to impress upon our reader’s conscience. Far better had it been for Esther to have been poor and unknown, yet cleaving to the Lord her God among the returned captives at Jerusalem, than to be thus exalted in the house of the conqueror. And so to-day; far better to be little and despised in the eyes of a haughty world, and an equally haughty Christendom, while seeking to carry out the truth as to the Christian’s heavenly calling, than, through forgetting this, to be made much of by those “whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things.”
A challenge
Now we cannot always live a conforming life to this world and still want to follow the Lord. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. The Lord would not let His church neither hot nor cold. If your life is too comfortable, beware that God would put your faith to test. 2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 5If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.
I remember once my colleagues passed me a card to write something to congratulate another colleague that was getting married, and we were asked to contribute to some wedding gifts. But this was a homosexual marriage. That is just a small example of how we can be tested. Jude says to contend for the faith, the word faith there means the truth that you believe in. If we don’t contend for our faith, chances are we ourselves don’t believe in them.
Mordecai found that he could no longer go along with the world, there is a red line that he could not cross, to bow down to a mortal, Haman, the enemy of the Jews. But Esther was quite comfortable living in her secret. Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. The Persian king has sent out his royal decree, all the Jews will be killed. Sooner or later, Esther will be found out. I think Esther is more ignorant then cowardly. This is because she live in a palace, and is cut off from what is happening outside. That is the danger when we are too comfortable going along with the world and neglect the words of God. We ourselves become insensitised to the danger of sin.
So when Mordecai tried to get her attention of the grief and danger that they were in by putting on sackcloth, she gave her clothing to cover up. Sometimes our brothers and sisters need help that cannot be covered superficially. If someone is indulging in sin, we have to confront them to the root of the problem. Jude says And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Now Esther agreed to help by going to the King for petition. There are 4 things I want to share from my thoughts.
She believes in team work. She asked the Jews to fast 3 days and 3 nights for her. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
That was praying, but if you read carefully, Esther was asking for fasting, not praying for her. I suspect the fasting and the praying go hand in hand but I want to develop that a little bit because I think it is a sweet thought. The book of Esther is a picture of how God’s people have forsaken Him, and they may have thought that they can no longer approach Him in prayer and supplication, and yet, Acts 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And then there is this paradox of fear mingled with boldness. There is no question Esther was fearing for her life. If the king did not summon you, you cannot disturb him, not even the queen. And so to go in to meet him, there was tremendous courage. If I perish, I perish. She held one banquet for the King and Haman, and then without saying why she was holding the banquet, she asked them to come back another day for another banquet. Some people say she has a plan, but the bible did not reveal her thoughts. I wonder if she got cold feet and needing to regather herself, and so she procrastinated for a second banquet. And in Esther chapter 6, as much as God is silent in that book, the hand of God was so visible. Between the two banquets, the King could not sleep, and asked for the chronicle to be read, and remembered Mordecai. And so God was working along side Esther, and changed the king’s heart about Mordecai who is a Jews. Esther was so fearful, but she could take that leap of faith and say if I perish, I perish. Has there ever been in your life when it is unthinkable for you to take that step of faith? Humanly speaking, that would mean a certain death to your reputation, career, or whatever? I remember the night I first told my dad I wanted to follow the Lord. I was agonising and fearful. There was not a lot of private space in our house and I went to the bathroom and prayed and prayed. What will my dad’s reaction be? and yet the Lord’s words kept sounding in my head: Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed.
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. Faith needs to be tested, so that it can grow stronger and praise be to God. How many times have you been in trying situation, and when you trust in God do what is right, that things turn out far better than you could imagine when you were living in fear.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21Unto him be glory. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
14Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Christ like typologies. Devotion.
He is not ashamed to call us brethren. Esther no longer hides her identity.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ. To a much smaller type, Esther was a picture of that.
But the one that I want to share tonight
Esther 8:8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.
Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked.” (NLT)
Here is a mortal king. Yet, what he has decreed cannot be revoked. That is why Mordecai warned Esther, that even the King would be powerless to save her when this first decree came into force. In Chinese history, we have a similar saying. What the Emperor has said cannot be changed. And so the only way they can save the Jews is to send out a second royal decree, and the effect of that overcome the first decree. The first decree was for the Jews to be killed, but the second decree was that the Jews can strike back. What are you trying to get to?
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. If God were to let us live according to our obedience to the 10 commandments, we shall all perish. But when the Lord came into the world, He raised the standard even further. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28But I say unto you…
For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 26And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? 27And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. It’s not just the rich young man, how many of us would sell all that we have and follow Christ?
So you see, we were once under the law of sin and death, but Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. So we were like Mordecai, condemned to death during the first decree and was grieving in sackcloth, but now a second decree, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. And unlike the Persian King who made things up as after thoughts, God purposed this all from the foundation of the world.
It is a worshipful study, to study what the scripture reveal to us of before the beginning of this world. Before the beginning, God is. In the beginning God. Before the beginning there is glory. the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Before the beginning there is love, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. Before the beginning there is wisdom, Proverbs 8. And before the beginning, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Current Affair
What is the crisis in the story of Esther? Today, we call it antisemetism. You hear the news and the antisemetic sentiment is on the rise, and you may think that this is a current affair. But it is actually quite old. Esther lived about 2500 years from now. But it dates back even older than that. The bible recorded the first and the last antisemetic movements. The beginning of the book of Exodus, you read of the Pharoah’s commandment to kill all new born Jewish boy. At the end of the Bible, we read of the great tribulation, aka Jacob’s trouble, the last antisemetic movement.
When something last that long, we need to understand that there is a power more than that of men behind it. The Devil is behind antismetism. We read in Revelation 12 the dragon when he was cast down to the earth, persecuted the woman who is a figure of Israel. The Devil knows that salvation is of the Jews, and the seed of the woman who shall crush the head of the serpent if of Abraham and David’s descendent. And so he wants to crush the Jews to thwart God’s plan. But now, the man child (the Lord) is taken up to heaven, and so he diverted his anger to the woman (Revelation 12).
And so antisemetism is not a new movement, and I hope you can see beyond the surface to understand that there is a spiritual warfare behind the physical one. Because of what Israel did to the Palestinians the world sentiments has shifted against the Jews. But bear in mind the hatred against the Jews is diabolical, no nation is hated for so long in human history like the Jews. It is beyond normal human explanation.
Conclusion
In summary, I hope that the story of Esther can encourage us, to know that our God is sovereign, and gracious, He is dependable. I think this saying of 2 Timothy is a fitting end to my talk:
11It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
12If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
13If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
89For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
90Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
91They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
92Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.
93I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.
94I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.
95The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.
96I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.
Psalm 119 has 22 stanzas, 8 verses each, arranged in Hebrew alphabetical order. The readers are likely to miss the thoughts of the psalmist, if they attempt to read the whole psalm in one go. Each stanza seems to be painting the psalmist thought in a certain situation. In the second stanza, Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? the psalmist was thinking of young people. In our stanza, the psalmist says that he has seen the end of perfection, he has seen it all, and the Word of God continue to marvel him. So this is a psalm about the word of God, and the Word of God is the best companion for a true believer in every aspect of his life.
Except for 2 verses, every verse has at least a word which is synonym to the ‘word’ of God. In our section above, we see word, faithfulness & establishment of the earth, ordinances, law, precepts, precepts, testimonies and commandments.
In this section, we see the psalmist marvels at God’s creation, through His word alone. God spoke, and the world came into being. It is forever established. And he then considers himself and marvel at the power of the word of God working in his life. It reminds of of Psalm 8, as the psalmist there considers the work of God’s finger, the moon and the star, what is man that Thou are mindful of.
For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. This verse speaks to us of the inviolability of God’s word. I believe it speaks of creation and its maintenance if you consider the next 2 verses. He spoke and the world came into being, and He upholds all things by the word of His power. God’s word is settled in heaven, where the thieve cannot steal or challenge, or moth corrupt it. It does not matter if the superpower of our days are making nuclear ballistic missiles to destroy each other, the sun would still rise tomorrow because the word of God has said so and forever it is settled in heaven. 91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
Today we see men challenge God’s word, they try to redefine a family by virtue of redefining marriage, they try to redefine what is a man, and what is a woman, and there are many more teachings in the world that challenge God’s order. Let not your hearts be troubled. But then as we mediate in the scripture, we realise that God’s word is even more durable than the creation. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. We live in the age of social media, and content creators are keen to get your attention and viewership, they will be telling you about their wisdoms in health, wealth, politics and life. We must not be distracted, we have the word of God which cannot be changed. And therefore, just like we would trust that the sun will still come out tomorrow, God’s faithfulness in His promises is ever trustworthy. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, are you holding on to that promise?
90Thy faithfulness is unto all generations. God is faithful simply by letting the creation continue to run according to His Order. Of course His faithfulness goes beyond that, in the giving of His Son. for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Psalm 119:92-95. Unless thy law had been my delight — Unless I had known, believed, and delighted in it, as the subject of my meditation; I should then — At the very instant; have perished in mine affliction — My heart would have failed me, and I should have been undone; I could not have outlived one stroke of thine afflicting hand. I will never forget thy precepts — I will always retain a remembrance of, and a regard to, thy word, as my rule; for with them thou hast quickened me — Revived and cheered me when my heart was ready to sink and die within me. I am thine — By creation, redemption, and manifold obligations; as also by my own choice and designation. I have devoted myself to thy service, and committed myself to thy care. Save me — Both from sin and ruin. Those that in sincerity give up themselves to God, to be his subjects and servants, obeying his will and living to his glory, may be sure that he will protect them and preserve them to his heavenly kingdom, Malachi 3:17. The wicked have waited to destroy me — Watching for an opportunity so to do; but I will consider thy testimonies — As my best counsellors and comforters, and also my defenders against the designs and assaults of mine enemies.
96I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.
Ecclesiastes
I thirst
John 19
28After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
I want to divide my talk into 3 parts. First, I want to talk about the significance of scripture being fulfilled when the Lord said ‘I thirst’. Secondly, I want to talk about the suffering of thirst, both now and in eternity. And finally, I want to tell you how not to thirst again.
We were reading the record of the Lord’s crucifixion and the very last moment of his life when he said I thirst upon the cross. John the author gave an unusual comment about this saying, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Which scripture? John was referring to the Old Testament, the book of Psalm, Psalm 69, verse 21. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Psalm 69 is one of the Psalm that describes the Lord’s suffering, he was in deep distress, sinking in deep mire, and in the midst of this Psalm which is sometimes referred to as the Psalm of the Trespass Offering, we have this very unusual line: in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. For centuries since the Psalm was written, I believe the Jewish people must be wondering what is this verse about. Who is the thirsty one, who receives vinegar instead of water when he is thirsty? You see how this small little details of our Lord’s crucifixion was predicted to such accuracy by God’s inspired words. What is so amazing about this prophetic fulfilment is that it cannot be engineered by men. Think of the scene of the crucifixion, with the sufferer lifted up hanging on the cross, and the soldiers standing on the ground surrounding his to prevent any attempted rescue of disruption. If the soldiers hear the sufferer saying I thirst, if they are merciful, they would have given him water against the order of their superior. If they are wicked, they could just drink water in front of him, or even pour water onto the ground, to torment him further. To give him venegar to drink is most unsual to expect from the soldiers. The soldiers were Romans, they would not know Psalm 69:21, I believe neither was there any Jews who took notice of that little verse, that has been laid unnoticed in God’s words until it was fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ 1000 years after it was written.
Friends, I want to tell you this, that God’s words is infallible.
24They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots.
36For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced. (death by stoning)
There are many more prophecies concerning the promised Messiah in the Old Testament scripture before the Lord was even born. You see how many of the scriptures concerning the Lord were fulfilled, not by the Lord, but by other people. Even in His death, the scripture continues to be fulfilled. His birth place was prophesied, in a small town of Bethelem, and He was in His mother’s womb who carried him to the prophetic place to give birth, and if you read the scripture, you would see the circumstances that is beyond the control of His parents for Him to be born in Bethelem.
Some have said that if 90% of the scripture that were thousand and hundreds of year ago were fulfilled, that is very amazing. If 99% of the scripture was fulfilled, that is even more amazing. And that is what AI is today, it is about crunching numbers to the highest probabilities. But with God, there is no probability, there is only certainly, because He knows the end from the beginning. When the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him. (Jer 28:9)
So, the Bible is a trustworthy book. It is totally different from all the books that men have written. It is infallible, absolutely dependable. There are many prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled, especially the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He shall come to judge the world. He will also come to receive those that have put their faith in Him home to heaven.
Secondly, I want to talk about the suffering of thirst. The Lord did not just said I thirst, so that the scripture could be fulfilled. He was genuinely thirsty. For your and mines sakes, he took upon himself genuine humanity, and suffered on the cross for us. The blood loss, the dehydration of being hung on the cross make ones thirsty. Listen to another prophetic verse concerning the Lord’s suffering upon the cross: Psalm 22 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. A lot of my patients who have undergone radiotherapy to their throats would know what it is like to have the tongue cleave to the jaws, because their salivation is badly damaged. The Lord suffered thirst upon the cross so you and I can escape the eternal fire of hell. Listen, if you die in your sins, this is what is awaiting you in eternity, the hell of fire, and you better believe it because the Bible is infallible. Do not be stubborn, and put this matter off, you need your sins forgiven, you need to come to the Lord for His salvation. Listen to what the Lord Jesus said about thirst in hell:
19There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
But coming to the Lord is not just to escape the eternal judgement of hell. Even now, when we are not physically thirsty, we always thirst after something. Because there is always within us, a crave for something that truly satisfy. All the things that you want in life, how many times have you experienced this, that when you finally got them, you want something else. That is because our true thirst cannot be quenched by the physical things of this world. Listen to what the Lord said to a woman by the well: Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
I have to confess that when I was a boy, I believed in the Lord Jesus, and asked Him to be my saviour, because I wanted to avoid the eternal judgement of hell. But after all these years, I have learned and I am still learning, that He is the most satisfying person in my life. He is not a disappointment, whereas I have had many things from this world that I wanted, and they let me down many times. Each time, I turn to the Lord and He lifted me up again and again.
And that was actually the final part of my talk, how not to thirst again. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Read the Bible, you will find immense treasure in it and secrets of life that will lift up your soul, bring you peace that this world cannot offer. All the pursue that the people of this world is busy about, the Lord said seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. God will take care of your daily needs.
I shall leave you with a few more of the Lord’s words that you can find in the Bible:
26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Thank you.
Healing a dropsy
Luke 14: 1And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. 2And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. 3And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? 4And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; 5And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
I want to divide my message today into 3 parts. First of all, I want to talk about the condition that the man was suffering from. Then I want to talk about what we can observe and learn about the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And finally, I want to talk about the differences between an animal and a human being.
I suppose if you are like me, and if this is the first time that you read about this passage, you must be asking what is a dropsy? When I was in the medical school, we learnt about nerve palsy, and conditions called a drop wrist or a drop foot. Well a dropsy is not a neurological palsy. It comes from the Greek words which mean internal fluid and swelling. Today, we call it an oedema, or lymphoedema. Usually it is caused by fluid overload, heart failure, or rarely cancer causing blockage of the lymphatic drainage. As a medical student I used to love pressing my thumb onto the shin of an oedematous leg, and when I lifted my thumb, it left a crater on the patient’s swollen leg, what we call a pitting oedema. That was the first clinical sign I learnt to illicit in a patient. But I believe the oedema we see today is nothing like this man’s dropsy, because people can spot his condition from afar. If you want to see a really swollen dropsy, go home and google elephant leg syndrome and you will some of the most horrific, swollen and disfiguring dropsy. You can’t hide the dropsy. It is an embarrassment to walk around with it, and it is an unhealthy tissue, and being swollen it is prone to getting cut, bruised and infected, and so it can be painful.
If you google the cause for the elephant leg syndrome, you may come across a diagnosis of a parasite infestation called filariasis. You may think that today our medical sciences is so advanced that we can diagnose someone’s illness. But you know, from the bible I learnt that beyond the medical explanation of every human illness is the root cause of sin. That is why when the Lord Jesus healed a paralysed man, He said your sins are forgiven, rather then your illness is healed. In medicine we call the cause of a disease an aetiology. So, we have aetiology such as smoking, virus, genetic defects and age. But why do we have genetic defects, why do we age? Sin has damaged our body and that is why we have diseases. You can blame it on lifestyle, if you refuse to believe that it is sin that is the problem, but the truth is that no matter how you live healthily, and we should look after ourselves and live healthily, we will still die. Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Some have said that Satan best success lies in the way he makes people believe that he does not exist. Well, along the same line, I would say that his best success is to make people believe that sin does not exist or is not a serious matter. If only your eyes can be opened to see sin as big and obvious as this man’s dropsy. Do you not see the ugliness of human nature? It is embarrassing to carry sin around. Somehow we become used to it, numb to it and blind to it that we no longer see sin which is so obvious in our world. Satan is very successful in that regards. He is called the god of this world and the bible says that In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. We don’t even use the word sin anymore in our world, we water the word down to such saying as ‘for my sins I am coming in on Saturday to work’. Don’t water down the presence of sin in your life and ignore it. Everyone that sins is a slave to sin, and when he is finished with you, bringeth forth death. It is a serious matter, an urgent and pressing matter, don’t put it off till another day. Deal with it now.
So I ask, can you see your ‘dropsy’? Do you recognise that you are a sinner? Do you want to be made whole? If you do, then it is my delight to move to the next part of my talk, which is to introduce you to the Savior.
The first thing I want to say to you about the Savior is that He is able to save. v4: And he took him, and healed him, and let him go. How simple was that? What is seemingly impossible to us, He can do it. You see, there are two aspects of sin that we have to deal with, the price and the power of sin. When I look at the price of my sins, all the wrongs that I have accumulated throughout the years, how can I pay that price if I want to escape God’s judgment? When I look at the power of sin having a grip on my life, I wonder how can I be freed from sin to be made right with God again?
God has sent His Son the Lord Jesus to die for us on the cross. The Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. So the twofold effects of sin is overcome by believing and confession. When you believe in the Lord Jesus, your faith in Him is counted as righteousness, you are made right with God again, because when God sees you, He sees you in His Son who is absolutely righteous. When you confess that He is your Lord, that is to say that you are willing to let Him reign in your life as Lord, sin the old master will be displaced.
Change that word him to you in vs v4: And he took you, and healed you, and let you go. Isn’t that lovely?
The second thing I want to say about our Savior is that not only He can save you, He wants to save you. Many have said that this invitation by the chief Pharisee was a trap. It was a Sabbath day, and the Jews are not supposed to work on a Sabbath. And so they invited Him to eat bread on a Sabbath, and many believe that the man with dropsy was deliberately arranged to be present. You read how they watched Him. They were waiting to see if He would heal the man on a Sabbath, thus they can accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath. The Lord Jesus knew their intention, and thus asked Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? and they held their peace. So, while the religious leaders were more interested to see if He would break the religious law, He was more interested to heal. He does not mind walking into a trap, to heal someone and in the process be accused as a law breaker.
You know the biggest trap He walked into was the cross of calvary. He was being betrayed, arrested, and falsely trialed and crucified. Why did He let wicked men crucified Him? Because He wants to save you and me from our sins. He is willing to save. He knows we are sinners, and He said I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He said that He is like a shepherd who has a 100 shhep, and one gone astry, and He would seek until He finds that lost sheep. And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
He is willing to save, will you to Him? He said he that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.
And finally, I want to talk about the difference between a man and an animal. This is triggered by the Lord’s rhetorical question in v5 Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? He is really saying that if you have an animal needing help on a Sabbath day and you will have no hesitation to help, how much more is this poor man? What is being implied here is that man is much more precious than animals.
In another place, he said Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 31Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
We live in a world where some people are placing animals as equally important as men. I know this is a politically sensitive topics to the animal rights protectors. Certainly we have no teaching to abuse animal, but the Bible clearly teaches us that man is valued above animals by God.
The first difference is that man is created in the image of God. In Gen 1:27, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. There is no other creatures that were created as such. Indeed man, no matter how they have fallen as a result of sin, is still a very poor image of God. That is why the Bible teaches us not to curse men. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
The second difference is that God gave men to be in charge of His creation. Again, in Genesis 1:26, 26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Some people believe in evolution, and how we have somehow evolved into the smartest species, and that is how we are in charge of the world. Don’t you believe that. God gave the dominion to us.
The most important difference however, is recorded in Genesis 2:7, And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. You see, we have a soul that the animal do not have.
Your soul is most precious, because your soul is the real you. That is why the Lord Jesus taught that For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Why? Because your soul lives own forever, even after this life. So where can the soul be lost to? Hell. Is your soul precious to you? We are so busy looking after so many interests of our lives, yet spent no time thinking about the welfare of our soul in eternity. The Lord Jesus said that if you died in your sin, where I go you cannot come.
So that is my message for you today. That sin is real, and serious. There is a savior who is able and willing to save. You need to have faith in Him and confess Him , call Him into your life as your Lord. Your soul is most precious to you, because it will live on even after this life, and now is the time for you to consider where your soul would spend in eternity.
John 13: 1-17
1Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; 3Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; 4He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
5After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. 6Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? 7Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 8Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 9Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. 11For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
12So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? 13Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
Now we have said before that John put emphasis on time, whereas Luke on place in their respective gospels. Here we have the time again, before the feast of the Passover. There are debates as to which day this falls onto, I believe it is a Thursday, but that is according to our Roman calendar. The Jewish day starts in the evening, around 6pm, and is determined by astrological signs. I believe our Lord partook of the Old Testament passover on the Thursday evening, after 6pm, ie a new day according to the Jewish calendar, on the day of Passover. And then He was crucified before 6pm on Friday, therefore He presented Himself as the true passover Lamb on the same day of Passover according to the Jewish calendar.
When John’s Gospel speaks of his hour has come or has not come, it refers to His departure out of this world, back to the Father. This must be preceded by the suffering, and then the glory. The suffering upon the cross, and the glory of God’s vindication by resurrection and ascension and return to the right hand of the Father. As believers, we must follow our Lord’s footsteps, in all things that we do not look for glory from this world, remember our Lord’s teaching about people who have had their glory before men: verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
His hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father should also be something for us to emulate our Lord, that we are just pilgrims in this world, we should always look for the hour of our Lord’s return to take us home, and not mistakenly make this world our home and strive like those who have not such hope. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself.
Having loved his own…, you know John’s Gospel is so lovely. It starts by saying He came to His own, his own receive Him not. And now we have what is truly His own. He came to His own nation, and they rejected Him, but now He has a small group of people that are truly His own for whom He is going to make some great revelations and have become the solid foundation of Christianity. All the world are his own, because He created everyone of us, yet majority of his own receive Him not. But brothers and sisters, we have many lovely reasons to be truly His own. We are His because he has redeemed us, we are His because the Father has given us to Him (John 17), we are His because we are born again by the Spirit that He has given, we are His because He has captured our hearts. I am my beloved, and amazingly, my Beloved is mine.
He loved them unto the end. My wife sometimes told me she loves me to the moon and back. What did John mean when he said that the Lord loved them unto the end? Some say He loves us till the end of our time. Some says He loves us till the end by laying down His life for us. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Our brother Stephen has explained that at least twice since I joined Maryhill, that He loves us till the end of our human characters. You know, sometimes the people we love can be very unlovable, and our Lord loves us regardless of our failures and imperfection. What you are going to see in this passage is a love that is beyond the cross, the unfinished work of our cleansing.
And then we read of Judas Iscariot. It is a tragedy that the devil has entered into his heart. Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? If we think that we are better than Judas, remember what the Lord said to the apostle Peter? “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Oh, our spiritual battle is real, and the devil is real. Let us remember, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands. I have said that we are His as a gift from the Father. But God has given Him more. You remember of old, in Genesis, the servant who went down to get a bride for Isaac, said to the parents of Rebecca, “My master has given all that he has unto Isaac,” But I also think of Daniel’s vision when I read this verse: I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. And then you will remember the Lord’s saying at the great commission: All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. My little mind cannot comprehend His power, but I know my saviour and master reigns supreme, because He has overcome death, sin and the devil.
and that he was come from God, and went to God. Micah says whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. When you read this verse, you probably would get the idea that the job is done, I am going back to the Father. I think there is a bit more than that in John’s writing. Our Lord came from the glory of the Father to the shame of the cross, there He finished a work, and return to the Father to begin an unfinished work as he was going to teach His disciples with the washing of their feet.
And supper being ended, that is a wrong translation from KJV. It should read as supper being ready. Now we read from the Luke’s gospel of how the upper room is large and furnished. There is only one thing, or should I say, one person missing, and that is a servant. And so we read of: He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 5After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
Now if you think that the Lord is teaching the disciples about humility and serving one another, you are right. Luke 22 tells us how in the upper room there was a strife among themselves of who should be the greatest, and the Lord told them: but I am among you as he that serveth. So let us remember His teaching: he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
Luke 12:37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. Now I do not fully understand this verse, but I get the impression that someday, if I finish my journey on earth faithfully, that someday I am going to meet the Lord, and He is going to sit me down, and serve me. I do not know how I would feel. Excited? Joyful? or feeling awkward, undeserved.
Peter was probably angry as he saw the Lord washed his fellow disciples’ feet, how could you let him do that. And so when the Lord came to him, he said no, you are not washing my feet. But if you think that the washing of the disciples’ feet is all about teaching them humility, then you have made the mistake that Peter made. The Lord said to Peter, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. What the Lord was teaching them was more than just humility, it was about cleansing and fellowship.
This washing is not about salvation, because the Lord did not say that you have no part in me. Once you are in Christ, you are always in Him, no one can pluck you away, not even yourself if doubts or backsliding came into your life. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
He said no part with me, that is fellowship. Our fellowship with God is dependent upon us, our walk. We can sour our fellowship with God, that is why the Bible teaches us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. The link of communion is so fragile that the least unconfessed sin will break it in a moment, and the only way it can be reformed is by confessing and forsaking the sin that snapped it. Lets turn to
1 John 1: 5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
There are two things that cleanse us. In vs 7, the blood of Jesus Christ. In vs 10, his word.
In Ephesian 5:25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
And so we have 2 types of cleansing, one is the blood of Christ, the other is the water, which is his word, the washing of water by the word. When Christ was crucified, a soldier threw a spear at him, and out came blood and water.
Have you ever wonder what is the difference between cleansing by blood and cleansing by water or his word? I suppose one can say that cleansing by blood is more God-wards, while cleansing by water is more man-wards.
When the blood of Christ cleanse us from our sins, we are clean again to have fellowship with God. But observe what John was teaching in his first epistle: if we confess our sins. What set the believers apart from the non-believers is the willingness to confess sins. We live in a world where confession is a no no, the world would teach us never admit liability. But confession must take place in our quiet time with God. If we don’t spend time with God privately, if we let the events of daily lives run over us and have no time for God, then how are we going to reflect on our lives and make confession? The old brethrens used to teach us to keep short account with God. I think morning prayers is good to ask God to help us to walk righteously with Him, but evening prayer is for reflection of the day and ask for forgiveness, unless you are telling me you don’t sin, and John taught us that we then lie, and make Him a liar.
But we cannot just keep asking for forgiveness and never improve. And so we need the cleansing of the water by the word. If we don’t read God’s word, how can we know that we have sinned?
9Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 10With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. 12Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: Peter made another mistake, and asked for a thorough bath. The Greek word ‘washed’ in the phrase he that is washed is different from all the other wash in the passage. It means bathed. As I have said before, this is not about salvation, you only need to be saved once. I remember how although I was saved as a young boy, I had no Christian fellowship due to my father’s restriction until the end of my teenage, when a school friend took me to Gospel meeting. And they asked if anyone wanted to be saved pls raised your hand, and I raised my hand again and again. No one told me that once I was saved, I belong to the Lord always.
ye are clean, but not all. 11For he knew who should betray him. Can I make an appeal to you? Not that you can lose your salvation, but if you have back slidden, if you have lost that first love, the Lord knows. Come back to Him.
12So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? 13Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. You know, we should not have the habit of calling our Lord by His earthly name when we talk about Him among ourselves. Of course we must also remember we should not just call Him Lord, and obey Him not.
14If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
So we ought to wash one another’s feet, not just to serve one another, but in the context of the Lord’s teaching about cleansing by the water of the word in this passage, we ought to keep one another right in our Christian journeys. Efforts and preparation is required, the Lord took a towel and girded Himself. The water has to be of the right temperature, not too hot, not too cold. And so we need to put in efforts and preparation to understand why someone is backsliding, and help by pointing them to the appropriate bible verses. The verses have to be not too hot ie too harsh when that is not necessary, or too cold ie unhelpful to the person’s circumstances. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. Well, there is great joy in us to see our fellow brothers and sisters restored.
John 7:1-24
1After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. 2Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. 3His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. 4For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. 5For neither did his brethren believe in him. 6Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. 7The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 8Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. 9When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
10But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? 12And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people. 13Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.
14Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. 15And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? 16Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. 18He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
19Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? 20The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? 21Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel. 22Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. 23If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? 24Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
We are continuing our study on John’s Gospel, chapter 7. Between Chapter 5-12, we have what many bible scholars would call John’s record of the rejection of the Son of God. 11He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
So in Chapter 7, we have the continued theme of rejection. You can divided the chapter into 3 parts, vs1-9 His rejection before the Feast of the tabernacle, vs 10-36 His rejection in the midst of the Feast, and vs37-53 His rejection in the last day of the Feast. Indeed, many would go on to classify John 8:1-10:21 as the rejection after the Feast.
You can also divide our reading today into 2 places. vs1-9, Galilee, and then vs 10-24, Jerusalem.
So, this portion of John’s Gospel is intimately connected to the Feast of the Tabernacle. You will have to turn to Leviticus 23 to study in greater details of the feasts of Jehovah. There are essentially 2 kinds of feasts, feasts is best understood as dates/days God set apart for the people of Israel to observe. There are weekly feast which is the Sabbath, and annual feasts which not only happens once a year, but they have to gather at a place appointed, in this case Jerusalem.
The first 4 feasts are connected one to another. The first feast is at the Sabbath, the 14th day of the first Jewish month, what we call the Passover. It is followed concurrently and run for 7 days, the feast of the unleavened bread, while the day after the Passover, the morrow after that sabbath is the feast of waving of the firstfruit. And then 7 sabbath later, on the 50th day, is the Feast of the Pentecost. Now we don’t have time to go through these 4 feasts, but to say that they are worth a study, and is a beautiful picture of our Lord became our Passover lamb, His resurrection as the firstfruit from among the dead, the believers to live a new life, Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. And then the day of Pentecost as you read in the book of Acts, the gift of the Holy Spirit, during which feast they waved two bread baked with leavens signifying the sinner Jews and Gentiles brought under the blessings of the Church.
But the last 3 feasts have nothing to do with the church, it is for God’s earthly promises to the Jews on earth. It happens on the first day of the seventh month, the feast of the trumpets. The 10th day the feast of the atonement, and the 15th day, a sabbath, is the beginning of the feast of the Tabernacle, which lasts for 8 days. It is on this 8th day, which is another sabbath, we read 37In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
The feast of the trumpets is a memorial blowing of the trumpets, right now we live in the church age but God has not forgotten His promises to Israel and the trumpets are blown when God calls to remembrance His ancient promises to the Jews and kickstart the paused programme for them. Then You have the day of Atonement, when the Lord shall return to Zion, and they shall look unto Him whom they have pierced, and Zechariah will tell us of how a sorrowful day that will be, as they mourned for the only son, the firstborn. It is this day that many believe the prophecy of Isaiah 53 is most properly fulfilled. 3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
And then we come to our feast, the feast of the Tabernacle. During this feast the Jews have to come from all over the lands to Jerusalem, and they dwell in booths made from branches of trees and palms. Remind me of my childhood pass time of making booths and hide inside them. Now this feast has both a look back and a look forward reminders. It looks back to how God took them out of Egypt, and there was a time when they travelled through the wilderness, living in tents. As much as it is a Jewish feast, it has application to us in that we are asked to remember our Lord on the first day of the week. And in that remembrance, we are reminded that this world is not our home, although we live in a physical building, we must always remember they are just a temporary tabernacles, and that include even these physical bodies of us. Believers must not build an empire on this world like the unbelievers, because we have an eternal home, far better home to look forwards to. I wonder if we have lost sight of that?
But the feast of Tabernacle also speaks of the future days of prosperity when the Jews shall live in the security of the millenial reign of our Lord. Living in tents, without city walls, that speaks of confidence in the Lord. We heard this morning, fear not, the Lord is my shield, and my exceeding great reward.
1After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.
But there is a fine difference between trusting your God and put the Lord your God to test. As much as we know that our Lord is the most God trusting person ever lived, he would not test His God, and so when his hour has not come, He avoided the Jews. He would not walk in Jewry, which is Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. So we have much to learn from our Lord, in serving God, we need not to confront the enemies if we don’t have to.
2Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.
While in Leviticus we read of the feast of the Lord, here we read of the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. Men are so good to rob from God what is His and make it ours. It was no longer the Lord’s feast, but the Jews’. We have to be careful not to turn the Lord’s church into our church, the Lord’s remembrance feast into our feast. It means we don’t run the church the way we think it should run, but according to His words. We don’t compromise God’s words for popularity.
3His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. 4For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. 5For neither did his brethren believe in him.
What we learn from here is that family ties does not guarantee spiritual ties. Have you ever consider this, that if you have a family member that is not saved, they maybe living close to you today, and they will be separated from you in eternity. It is a solemn thought, and we must pray for unsaved loved ones. We know that some of these brethrens later become saved and went on to be the pillar of the Jerusalem church, such as James. Of course James saw the risen Lord, as Paul told us, but we must not stop praying for our loved ones to meet the Savior. I want you to also notice the subtlety of the Devil, he tried the Lord in the wilderness, if thou be the son of God jump down from the temple. On the cross, he used the voice of the passing bys, if thou be the son of God, come down. Here through his brethrens’ voice, he tempted the Lord again, shew thyself to the world. The devil’s most potent weapon against a child of God is to appeal to his inner pride, you shall be like God. May we learn another lesson from our Lord.
6Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. 7The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 8Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. 9When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
Now it has been said that John’s gospel is about timing, while Luke’s gospel is about place. In Luke’s gospel, we learnt of the Lord’s journey, in John’s gospel, we learn of His hour. When John says about His hour, John is talking about the hour of his sacrifice. But here it says my time is not yet come, I believe that is different from the hour that so often mentioned in the Gospel. I believe it is the time of his revelation at His second advent, when they shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and after then the whole world shall celebrate his reign as how this feast of Tabernacles is pointing to, and that time has not come, but Christ must first suffer, then only He enters into His glory.
But your time is always ready. If we belong to the world, our time is always ready in the world. If the world loves us, accepts us with no fuss, that is because we are one of them. If we are little lights that shines for God, then the world will hate us, because we testify that their work thereof are evil. The time for Christians 18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. That is our time, that is our moment. Beloved, let us hold on to this hope of ours, and faithfully finish the journey on this earth.
10But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? 12And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people. 13Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.
Another lesson we learn from our Lord is how he served God quietly, not blowing his own trumpet. He went up to Jerusalem quietly. We will do well if when we serve the Lord, the only person we want to let know of our service is our God. Our Lord needs not observe the Feast of tabernacles, He is the reason for this feast, he is the Lord of the feast, yet But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5To redeem them that were under the law.
The Jews knew that also, that is why they sought him at the feast. In vs 12, you see the question you heard asked elsewhere in the scripture: Who do men say that I am? Some say he is a good man. The word good here is from the Greek word agathos, meaning what is being perceived from its effect. Our Lord went about doing good, and people can see that. It is the same word that the rich ruler used when he called the Lord, Good Master. But the Lord used another word when he described himself as the good shepherd, kalos. That is an intrinsic good that we learn to know Him more and more as we come to remember His week after week, but the wordl will only recognise Him as a good agathos man.
But others said He deceived the people. Later in John 7:47, we learnt that is the reason the Pharisee gave when their official could not arrest Him, because no man spake like this man.
14Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. 15And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? 16Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. 18He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
The Jews were astonished by the Lord’s teaching, having know of His earthly background as unlearned man. You noticed how the Lord went to Jerusalem quietly, and was stood out because He spoke the words of God marvelously. We should emulate that, let our words be few, and that full of God words and authority in it. It also show us that we don’t need earthly theological qualifications to teach, but each brother according to the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And then the Lord attribute his teaching to His Father. You may remember last Sunday gospel service I read to you about psalm 2, how there were 4 voices. When we came to the voice of the Son, he simply recited all that the Father told Him. That was a good example of how the Lord speaks. We must not speak from our own reasoning, but just speak from the words of God. Sometimes I heard in the gospel of how preachers quote from great human author, of how either Jesus is the true Son of God, a very good lunatics or a very good liar. You don’t need to go into the appeal of human reasoning, just preach the word and trust in its power, unto salvation.
And then the Lord made another revealing truth, if anyman shall do His will, he shall know of the doctrine. What does that tell me? It tells me that the understanding of God’s teachings come from the heart. Obedience and spiritual understanding are intimately connected. Give me your heart, my son. If you want to study the words of God, you have to hand over your hearts first. Seek to do the Father’s will, seek to please Him. Sometimes you discuss with Christians about eg head covering, 1 Corinthinas 11 there are some difficult verses, but there are also some very easy and clear verses. And you cannot go far with that discussion because it is quite clear that you cannot win someone’s heart by talking into their heads.
He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. You know, this platform is a very dangerous place for brethrens. We can so easily come up to this platform, and speaks for our own glory. Search our hearts. Remember the advice of Jeremiah to his scribe: And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not. But if we seek the glory for God, in him is no unrighteousness. I think if we cannot remember anything from this passage tonight, remember this verse.
19Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? 20The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? 21Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel. 22Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. 23If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? 24Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
The Lord then revealed the hearts of men. Even though it was the Jewish leaders that were planning to kill Him, the multitude will, eventually, unless by the grace of God they came to believe in Him. Sometimes we speak to people around us, and they tolerate us until the message became personal and their life is being put under the light of the gospel, then you will see men’s hatred revealed. By planning to kill, at least the Jewish leaders have broken the law of Moses, Thou shall not murder. Of course, we know no one can keep the law, the function of the law is to remind us of our sins and to make it more potent. Thank God, we live under the days of grace. The Lord then reveal to them the source of that hatred, when He healed that man by the pools of Bethesda on a sabbath day. He then went on to tell them that if that is breaking of the law of sabbath, how since the law was given, that they have broken the law everytime they circumcise an 8 day old boy who was born 8 days before sabbath. He was doing a far better deed on the sabbath than circumcision.
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Let us not judge based on our early impression and understanding of any matter. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. So many times in my life I regret judging too quickly, and so many times I also quietly gave thanks to God for not judging too soon, when the truth is not what it seemed initially. We can learn from our Lord.
1And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2And 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 of the fear of the LORD;
3And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
4But with righteousness shall he judge
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