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The Good
Samaritan by Ben Long IV – in the First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte,
NC – part of the Benjamin F. Long IV Fresco Trail, the Blue Ridge
National Heritage Area. The trail
extends into the Crossnore School, near Mt. Celo Church, and on into Asheville
and surrounding counties.
“Let us
have grace by which we may serve God acceptably.” Hebrews 12:28
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My Meditations on Today’s Readings
(Ellipses are mine
and are used for contemplation.)
Key Words and Phrases: Set up a lamentation for Tyre; Then they
shall know that I am the Lord; Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; let
us have grace that we may serve God acceptably
The Shadow/Type and The Reality –
Tyre and Satan – (Facts: What It Says – Summarized) Lamentation for
Tyre: Tyre, the gateway city of
the ancient world, the great trading port, “merchant
of the people on many coastlands…known
for the abundance of goods they made…of their many luxury items” is facing
doom and destruction – forever. Behind the Destruction: God Reasons: 1) Because…you
have set your heart as the heart of a god…because your heart is lifted up and
you say, ‘I am a god.’ 2) And…your
heart is lifted up…because…of your riches. 3) By the abundance of your trading…you became filled with violence
within. 4) Iniquity was found in
you…and you sinned. 5) Your heart was
lifted up because of your beauty. 6) You...corrupted…your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. 7) You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by
the iniquity of your trading. Result: 1) You
have become a horror, and shall be no more forever. 2) I will be glorified in your midst, and they shall know that I am the
LORD. 3) And there shall no longer be
a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who
are around them, who despise them. Then,
they shall know that I am the LORD. Principle: Charles Stanley,
“What made Lucifer into the devil?
Pride. He forgot that any wisdom
and beauty and splendor he had came as a gift from God, to reflect God’s glory
and not his own. We must beware the same
deadly mistake. Life Principles Daily Bible, pgs. 1397-1398) Tyre committed the same fatal sin.
The Shadow/Type and the Reality –
Mount Sinai and Mount Zion / Earthly Jerusalem and Heavenly Jerusalem - Hebrews
12 - (Facts: What It Says – Summarized) How
the Lives of the Saints Should Impact Our Lives: After considering
Hebrews, Chapter 11 and the list of saints who lived by faith,“Therefore….we also…1) since we are surrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses…2) let us lay
aside…every weight…and the sin which so easily ensnares us…3) and let us run…with endurance…the race that
is set before us…4) looking to Jesus.
Why to Jesus? 1) He is the author and finisher
of our faith…2) who…for the
joy…set before Him…endured the cross…despising the shame, 4) and has sat down
at the right hand of the throne of God.
5) Consider Him…who endured such hostility from sinners
against Himself…lest you…become weary and discouraged in your souls. The Sacrifice
of Christ Replaced the Type with the Reality…for Us: For you…1)
have not come to the mountain that
may be touched and that burned with fire (Mount Sinai)…2) and to blackness and darkness and tempest,
3) and the sound of a trumpet and the
voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word not be spoken
to them anymore…for…they could not endure what was commanded….’And if so much
as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow’…4)
and so terrifying was the sight that
Moses said, ‘I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.” But
you…1) have come to
Mount Zion…2) and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…3)to an innumerable company of
angels…4) to the general assembly…and church of the firstborn…who are
registered in heaven…5) to God, the Judge of all…6) to the spirits of just men
made perfect…7) to Jesus…the Mediator of the new covenant…and to the blood
sprinkling…that speaks better things…than that of Abel. Our Response:
1) See that you do not refuse Him who
speaks. 2) Therefore…since we are receiving a kingdom…which cannot be shaken…let us have grace…by which…we
may serve God acceptably…with
reverence and godly fear. For…our
God…is a consuming fire. Principle:
The saints in Hebrews 12 lived by faith, revealed through their actions, and that faith was a gift of Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith.” All the shadows and types – the earthly
tabernacle, the temple, the sacrifices, the blood of animals, the earthly
Jerusalem, the law, the priests and high priest, the veil have been replaced
through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
His blood atoned for our sins once and for all. We are His temple. The veil, which is His
flesh, is torn and removed, and we now come to our heavenly Jerusalem, before
the throne of God through our High Priest and Mediator, Jesus Christ. It is all by the grace and mercy of God…that
we may serve Him…to His honor and glory.
Despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor
faint when thou are rebuked of Him.
Hebrews 12:5
It is very easy to quench the Spirit; we do it by
despising the chastening of the Lord, by fainting when we are rebuked by
Him. If we have only a shallow
experience of sanctification, we mistake the shadow for the reality, and
when the Spirit of God begins to check, we say – oh, that must be the
devil. Never quench the Spirit, and
do not despise Him when He says to you – ‘Don’t be blind on this point any more.’ When the Lord chastens you like that, let Him
have His way. Let Him relate you rightly
to God. Am I prepared to let God grip me
by His power and do a work in me that is worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want
God to do for me; sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me,
and He has to get me into the attitude of mind and spirit where at any cost I
will let Him sanctify me wholly. Oswald
Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
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