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Sermon: Picture Day
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MP3 Huge 8x10 and llx17 glossies. All types of poses. Head shots---profiles---3/4 angle shots---full body photos……there is no question as to the model’s or actor’s looks, image, semblance, character and the non-verbal communication the person projects. The reason is, as they say, a picture is as good as a thousand words. Apparently God believes this old adage because He has a number of photos right there in the pages of your Bible. And just like the actor who knows it’s important to have lots of photos in his or her portfolio, God has placed several photos of images He wants to make sure we know, understand and clearly see. Not just any kind of photos but photos of US!! Did you know that He included photos of you in the Bible? Actually these photos are images of what He knows we can be----what He desires for us to be. They are photos of righteousness. My purpose today is to encourage you to be the image of righteousness. BE THE IMAGE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS The Bible offers no less than 46 images of the righteous-------some portfolio, huh? We will discuss just some of them. 1] The sun
Matthew 13:40-43 Commentary says: Matthew
13:43 Reminds us
of our study of city gates and the control of the mind…
Philippians 2:14-15
Malachi 3:17 From the Commentary: "In the day of judgment, those who fear Me and believe and maintain My providence shall be to Me a special treasure, i.e., a people uniquely belonging and precious to Me, blessed in the vision and fruition of Me. “Fruition” means “Yielding of results” “Fulfillment” “Achievement” and “Results”. We have become like God. The
"special treasure," is something, much prized, made great store of, and
guarded. Such are Christians, bought at a great price, even by the
precious Blood of Christ; but much more evidently such shall they be.
1 Corinthians 12:27 From the Commentary:
Are
the body of Christ - As all the members of the human body compose
one body, having a common head, so it is with all the members and parts
of the Christian church. The specific idea is, that Christ is the Head
of the whole church; that he presides over all; and that all its
members sustain to each other the relation of fellow-members in the
same body, and are subject to the same head; The church is often called
the body of Christ.
Hebrews 12:1
I want to
focus on the one phrase “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us” Hebrews
12:1 As applied
to Christians it means that they should remove all which would obstruct
their progress in the Christian course. Thus, it is fair to apply it to
whatever would be an impediment in our efforts to win the crown of life.
It is not the same thing in all persons. In one it may be pride; in
another vanity; in another worldliness; in another a violent and almost
ungovernable temper; in another a corrupt imagination; in another a
heavy, leaden, insensible heart; in another some improper and unholy
attachment. Whatever it may be, we are exhorted to lay it aside, and
this general direction may be applied to anything which prevents our
making the highest possible attainment in the divine life.
~Barnes Notes 1 Peter 2:11---To scattered churches in Asia minor---written because Peter had heard about false teachers coming their way living a licentious life style and being skeptical about certain doctrines and beliefs. “licentious” = Unrestrained by law or morality AND uncontrolled; unruly; riotous; ungovernable 11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. From the
Commentary: How many
use these expressions, professing to be strangers and pilgrims here
below, and yet the whole of their conduct, spirit, and attachments, show
that they are perfectly at home! How little consideration and weight are
in many of our professions, whether they relate to earth or heaven!
Isaiah 40:31 The Commentary says: Shall renew their strength - Margin, 'Change.' The Hebrew word commonly means to change, to alter; and then to revive, to renew, to cause to flourish again, as, e.g., a tree that has decayed and fallen down (see the note at Isaiah 9:10; compare Job 14:7). Here it is evidently used in the sense of renewing, or causing to revive; to increase, and to restore that which is decayed. It means that the people of God who trust in him shall become strong in faith; able to contend with their spiritual foes, to gain the victory over their sins, and to discharge aright the duties, and to meet aright the trials of life. God gives them strength, if they seek him in the way of his appointment-a promise which has been verified in the experience of his people in every age.
They
shall mount up with wings as eagles - Lowth translates this 'They
shall put forth fresh feathers like the moulting eagle;' and in his note
on the passage remarks, that 'it has been a common and popular opinion
that the eagle lives and retains his vigor to a great age; and that,
beyond the common lot of other birds, he moults in his old age, and
renews his feathers, and with them his youth.' He supposes that the
passage in Psalm 103:5, 'So that thy youth is renewed like the eagles,'
refers to this fact. That this was a common and popular opinion among
the ancients, is clearly proved by Bochart. The opinion was, that at
stated times the eagle plunged itself in the sea and cast off its old
feathers, and that new feathers started forth, and that thus it lived
often to the hundredth year, and then threw itself in the sea and died.
In accordance with this opinion, the Septuagint renders this passage.
Psalm 42:1 You might be asking, “How is this a photograph of a righteous person. Notice the commentary. As the hart panteth after the water-brooks - The word denotes a hind, or female deer. The word rendered in the text "panteth," and in the margin "brayeth"--occurs only in this place and in Joel 1:20, where it is applied to the beasts of the field as "crying" to God in a time of drought. The word properly means to rise; to ascend; and then, to look up toward anything; to long for. It refers here to the intense desire of the hind, in the heat of day, for water. It is the idea of looking for, longing for, desiring, that is expressed there. By 'water-brooks' are meant the streams that run in vallies. There is an idea of tenderness in the reference to the word "hart" here-female deer, gazelle-which would not strike us if the reference had been to any other animal. These are so timid, so gentle, so delicate in their structure, so much the natural objects of love and compassion, that our feelings are drawn toward them as to all other animals in similar circumstances. We sympathize with them; we pity them; we love them; we feel deeply for them when they are pursued, when they fly away in fear, when they are in want. So panteth my soul after thee, O God - So earnest a desire have I to come before thee, and to enjoy thy presence and thy favor. So sensible am I of want; so much does my soul need something that can satisfy its desires. There is no desire of the soul more intense than that which the pious heart has for God; there is no want more deeply felt than that which is experienced when one who loves God is cut off by any cause from communion with him. This is a
photo you definitely want in your portfolio. One of you having earnest
desire to communicate with God.
Isaiah 58:11 This one verse could keep you in Bible Study for a couple of weeks. It is image rich. This quote from one of the commentaries: “The ideas of happiness in the Oriental world consisted much in pleasant gardens, running streams, and ever-flowing fountains, and nothing can more beautifully express the blessedness of the continued favor of the Almighty.” I want to focus on just the phrase “whose waters fail not”…..again to the commentary Whose waters fail not - Margin, 'Lie,' or 'Deceive. Waters or springs lie or deceive when they become dried up, or fail in the dry seasons of the year. They deceive the shepherd who expected to obtain water there for himself or his flock; they deceive the caravan which had traveled to the well-known fountain where it had been often refreshed, and where, it is now found, its waters are dried up, or lost in the sand. Hence, such a brook or fountain becomes an emblem of a false and deceitful friend (Job 6:15—(Job is disappointed in his friends. He longed for sympathy, not stinging reproof): My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, As the stream of brooks they pass away. But in the supplies which God makes for his people there is no such deception. The fountains of pardon, peace, and joy are ever open and ever full. The streams of salvation are always flowing. The weary pilgrim may go there at any season of the year, and from any part of a desolate world, and find them always full, refreshing, and free. However far may be the pilgrimage to them from amidst the waste and burning climes of sin, however many come to slake their thirst, and however frequently they come, they find them always the same. They never fail; and they will continue to flow on to the end of time. So this
photo is clear. A righteous person is always to be found by the streams
of Salvation; the fountains of God.
Psalm 1:3-6 One who is righteous, is like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Again with the metaphor or image of water. Notice the commentary on this… And he shall be like a tree - A description of the happiness or prosperity of the man who thus avoids the way of sinners, and who delights in the law of God. This is presented in the form of a very beautiful image-a tree planted where its roots would have abundance of water. Planted by the rivers of water - It is not a tree that springs up spontaneously, but one that is set out in a favorable place, and that is cultivated with care. The word "rivers" does not here quite express the sense of the original. The Hebrew words here mean “to cleave, to split, to divide”, the ground into channels and canals. In Ecclesiastes 2:4---it says: "I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees." No particular kind of tree is referred to in the passage before us, but there are abundant illustrations of the passage in the rows of willow, oranges, etc., that stand on the banks of these artificial streams in the East. The image is that of a tree abundantly watered, and that was flourishing. That bringeth forth his fruit in his season - Whose fruit does not fall by the lack of nutriment. The idea is that of a tree which, at the proper season of the year, is loaded with fruit. The image is one of great beauty. The fruit is not untimely. It does not ripen and fall too soon, or fall before it is mature; and the crop is abundant. Holding your place in Psalm 1 notice this image in Psalm 92:12
Psalm 92:12-14 Now continuing in the commentary for the phrases found in Psalm 1… His leaf also shall not wither - By drought and heat. It is green and flourishing---a striking image of a happy and a prosperous man. And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper –(that which is in the will of God) This is a literal statement of what had just been put in a figurative or poetic form. It contains a general truth, or contains an affirmation as to the natural and proper effect of religion, or of a life of piety—(commitment to calling), and is similar to that which occurs in 1 Timothy 4:8: "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." This idea of the effect of a life of piety is one that is common in the Scriptures, and is sustained by the regular course of events. If a man desires permanent prosperity and happiness, it is to be found only in the ways of virtue (Godly Principles) and religion (becoming like Christ). So a righteous person is the image of a tree planted by the riverside, taking in that clean, pure water of God and producing great fruit. Another photo for your portfolio. There are at least 46 photos of the righteous in this great book we call the Word of God. Make them all to be photos of you. You know,
don’t you that these photos of righteousness are also photographs of our
elder brother, Jesus Christ, so I guess we have just discussed another
way of looking at that eternal ENCOURAGEMENT for you to be just like
Christ. |
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