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Scott's Reference Library
| Date: | Sunday, June 4, 2000 |
| Time: | 11:00 AM |
| Service: | 7th Sunday of Easter, Series B |
| Liturgy: | Holy Communion, LBW Setting II |
Crown Him With Many Crowns (Busarow)
All lessons NIV, all commentaries from Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
Acts 1:15-17
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and
twenty) [16] and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy
Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for
those who arrested Jesus-- [17] he was one of our number and shared in this
ministry."
Acts 1:21-26
Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time
the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, [22] beginning from John's baptism to the time
when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his
resurrection."
[23] So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and
Matthias. [24] Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of
these two you have chosen [25] to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to
go where he belongs." [26] Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he
was added to the eleven apostles.
Acts 1:15-26 (Matthias chosen in the place of Judas)
The great thing the apostles were to attest to the world, was, Christ’s resurrection; for that was the great proof of his being the Messiah, and the foundation of our hope in him. The apostles were ordained, not to wordly dignity and dominion, but to preach Christ, and the power of his resurrection. An appeal was made to God; "Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men," which we do not; and better than they know their own. It is fit that God should choose his own servants; and so far as he, by the disposals of his providence, or the gifts of his Spirit, shows whom he was chosen, or what he has chosen for us, we ought to fall in with his will. Let us own his hand in the determining everything which befalls us, especially in those by which any trust may be committed to us.
Psalm 1:1-6
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
[2] But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
[3] He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
[4] Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
[5] Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
[6] For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1:1-3 (The holiness and happiness of a godly man)
To meditate in God’s word, is to discourse with ourselves concerning the great things contained in it, with close application of mind and fixedness of thought. We must have constant regard to the word of God, as the rule of our actions, and the spring of our comforts; and have it in our thoughts night and day. For this purpose no time is amiss.
Psalm 1:4-6 (The sinfulness and misery of a wicked man, The ground and reason of both)
The ungodly are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition. The ungodly are not so, Psalm 1:4; they are led by the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, to the seat of the scornful; they have no delight in the law of God; they bring forth no fruit but what is evil. The righteous are like useful, fruitful trees: the ungodly are like the chaff which the wind drives away: the dust which the owner of the floor desires to have driven away, as not being of any use. They are of no worth in God’s account, how highly soever they may value themselves. They are easily driven to and fro by every wind of temptation. The chaff may be, for a while, among the wheat, but He is coming, whose fan is in his hand, and who will thoroughly purge his floor. Those that, by their own sin and folly, make themselves as chaff, will be found so before the whirlwind and fire of Divine wrath. The doom of the ungodly is fixed, but whenever the sinner becomes sensible of this guilt and misery, he may be admitted into the company of the righteous by Christ the living way, and become in Christ a new creature. He has new desires, new pleasures, hopes, fears, sorrows, companions, and employments. His thoughts, words, and actions are changed. He enters on a new state, and bears a new character. Behold, all things are become new by Divine grace, which changes his soul into the image of the Redeemer. How different the character and end of the ungodly!
1 John 5:9-13
We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of
God, which he has given about his Son. [10] Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this
testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar,
because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. [11] And this is
the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] He who has
the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
[13] I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may
know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:9-12 (The satisfaction the believer has about Christ, and eternal life through him)
Nothing can be more absurd than the conduct of those who doubt as to the truth of Christianity, while in the common affairs of life they do not hesitate to proceed on human testimony, and would deem any one out of his senses who declined to do so. The real Christian has seen his guilt and misery, and his need of such a Saviour. He has seen the suitableness of such a Saviour to all his spiritual wants and circumstances. He has found and felt the power of the word and doctrine of Christ, humbling, healing, quickening, and comforting his soul. He has a new disposition, and new delights, and is not the man that he formerly was. Yet he finds still a conflict with himself, with sin, with the flesh, the world, and wicked powers. But he finds such strength from faith in Christ, that he can overcome the world, and travel on towards a better. Such assurance has the gospel believer: he has a witness in himself, which puts the matter out of doubt with him, except in hours of darkness or conflict; but he cannot be argued out of his belief in the leading truths of the gospel. Here is what makes the unbeliever’s sin so awful; the sin of unbelief. He gives God the lie; because he believes not the record that God gave of his Son. It is in vain for a man to plead that he believes the testimony of God in other things, while he rejects it in this. He that refuses to trust and honour Christ as the Son of God, who disdains to submit to his teaching as Prophet, to rely on his atonement and intercession as High Priest, or to obey him as King, is dead in sin, under condemnation; nor will any outward morality, learning, forms, notions, or confidences avail him.
John 17:6-19
"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you
gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. [7] Now they know that everything you have
given me comes from you. [8] For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.
They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. [9] I
pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they
are yours. [10] All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me
through them. [11] I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world,
and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you
gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. [12] While I was with them, I protected
them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed
to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
[13] "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world,
so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. [14] I have given them your
word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the
world. [15] My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them
from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. [17] Sanctify
them by the truth; your word is truth. [18] As you sent me into the world, I have sent
them into the world. [19] For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly
sanctified.
John 17:6-10 (His prayer for his disciples)
Christ prays for those that are his. Thou gavest them me, as sheep to the shepherd, to be kept; as a patient to the physician, to be cured; as children to a tutor, to be taught: thus he will deliver up his charge. It is a great satisfaction to us, in our reliance upon Christ, that he, all he is and has, and all he said and did, all he is doing and will do, are of God. Christ offered this prayer for his people alone as believers; not for the world at large. Yet no one who desires to come to the Father, and is conscious that he is unworthy to come in his own name, need be discouraged by the Saviour’s declaration, for he is both able and willing to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by him. Earnest convictions and desires, are hopeful tokens of a work already wrought in a man; they begin to evidence that he has been chosen unto salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. They are thine; wilt thou not provide for thine own? Wilt thou not secure them? Observe the foundation on which this plea is grounded, All mine are thine, and thine are mine. This speaks the Father and Son to be one. All mine are thine. The Son owns none for his, that are not devoted to the service of the Father.
John 17:11-16 (His prayer)
Christ does not pray that they might be rich and great in the world, but that they might be kept from sin, strengthened for their duty, and brought safe to heaven. The prosperity of the soul is the best prosperity. He pleaded with his holy Father, that he would keep them by his power and for his glory, that they might be united in affection and labours, even according to the union of the Father and the Son. He did not pray that his disciples should be removed out of the world, that they might escape the rage of men, for they had a great work to do for the glory of God, and the benefit of mankind. But he prayed that the Father would keep them from the evil, from being corrupted by the world, the remains of sin in their hearts, and from the power and craft of Satan. So that they might pass through the world as through an enemy’s country, as he had done. They are not left here to pursue the same objects as the men around them, but to glorify God, and to serve their generation. The Spirit of God in true Christians is opposed to the spirit of the world.
kw: Easter 7b
Other Notes: