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Date:         Tue, 10 Oct 1995 08:39:50 +0100
Reply-To: Christian explanation of the Scriptures to Israel
              
Sender: Christian explanation of the Scriptures to Israel
              
From: Teus Benschop 
Subject:      The Scriptures opened, 52
To: Multiple recipients of list CHR-EXP 

Contents
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1. Exodus 33:15        - Go not without God's presence
2. Psalm 15            - The righteous shall abide in God's house
3. 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 - God's comfort in tribulation


1.  Exodus 33:15 - Go not without God's presence
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Reading  Exodus 33:12 - 34:26
Text    Exodus 33:15

And he said unto him,
    If thy presence go not [with me],
    carry us not up hence.

These  are  the words of Moses. He says unto God: "If Thy presence  go
not  [with  me], carry us not up hence". Lord, without Thy presence  I
dare  not  go  forward. Without Thee, we are not safe.  Without  God's
presence, we have but ourselves, being unable to keep the right way.
     Why  does Moses ask for God's presence, to go with them in  their
midst?  He  asks so, because some verses back, God had  said  that  He
would  no longer go up in their midst. They had so grievously  sinned,
that  God  no longer could bear it. "I will not go up in the midst  of
thee;  for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee  in  the
way."  (Exodus 33:3) Moses is here pleading for the people,  that  God
might  go  with  them. The people had again sinned,  and  again  Moses
speaks  for their advantage before God. "If Thy presence go  not  with
us, carry us not up hence".
     And  again, in the next chapter, we read the same. "And he  said,
If  now  I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I  pray
thee,  go  among us; for it [is] a stiffnecked people; and pardon  our
iniquity  and  our  sin,  and take us for thine inheritance."  (Exodus
34:9)  Again Moses prays for forgiveness, confessing the sins  of  the
people, for they are stiffnecked. Moses, being an intermediary between
God  and the people, is an example of Christ, Who does the same  work.
Moses  was always praying for the people before God. Christ  does  the
same.  Moses brought God's words to the people, and Jesus Christ  does
it also.
     What will become of us, when God's presence does not go with  us?
What  will happen to us? We are not safe without His protection. While
we  go through the desert of this life, too much dangers threaten  us.
We will undoubtedly perish without God's presence going with us. LORD,
do  not  forsake us. Go with us. Though we are sinning daily,  forgive
us.  Do not to us according to what we have deserved. Show Thine mercy
to  us.  Let  us find grace in Thy sight, O Lord. Go with us,  and  be
among us. Pardon our iniquity and our sins.
     Many  seek happiness in this fading world, but we know that there
is  no real happiness without God's presence. When God shines upon  us
with  the light of His Spirit, we are filled with His joy. "Many  say,
Who will shew us good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance
upon  us." (Psalms 4:6) There is no better thing than God going up  in
our midst. Let the light of His countenance shine upon us, and we will
walk  in His truth. But when we turn away from Him, a sure destruction
awaits us.


2.  Psalm 15 - The righteous shall abide in God's house
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        A Psalm of David

LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?
who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
    An  important question: Lord, who shall abide in Thine house?  Who
    shall  dwell in Thy holy hill, that is, in Thine city?  God,  will
    everybody abide with Thou, or only the righteous? Who shall  abide
    with God?

LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?
who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly,
and worketh righteousness,
and speaketh the truth in his heart.
    LORD,  who is the man that shall dwell in Thine house?  It  is  he
    that walks uprightly, does righteousness, and speaks truth in  his
    heart.  This man will dwell with Thou. His feet do the good works,
    for   he  walks  uprightly.  His  hands  do  good,  for  he  works
    righteousness.  His mouth and heart do good, for he  speaks  truth
    in his heart. Is this all, the godly will do? No, there is more.

LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?
who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that backbiteth not with his tongue,
nor doeth evil to his neighbour,
nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
    He  will  abide in God's tabernacle, who does not use  gossip.  He
    does  no  evil with his tongue to his neighbour, neither with  his
    hands.   He  forsakes  all  evil  words,  which  would  hurt   his
    neighbour. Any reproach against him, he will not take up.

LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?
who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He, in whose eyes a vile person is contemned;
but he honoureth them that fear the LORD.
He that sweareth to [his own] hurt, and changeth not.
He that putteth not out his money to usury,
nor taketh reward against the innocent.
    The  man who shall abide in God's tent is he, who thinks the  same
    as  God  does. A vile person is contemned in God's sight. So  also
    in  the  eyes of the righteous man, that vile person is contemned.
    He  does  the  same as God does. God honours them  that  fear  the
    LORD. So also the righteous man and woman will honour such a  one.
    The  man who will abide in God's house, has he ever sworn  to  his
    own  disadvantage, he will not change. He will not take  back  his
    words,  but will keep his oath. He does not put out his  money  to
    abuse  the poor, to put it out to usury. Whenever there is a  poor
    one,  asking for his help, he will help him, and give him as  much
    as he needs. He also takes no reward against the innocent. For,  a
    reward  would  blind  his  eyes, and then  he  would  condemn  the
    innocent.

He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
    He  that  does all these good things, and refrains from all  these
    evils,  he  will not be moved until eternity. The doing  of  these
    good  things,  and  the forsaking of these evils,  are  the  signs
    whereby  we  may  recognise the righteous believers.  Doing  these
    things  is  not the ground of our firmness, but the signs  whereby
    we  know  that  God keeps us. "And I give unto them eternal  life;
    and  they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
    of my hand". (John 10:28)


3.  2 Corinthians 1:3,4 - God's comfort in tribulation
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2 Corinthians 1:3,4

Blessed be God,
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies,
and the God of all comfort;
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble,
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

The  apostle begins his letter with God, the Father of our Lord  Jesus
Christ.  Blessed  be  God, the Father of Jesus Christ,  and  also  the
Father of all mercies. Whenever there is any mercy, it is coming  from
Him.  He  is the God of all comfort. Whenever we have need of comfort,
being afflicted by this life, let us flee to Him alone. Let we not  go
to  the comforts of this world, for they are but for a short time, and
partial.  Let  we  go  to God, the Father of all mercies  and  of  all
comfort.  The  comfort  wherewith he  comforts  us,  is  enduring  and
eternal.  Some  seek  comfort in food and drink, or  in  their  family
circle,  or in their husband or wife. But these comforts are temporal.
When  we  are comforted thereby without God, it is better  that  these
things are taken away from us. Let we expect no comfort but that which
is  from  God,  the Father of our Lord Christ, and the Father  of  all
grace.
     Why  must the servants of God suffer much? Because then there  is
occasion  for God to comfort them. Then the servants experience  God's
comfort. God's grace is then for them no longer mere words, but it has
become experience. When speaking of God's comfort, and when they  have
experienced it, they know about what they speak. When preaching to the
congregation,  they  know  where they talk  about.  For  it  is  their
experience.  Why  must then the servants of God suffer  much?  Because
then  they  are  able to comfort others, and to help others  in  their
tribulations.  They must suffer much in order to be a  good  minister.
The  more they suffer, the more they will be comforted by God, and the
better  ministers they are for the people. The more they  suffer,  the
better it is. All this within the bounds determined by God, of course.
Their  suffering and tribulations are not limited by their  own  will,
but  by  God's wisdom. This is what Paul said: "Blessed  be  God,  Who
comforteth  us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to  comfort
them  which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we  ourselves
are  comforted of God." The more a servant is suffering, and the  more
comfort  he receives of God, the better is he for his flock.  May  God
then prevent his servants from looseness, lest they become useless for
their  people.  May  God  always comfort  the  people,  who  in  their
following of Christ, suffer much. Christ said: "In the world ye  shall
have  tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome  the  world."
(John  16:33)  Blessed is then God, the Father  of  all  comfort,  Who
brings up His children through much tribulations and comfort, to  make
them fit to their tasks in this fading world.


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Teus Benschop  --  t.benschop@pobox.ruu.nl
Listowner of chr-exp@nic.surfnet.nl
"A Christian explanation of the Scriptures to Israel"
Institute Practical Bible-education
Web:  http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/ipb-e/ipbe-home.html
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