Heart Like Sand

One detractors of going to the beach is no matter what we do, we seem to bring back much of the beach home with us!  Even after a thorough rinse and shaking off sand, sand ultimately will show up in the car, between toes, in wetsuits and on the tiles at home.  The fine and clinging nature of sand enables it to stick to skin and embed in fabrics, and thus it is difficult to shake off.  Some don't mind this at all, as it is a small trade-off for the sun, waves and fun of the beach.

As I considered the properties of sand at the beach, I remembered what God did for Solomon at his request in 1 Kings 4:29:  "And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore."  God gave Solomon divine wisdom, vast understanding and "largeness of heart" compared to sand on the seashore.  Solomon was given wisdom that was carried away by all who came in contact with him, for the Queen of Sheba in a distant land heard of the wisdom of Solomon.  She was so intrigued by the report she travels a long way to visit Solomon in person.

The heart today is often connected with love, affection and care.  Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing for the hearts of Christians to be massive like sand on the seashore, that whenever people came in contact with us they couldn't help but have the wisdom and love of Jesus stick to them?  Sand is gritty and abrasive, and wisdom can have this impact on the minds of others--like a rock in the shoe that gets the attention of the conscience.  To have a heart filled with love that generously offers it to everyone is even more pleasant  and impactful than the greatest beach holiday.  People may not agree with our convictions, outlook or beliefs, but may God's love through us be embedded in every conversation and interaction.

The beach has an endless supply of sand, and by God's grace Christians have an endless supply of love and grace.  As the beach is generous with sand to all who visit, so we ought to be with God's love towards strangers, friends and family.  It is a blessed thing to realise we truly love people who came to church for a season or even for one service, to genuinely care about a stranger on a bus or someone we conversed with on a pier.  No Christian is the source of this great love, as if we are naturally kind and gracious people:  it is not of us, for it is Christ in us.  May the LORD grant us wisdom and largeness of heart like sand on the beach so all will know Christ's glorious fame.

Growth in Grace

After being born again by faith in Jesus, Paul desired to know Jesus, the power of Christ's resurrection, and the fellowship of Christ's sufferings by being conformed to His death.  This was God's will for Paul and all believers, and Paul also acknowledged this sanctifying pursuit remained a work in progress in his life as he wrote in Philippians 3:12:  "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me."  As Paul pursued Christ by faith and obedience, the finish line remained ahead of him.  Paul did not speak as someone who had crossed the line and now had advice for fellow disciples:  he continued to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus by grace.

As a Pharisee, Paul had arrived:  he had achieved in obtaining a rare position of honour and influence among the most respected elders in Jewish society.  Legalism can offer this superficial status, yet a relationship with God leads us by His grace.  Grace is what makes Christianity distinct from religions and authoritarian cultures in the world.  I like Philip Yancy's comments concerning Leo Tolstoy in his book What's So Amazing About Grace?:

"Tolstoy drew a contrast between Jesus' approach and that of all other religions:

The test of observance of external religious teachings is whether or not our conduct conforms with their decrees [Observe the Sabbath.  Get circumcised.  Tithe.]  Such conformity is indeed possible.

 The test of observance of Christ's teachings is our consciousness of our failure to attain an ideal perfection.  The degree to which we draw near this perfection cannot be seen; all we can see is the extent of our deviation.

A man who professes an external law is like someone standing in the light of a lantern fixed to a post.  It is light all round him, but there is nowhere further for him to walk.  A man who professes the teaching of Christ is like a man carrying a lantern before him on a long, or not so long, pole:  the light is in front of him, always lighting up fresh ground and always encouraging him to walk further.

In other words, the proof of spiritual maturity is not how "pure" you are but awareness of your impurity.  That very awareness opens the door to grace." (Yancey, Philip. What’s so Amazing about Grace? Zondervan, 1997. pages 197-198)

The Light of the World Jesus Christ, coupled with the illumination of the Holy Spirit and God's word, continually guides us in our pursuit of Jesus in a relationship governed by His love and grace.  Because Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life we receive definite guidance for our lives and personal convictions we should hold to--without setting up an arbitrary standard before which others must submit to be acceptable.  Legalism leads to bondage, self-righteousness and condemnation of others, while Jesus provides a whole new way of living that makes us free indeed.  It is a harder way (because it requires faith in God), but an infinitely better and fulfilling way where genuine spiritual growth is possible by God's grace we all desperately need.

Blaming God?

"Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; ¹² for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision."

Galatians 2:11-12

When things are wrong, our natural inclination is to determine what was the cause or who was to blame.  This can be done with various motivations:  to pin blame on others and excuse ourselves, in the aim to identify the problem to avoid repeating it going forward, to confirm what we predicted indeed came to pass, and the list goes on.  Because we often have vested interest in where blame is placed and insistent to avoid being blamed, we may blame others wrongly.  Adam attempted to shift the blame of his disobedience to Eve, and Eve sidestepped the accusation to blame the serpent.  I included Paul's testimony of Peter's hypocrisy because it demonstrates there are occasions where a person (even apostles!) can be rightly blamed for doing wrong.

While people are sometimes worthy of blame, the righteous God and Creator of all things is never to be blamed--because He cannot do wrong and blame implies having a fault.  God can be blamed in the sense that people may disagree with Him, but based on the good, perfect character of God, all condemnation and censure of Him is without any sound basis.  Skeptics and unbelievers will not accept this and likely would accuse those any make this claim as biased, yet I would counter it is a view based on knowledge and experience.  In the Paul and Peter example, Jews who observed the Law of Moses believed Peter's behaviour was right and justifiable, but after Paul's eyes had been opened by faith in Christ and born again he was able to see the situation clearly.

I remember a chat with a teenage girl during a camp years ago when she confided her concern that troubles and difficulties were "pushing her away" from God.  In a sense, she was blamed God for painful circumstances in her life, for feeling rejected.  While I sympathised with the girl's struggles, God was not to be blamed for her response to trouble.  Her situation was revealing of a heart that was not trusting God or seeking Him.  She viewed trials and pains as attacks from God against her when He was using them to draw her to Himself.  The testimony of scripture shows God allows trials and troubles to prompt those who trust and fear Him to seek Him, for God never pushes people away:  it is people who turn from God.  For those who believe God heals and saves, trouble prompts us to seek Him earnestly rather than depart from Him.

The almighty God is a redeemer and saviour of all who cry out to Him.  David sang in Psalm 25:15-16, "My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for He shall pluck my feet out of the net. ¹⁶ Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted."  See the confidence David had God would deliver him from the net and would be merciful to him.  David admitted he felt desolate and was afflicted, yet he acknowledged God was his only possible source of hope and help.  When we are tempted to blame God or feel victimised, our eyes ought to look to the LORD who looks to show Himself strong on behalf of all those whose hearts are loyal to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9).  For our sin we are to be blamed, and the glorious, gracious God is merciful to forgive even the trespass of wrongly blaming Him when we repent.

An Evil Generation

In his book Street Smarts on page 187, Gregory Koukl gives the advice to Christians, "Never read a Bible verse."  His point is not to say you or others should avoid reading the Bible, but to emphasise one verse often does not provide necessary context to accurately interpret and apply God's wisdom.  Solomon said in Proverbs 18:1, "A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment."  One can also observe a tendency of what happens when a single verse is isolated, for it can easily be wrenched from the context to undermines the message of the whole Bible.  Following the flow of ideas helps us safely navigate around sharp rocks of supposed contradictions.

In the Bible study last night at Calvary Chapel Sydney, we discussed the latter half of Matthew 12 when Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of casting out demons by the power of Satan.  Jesus immediate refuted this falsehood logically, for a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.  Jesus continued His discourse against the unbelieving, evil generation who were eyewitnesses of countless signs and miracles Jesus did, and in response demanded He do another sign when they would only make more excuses not to believe He was the Christ.  It wasn't that these dishonest "seekers" lacked evidence necessary for belief, but the fact was they were unwilling to submit to Jesus as Saviour.  They loved themselves and their sin more than Him.

In response to a request for a sign Matthew 12:39-40 says, "But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."  Jesus pointed to the miraculous survival of Jonah in the belly of the great fish as a sign that pointed to His future resurrection from the dead three days after His crucifixion and death.  For 40 days Jesus continued to appear and speak with His disciples until His ascension.  The Ninevites would rise in judgment of the evil and adulterous generation because they repented at the word of Jonah.  Jesus was greater than Jonah but His hearers refused to admit wrong.  The queen of Sheba would also rise in judgment of the evil generation because she travelled far to hear the wisdom of Solomon.  Jesus was greater than Solomon and came to them all the way from heaven, but they refused to hear Him.

Matthew 12:43-45 concluded the remarks of Jesus concerning that generation, and He went back to the subject of casting out demons:  "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. ⁴⁴ Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation."  Jesus cast out many demons, sweeping clean hearts and lives from demonic influence.  Jesus came to Israel and "cleaned house" spiritually, even cleansing the temple from moneychangers on two occasions.  Notice the final statement of Jesus that connects the last state of the man to be worse than the first:  "So shall it also be with this wicked generation."

The generation that would not believe Jesus was the Son of David when He cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit, that refused to believe Jesus was the Christ after He rose from the dead following His crucifixion, the last state of that generation would be worst than the first.  We catch a glimpse of what Jesus meant when we observe the condition of the temple:  He cleansed it once at the beginning of His ministry, again before His crucifixion, and the next time the temple was cleansed around 40 years later the Romans swept it completely off the temple mount with fire.  The last state of an evil and adulterous generation--which can apply to the eternal state--points to eternal destruction due to willful unbelief.  The Jewish nation being occupied and subdued by the Romans was terribly oppressive but a very little thing compared to unbelieving souls who are slaves to sin and pride who will suffer the second death forever apart from Christ.

Praise the LORD there is hope for deliverance, forgiveness and salvation for all who turn to Jesus Christ today!  As Jesus proclaimed earlier in Matthew 12, Jesus is greater than the temple revered by the Jews; Jesus is also the LORD of the Sabbath the Jewish nation fastidiously observed and served.  Isn't Jesus more worthy to be revered, served and obeyed than a building or a day?  The penalty for breaking the Law of Moses at times was death, but the penalty for trampling the blood of Jesus underfoot and treating His sacrifice as an unholy thing is worthy of eternal punishment forever (Hebrews 10:26-29).  When we sinners receive the Gospel the curse of sin is lifted by Jesus Christ, and the natural order is overturned by faith in Jesus:  the last state of believers is infinitely better than the first.  This is the LORD's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.