Being Left Alone

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught His disciples not to give what was holy to the dogs or cast their pearls before swine.  It would be abominable to offer food God provided to sustain the priests and Levites to scavenging dogs, and it makes no sense to toss valuable pearls at animals that will disregard them and trample them underfoot.  God has given us great wisdom in His word that is food for our souls we ought to treasure, and when people refuse to regard God or hear His word there is little point to continue speaking to them on the subject.  They will try to bite the hand that tries to feed them.

Since Jesus told His disciples not to give what is holy to the dogs, we can know He walks in His own wisdom.  We can see this illustrated in the life of king Saul who disregarded God's word and disobeyed the word of the LORD spoke through Samuel, and when given opportunity to repent and humble himself Saul refused to do so.  He cared only for his own honour before the people.  The Spirit of God left him and an evil spirit sent by God troubled him, yet he still did not repent.  A time came when Saul was afraid of the Philistine army and cried out to God, yet God did not answer him.  Why?  He had refused to listen to or obey God, so why should God say anything?  Saul's response of seeking the aid of a medium tells us God was perfectly justified to remain silent, for he was unwilling to wait on God and submit to his word.

One scripture that is often repeated without context is found in Hosea 4:6 when God said, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge...".  The knowledge God spoke of is found in Hosea 4:1 when God lamented there was "...no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land."  This lack of knowledge of God led to ignorance of His law and disobedience as we see in Hosea 4:2 & 6.  A consequence of God's people rejecting and forgetting His law was He would forget their children.  Knowing God disciplines those He loves like a father chastens his son in whom he delights, I shuddered at the implications when I read Hosea 4:17:  "Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone."  When people are sinning, they do not like to have their sin pointed out.  We prefer to be left alone and do our own thing, yet because God loves us He will convict of sin, righteousness and judgment.  He will pursue us and continue to speak to us so we might forsake our sin and return to Him.  In Ephraim's case, a point had been reached when God said to leave them alone.  His words would fall on wilfully deaf ears and proud hearts, so He had nothing to say to them.

I am reminded of a similar statement Jesus made when speaking of Jewish religious rulers.  The Pharisees were offended when Jesus said they worshipped God in vain due to their hypocrisy.  The disciples of Jesus weren't sure He knew they were offended by His words and asked Him.  Matthew 15:13-14 reads, "But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."  Jesus did not give the Pharisees the "silent" treatment, for He spoke God's wisdom plainly and personally to them.  But when they refused to receive His correction and were offended, Jesus told His disciples, "Let them alone."  Being blind leaders who would not submit to Jesus opening their eyes, they would end up falling in a ditch.  It might be spiritually falling into a ditch and not being able to climb out that would prompt them to humble themselves, cry out to Jesus the Good Shepherd and be saved.

God chastens His children out of love, and He also is moved by love to let alone the proud, stubborn soul determined to go his own way to ruin.  If Ephraim would not listen to God, learn of Him and walk in His ways, shame from their idolatry could lead the northern kingdom to repentance and restoration.  Consider the meekness of God's wisdom that is pure, peaceable, and willing to yield--so even sinners who were left alone could be redeemed and reconciled to Himself!  It was when he was left alone with the pigs the prodigal in the parable came to his senses and returned to his father who waited for him with open arms.  We know God is always inclined to save, for Jesus commands His disciples to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute us.  Our enemies may not listen to God, but He will hear our prayers offered for their sakes.

Peaceable Fruit of Righteousness

"Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ¹² Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed."

Hebrews 12:11-13

The writer of Hebrews exhorted Christians not to be faint or become weary of God's chastening for sin, for it was not a rejection of them but their wickedness.  His divine correction affirmed they were God's beloved children, and this ought to be a cause us to rejoice greatly.  Jesus endured great hostility from sinners against Himself, and with Christ in us Christians can endure hostility from sinners as well as God's chastening by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Being chastened and disciplined is painful, yet by faith in God it will work to yield pleasant fruit in our lives:  the peaceable fruit of righteousness.  Being chastened and corrected for sin trains God's people to learn to lay aside every weight and the sin that easily ensnares us, and God is faithful to help us run the race He has set before us with endurance as we look to Jesus.  Training to learn a new skill, to improve in a sport or the mastery of an instrument requires practice and repetition.  It is easy to develop bad habits, thus frequent correction is required for us to learn the fundamentals.  As we learn to surrender our lives to Jesus in obedience to His instruction, God will cause our lives to yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness and holiness.

The writer of Hebrews says in light of this, we ought to strengthen hands which hang down and the feeble knees.  Training can be exhausting, and repeated failures can be demoralising.  We can feel down and overwhelmed by the extent of our sinfulness and chastening from God even though it is for our good.  We can focus on how sinful we are when our eyes ought to be fixed on the sinless Saviour.  The hanging hands and feeble knees can be descriptive of individuals as well as a body of believers, for we are members of one another.  Everyone is at a different stage in their spiritual growth, and in our growing seasons we can help bear the burdens of the weak, encourage and edify them with godly living.  Verse 13 says Christians ought to make straight paths for our feet so what is lame may be healed rather than being dislocated.

A dislocated foot renders a person unable to stand or walk at all due to debilitating pain.  The first part of James 3:2 reminds us, "We all stumble in many things."  It is easy to stumble when we did not notice a kerb or we failed to lift our feet high enough over uneven ground.  These sort of things happen at times to everyone who walks--and is spiritually true concerning our walk of faith.  Choosing to follow Jesus and walking in His steps according to guidance of Scripture and the Holy Spirit promotes healing of lame ankles.  In a spiritual sense we are all lame, and by the miraculous power of Jesus and the Gospel we are empowered to live God's way that works to restore our health and strength.  Rather than despising God's chastening, we ought to submit to Him so our lives will produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

Our Goals and God's Destinations

During discussion groups at church camp, one of the questions I wanted to ponder more deeply is how our goals are often different to God’s intended destinations.  As people living in this world, our goals relates to here and now—to what will be passing away.  We seek God’s guidance in decisions we make, not realising every trial and circumstance of life we wish could change can be used by God to change us.  We set our sights on making money, having a successful career or what we will do after retirement when God is working spiritually to make us wiser, reliant upon Him and quicker to obey His word every day.

For Christians, we know our home is in heaven.  Ultimately God will call us come to be with Jesus forever, and we will enjoy the presence of the LORD glorified free from sin, sorrow, pain and death.  One thing about goals we often make is they are quantifiable.  We work towards buying a house, earning a raise, or winning the competition.  So we save, exert ourselves and train hard, hoping to obtain our goal.  Our goals can also be arbitrary, limited by our perceived abilities or opportunities.  We imagine what we can accomplish and work for it, forgetting God routinely does what is impossible and unthinkable.

One theme we have discussed at camp is in Hebrews 12:1, that we ought to lay aside every weight and sin that easily ensnares us and run with endurance the race God has set before us.  The Christian walk is not followed by charting our own course but following Jesus closely, submitting to Him by faith and obedience.  We never know the circumstances God will allow in our lives or the scenery we will observe along the way, but we can know the end result of following Jesus is good and glorious.  The blessings and benefits we have in Christ are not just for heaven but for the journey as we pass as pilgrims through this life.  Though we can stubbornly have our goals in mind, God is faithful to bring us to His desired destinations by sanctifying us to be more like Him.

John 6:16-21 contains a wonderful picture of how receiving Jesus results in Him bringing us to His desired shore:  “Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷ got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. ¹⁸ Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. ¹⁹ So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. ²⁰ But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹ Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.”  Jesus had gone to a mountain by himself, and the disciples found themselves in the dark night rowing for miles against the wind.  Initially they were startled and afraid to see Jesus drawing near to them, but when they willingly received Him into the boat immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

Willingly receiving Jesus changes everything.  In the case of His disciples, the difficulty of the task of rowing was overshadowed by the miraculous power of Christ to do immediately what they could never have done.  At the same time, the toil and trouble is not without purpose, for God is able to use the journey and process to build our faith, inspire our confidence in Him, and entrust ourselves to His guidance.  Those who fear God and heed His word will be greatly helped to go beyond reaching our goals and experience God’s miraculous power in and through our lives.  We can spend a great deal of energy trying to achieve our goals and labour to change the course of our lives rather than simply trusting and obeying Jesus today!

Being Baptised

When it comes to Christians being baptised, I have seen varying levels of emphasis.  The common extremes are problematic, that it is necessary for salvation or because it is not required for salvation it is unnecessary!  The Gospel is clear the salvation of sinners is by grace through faith in Jesus alone, and baptism is necessary for obedience.  Jesus commanded His disciples to proclaim His death by receiving communion together and also said in Matthew 28:19-20:  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."  Both receiving communion and being baptised in water are symbolic of what Jesus has accomplished for us, outward acts pointing to Christ's inner works.

John the Baptist came baptising in water, and his baptism was one of repentance.  Jesus was baptised by John not on account of sin but to "fulfill all righteousness" and provided an example His disciples were to follow.  When Jesus was baptised and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove, it revealed to John, Israel and the world He was the promised Messiah (John 1:32-34).  Being baptised in water is more than a ceremony or public declaration, for it identifies people as followers of Jesus.  In our modern day the public aspects of this act of obedience can become a hindrance to actually doing it because baptisms can become complicated, scheduled social events that bear little resemblance to the Christian practice observed in the book of Acts.

As I leaf through the pages of Acts, being baptised was the first baby step of faith a believer took after repenting and trusting in Jesus as Saviour.  There were no sign-ups, classes to complete or hoops to jump through.  Quite simply, baptism was something done right away--and it was something church leaders and those being born again desired and were happy to do without delay.  Here are some examples in the book of Acts:

• 3,000 people were baptised on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem in Acts 2:41:  "Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them."

• The Ethiopian Eunuch met by Philip in Acts 8:36-37:  "Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" ³⁷ Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

• Saul of Tarsus after his conversion in Acts 9:18:  "Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized."

• Cornelius and his household after the Holy Spirit came upon them in Acts 10:47-48:  "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" ⁴⁸ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days."

• Lydia and her household were baptised after believing in Acts 16:14-15:  "Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. ¹⁵ And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." So she persuaded us."

• The Philippian jailer and his household in Acts 16:30-33:  "And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" ³¹ So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized."

• About 12 men in Ephesus were baptised in the name of Jesus who previously had been baptised by John in Acts 19:4-5:  "Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." ⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."

This pattern we observe in the New Testament of born again Christians being baptised immediately has not always been a practice in modern churches.  There are differences in the way people are baptised and where is considered acceptable, but the most important thing is we obey our Saviour to make disciples and baptise believers in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things Jesus has commanded us.  Baptism is a good first step of obedience to Jesus and should not be reduced to an afterthought or based on how we feel.  Paul wrote baptism illustrates how we have been raised with Christ and the profound change He has made in our lives going forward in Romans 6:3-4:  "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."