The Impressionable Heart

With several ministries in hiatus during the summer holidays, I have enjoyed supplementing my time by reading books by eminent Christian authors.  C.H. Spurgeons "The Sword and the Trowel" is packed with valuable gems easily gathered up by those who seek the wisdom of the ancients.  One printed tract aimed at believers was most useful and thought provoking, an exhortation to seize the opportunity to share Christ when hearts are soft and most receptive to spiritual truth.  Here is a small sampling from the "prince of preachers:"

Quick must be the hand if an impression is to be made upon the wax.  Once let the wax cool and you will press the seal in vain.  Cold and hard it will be in a few moments, therefore let the work be quickly done.  When men's hearts are melted under the preaching of the Word, or by sickness, or the loss of friends, believers should be very eager to stamp the truth upon the prepared mind.  Such opportunities are to be seized with holy eagerness.  Reader, do you know of such?  If you be a lover of the Lord Jesus hasten with the seal before the wax is cold.  Perhaps, dear reader, you are yourself unsaved; then look at the woodcut, and remember that such is your life.  It is like the flame upon the stick of wax, and your soul is like the wax which drops upon the envelope, capable of receiving an impression while you are alive, but soon hardened and made unalterable by the cold breath of death.  If the stamp of eternal life is to be set upon your soul it must be now, for when once this life is over change is impossible. (Spurgeon, C. H. C.H. Spurgeon's Works as Published in His Monthly Magazine The Sword and the Trowel. Vol. 1. Pasadena, Tex.: Pilgrim Publications, 1975. 204. Print)

How important it is to take Spurgeon's exhortation to heart for ourselves.  How often have our hearts been warmed with holy zeal but quickly cooled in the face of opposition or doubts?  How many times have we opened the scriptures and no impression was made upon us by God's Word, though written with iron pen and a tip of diamond?  Our cold hearts can be as frozen earth, impregnable by the good seed.  There is great need in all God's people to be baptised with the Holy Spirit and with fire through faith in Christ, otherwise our hearts will be hard and unyielding to Gospel truth.  When God opens our eyes to softness and receptivity in others let us seize the opportunity.  But let us not despair and withhold God's truth even from those we imagine carry in their bosoms a dead hearts of stone, for God is able to raise up children of Abraham from stones if need be.  May we long for soft hearts melted by God's grace and love, having been sealed with the Holy Spirit.

The heat of the flame melts wax only in close proximity.  A flame even inches away from the candle will have no effect upon it.  Once the wick is lit, however, the direct heat from the flame begins to melt the candle.  We may look upon Christ with awe at a distance, even delighting in the Light of the world.  Our great need is to cultivate the presence of God, communing with the Almighty God in worship through faithfully following Him, seeking Him, and obeying His counsel.  Only then will we enjoy the unbroken fellowship with God's presence He intends and have cultivated within us soft hearts which perceive His still small voice and are empowered to walk accordingly.  Let us not remain at a distance when Jesus has drawn near to each one of us.

Burden Removed, Yoke Broken

This morning I preached on Isaiah 10, a passage of warning and consolation for God's people.  I was particularly struck with God's promise to His people in Isaiah 10:27:  "It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil."  The king of Judah and his people looked to Assyria and not to God to deliver them, and in doing so dictated their own means of correction.  God would use the Assyrian nation as a rod in His hand to discipline His children, for those whom God loves He corrects.  Though chastening would involve pain and difficulty, ultimately God would redeem and deliver His people from those who oppressed them.

God had set His people free, yet they chose a life of bondage through rebellion from God.  They made for themselves a yoke of iron (Deut. 28:48), yet the Almighty God of grace promised to remove and break their yoke.  The passage explains the burden and yoke would be taken away and destroyed "because of the anointing oil."  The Law commanded the Jews to anoint the tabernacle, vessels, and the priests with oil to sanctify, to consecrate all for God's ordained purposes.  It signified cleansing, a separation from the ordinary world and unto God for His service.  Because God had sanctified the nation of Israel unto Himself, in due time He would remove and destroy their yoke.  For those who are born again and anointed with the Holy Spirit, this scripture provides great comfort for us.  He have been justified and sanctified through faith in Christ.  There is no burden too heavy to be cast upon Christ, and no yoke too great for God to remove and break forever.

Like the children of Israel, sometimes we choose burdens and yokes for ourselves through rebellion and idolatry.  It can take a season of suffering before we realise the folly of our sinful choices.  In reaping the bitter fruit of fleshly living we grow weary and long for a reprieve.  Our motive can be one more of escape than seeking refuge in God!  We can come to the point of giving our cares, addiction, depression, and worries to God - only to find they have a grip on us we cannot shake no matter what we do.  Perhaps we also carry a sense of entitlement, thinking we have done all that is necessary to remove the cursed yoke which holds us fast.  We have repented, refused to harbour any affection for the rebellion we once longed for, and frankly hate the thing.  But the powerful grip holds us fast and we wonder:  what must we still do?  The truth is, we cannot lift or break yokes.  Only Jesus Christ can do that!  Our call is to repent, trust God and His promises, and humbly rely upon God to remove and break the yoke once and for all.  It is not a call to passivity, but to recognise our desperate need to seek God, praise Him despite the pain, and trust He is working all for His good, redemptive purposes.  As Corrie Ten Boom said, "It is not try but trust; it is not do but done."

Take heart burdened soul!  As in Bunyan's Pilgrim, when we bow our knees and hearts before the cross of Christ our burden falls from our shoulders.  The knots are too tight for our fingers to loose, and the cords too strong for the knife of the efforts of the flesh to slice through.  Repentance, praise, worship, and simple trust in God turns our eyes towards Jesus as Saviour and Deliverer.  When our hearts are brought to a place of willingness to happily bear a yoke as long as God wants for His purposes, we find a freedom and joy the natural man through effort cannot know.  It is willingness to take Christ's yoke upon us which shatters all other yokes.  Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Come to Jesus and choose to find rest in Him alone.  Simple trust causes a man to receive of God's grace no amount of struggle can earn.

Why Me?

Last night the boys and I sat down to watch Marvel's "Captain America" starring Chris Evans.  In the film, Steven Rogers is a scrawny, sickly man with a courageous heart of gold.  He was chosen from a field of more physically eligible specimens by scientist Dr. Abraham Erskine to be the first subject for an experiment which could change the course of World War 2.  On the eve of the experiment, Dr. Erskine met with Steven for a drink.  Steven humbly asked one question of the doctor:  "Why me?"  He had been deemed unworthy so many times before he wondered what he possibly could have done to deserve such an opportunity, never dreaming he would become "Captain America."  His perspective throughout the film consistently placed others before himself.

"Why me?" isn't a question reserved for Hollywood productions.  It's likely a question we have felt more often then we vocalised.  When I worked in the shipyard, my work mates told me about a guy they nicknamed "Why Me?" because that was his response whenever tasked to do a job.  It seems to me this question was not motivated by humility, but self focus.  "Why Me?" always felt like he had drawn the short straw, and based upon his self-proclaimed skills and seniority surely he deserved better treatment!  There are therefore at least two ways to ask, "Why me?"  As I watched Captain America throw his shield around and beat up bad guys, my mind kept going back to the question he asked when he was scrawny Steve.  He was utterly unworthy, and he freely recognised this fact.  He was therefore able to appreciate the gift of strength and ability like few others.

Steve's question echoed that of David concerning his God.  David wrote in Psalm 8:4, "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?"  In a sense David mused, "God you are so mighty and powerful - why us?  Why would you even care?"  Gideon also had this same perspective of God and his unworthiness.  After the LORD revealed Gideon was the one He had chosen to deliver the Hebrews from the Midianites, Gideon said in Judges 6:15, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."  Gideon wondered, "Why me?  How could I save Israel?"  On the other side of the coin, we have Cain, the selfish, unrepentant murderer of his brother Abel.  When God confronted Cain, he denied knowledge of where his brother was!  Upon hearing of his punishment for his crimes, he said in Genesis 4:13, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!"  Another "me" centred person in scripture is Esau.  After Esau's birthright and blessing went to his younger twin Jacob, he wept with tears:  "Bless me also!"  All the while the desire to murder his brother festered in his heart.

The heart with which we ask the question to God "Why me?" says something about our spiritual condition before Him.  Those with humility place their emphasis on "WHY" and those who remain unrepentant in pride emphasise "ME!"  God is not averse to answering "why" questioned grounded in faith in Him, but He also knows those focused on "me" will not receive His answer.  He cast pearls of wisdom before those who will only trample it underfoot.  How do you ask the question?  We are all unworthy of God's love and blessings.  The answer to that question cannot be based in me or anything men have done, but solely due to God's greatness and goodness.  Every blessing is of grace, and praise Him for being so mindful of us!

Who Is The Sacrifice?

The scripture is packed with priceless gems, relevant and true to this day.  The Law gives us insightful glimpses of realities enjoyed under the New Covenant through Jesus Christ.  One instance is seen in Leviticus 6:12-13:  "And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. ¹³ A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out."  One role of the high priest and his sons was to stoke the fire of the altar so it burned perpetually, a fire sparked by the divine presence of God Himself.  In addition to the morning and evening offerings, the people brought free-will offerings, tithes, and sacrifices for atonement.

Here is the point:  God provided the fire, the priests stoked the flames with fuel, and the people brought the animals for sacrifice.  When a person repents and chooses to place their faith in Jesus Christ for atonement and eternal salvation, God sends the Holy Spirit to indwell us even as pure oil was placed within the candlesticks in the Holy Place.  Jesus is our High Priest, and we have been made kings and priests unto God (Rev. 1:6).  God supplies the fire, Jesus stokes the flames, and we are called to bring the sacrifice.  Written to Christians Romans 12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."  Jesus is the Lamb of God supplied to atone for the sins of the world, and we are to present ourselves humbly to receive His life, light, and sustaining power.  This is an intentional act prompted by love and sincere desire.

No one ends up on top of a burning altar accidentally.  Isaac submitted to being bound by Abraham and laid atop an altar, and his will was laid down before his father.  He noticed there was fire and wood, but questioned where the offering would be found?  Even as Isaac's life was spared by the God who searches the hearts and minds of all men and a substitute ram supplied, Jesus was sent as the Lamb of God.  As He lived we are to follow His example of self-sacrifice.  There is no one more "on fire" for the glory of God than Jesus, and the same Spirit who empowered Him dwells within us!  No one need suffer burnout when it is God who supplies both fire and fuel.  We are burned out when we are no longer willing to climb up on that altar in faith and obedience, at every opportunity presenting ourselves as living sacrifices unto God as we ought.

Allow me to conclude with a passage I was challenged with this morning written by William Law in his book A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life:  "Here, therefore, let us judge ourselves sincerely; let us not vainly content ourselves with the common folly of our diversions, the pride of our habits, the idleness of our lives, and the wasting of our time, fancying that these are such imperfections as we fall into through the unavoidable weakness and frailty of our natures; but let us be assured, that these disorders of our common life are owing to this, that we have not so much Christianity as to intend to please God in all the actions of our life, as the best and happiest thing in the world.  So that we must not look upon ourselves in a state of common and pardonable imperfection, but in such a state as wants the first and most fundamental principle of Christianity, viz., an intention to please God in all our actions...the reason why you see no real mortification of self-denial, no eminent charity, no profound humility, no heavenly affection, no true contempt of the world, no Christian meekness, no sincere zeal, no eminent piety in the common lives of Christians, is this, because they do not so much as intend to exact and exemplary in these virtues." (Law, William. A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. [3rd ed.] London: J.M. Dent, 1902. 18-19. Print.)