Ways and Deeds

In my morning reading I was quite taken with reading Zechariah 1:4, "Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds." ' But they did not hear nor heed Me," says the LORD."  God made a distinction between the ways of the people and their doings.  God's people had turned from the Living God, and did not do the things which pleased Him.  Their motives and pattern of life had deviated from God's righteous course, and their deeds were also polluted with greed, selfishness, and pride.  They refused to hear or heed God's voice through the many prophets He sent to them, and by this God was sore displeased.

Here we see the loving and gracious nature of God, who sends His Word as a light illuminating the path to those who willfully stumble in darkness.  Unless God gave me the necessary understanding I could not have known Him or recognised wickedness in my own heart.  God first loved us, and love is not content to sit at a distance when the one He loves hastens to plunge into hell.  Instead of enacting some "mind control" to save us, God through His love appeals to our conscience and reasons with His gracious love.  He does not bombard us with facts though He knows all things, nor does He threaten and bluster to intimidate.  With His still small voice He beckons, and with outstretched arms of love He invites all to come and find rest for our souls.  Now is the time to turn; today is the day of salvation.  God has supplied us life, all that we possess, and the wisdom to live in the highest and best possible manner by which a man experiences the utmost satisfaction for God's glory..

This line of thinking, that our ways and deeds ought to glorify God as we hear and heed Him, is a theme brought forth in another book I am currently reading.  I have been blessed beyond measure by William Law's A Serious Call To A Devout and Holy Life.  Within the pages are vivid illustrations and sound logic reasonable minds cannot ignore.  He concluded chapter 11 with these wise words:

"All that we have, all that we are, all that we enjoy, are only so many talents from God:  if we use them to the ends of a pious and holy life, our five talents will become ten, and our labours will carry us into the joy of our Lord; but if we abuse them to the gratifications of our own passions, sacrificing the gifts of God to our own pride and vanity, we shall live here in vain labours and foolish anxieties, shunning religion as a melancholy thing, accusing our Lord as a hard master, and then fall into everlasting misery.  We may for a while amuse ourselves with names and sounds, and shadows of happiness; we may talk of this or that greatness and dignity; but if we desire real happiness, we have no other possible way to it but by improving our talents, by so holily and piously using the powers and faculties of men in this present state, that we may be happy and glorious in the powers and faculties of Angels in the world to come.  How ignorant, therefore, are they of the nature of religion, of the nature of man, and the nature of God, who think a life of strict piety and devotion to God to be a dull uncomfortable state; when it is so plain and certain that there is neither comfort nor joy to be found in anything else." (Law, William. A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. London: J.M. Dent &;, 1906. 132. Print.)

Pay What You Owe

"Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law."

 Romans 13:8

This verse came to mind this morning during prayer.  Typically we think of being "in debt" relating only to money, but as receivers of God's love every Christian owes God's love to everyone.  In a sense, we have the power to choose to whom we will be in debt.  If I desire a loan of money, there are many banks and lending institutions to choose from.  After securing a loan, I also am faced with the priority and timeliness of payment.  Should money be tight, I could choose to put off payment of the loan because of other expenses I deem more pressing.  Two people can be equally in debt, but the priority of paying off the loan can vary significantly.  Some will make personal sacrifices to pay what is owed quickly, and others put off payment as long as possible until there are serious consequences.  Others secure a high-interest loan to pay off the first and dig themselves a deeper hole still.  Being in debt can become more an exercise of keeping those owed at bay with token payments rather than paying off the amount in full.

As children of the Living God through faith in Christ, it is not a question of resources or ability to render to others what we owe when it concerns love.  God's love is infinite, and the Holy Spirit empowers us to love one another as Jesus has loved us.  We cannot rightly say, "I do not have the capacity or ability to love."  Paul affirmed in 1 Thessalonians 4:9, "But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another..."  Because God teaches us how to love one another, it is not a question of ability but of willingness and priority.  God's Word proclaims we owe love to brothers and sisters in Christ, we owe a debt of love to that stranger on the street.  We owe love even to our enemies!  In case you think I am making this up, here it is from the mouth of Jesus in Matthew 5:43-45:  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."

What priority does paying your debt of love to all others have in your life?  If you learned today you owed the government a sum of money for taxes owed, how quickly would you seek to put it right?  We ought to place the greatest priority on the commands of our Saviour, the LORD and Judge of all.  He said in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another."  Again in John 15:12, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."  May God's Word arrest our attention like a subpoena placed in our hands by a officer of the law.  Even as we place great priority on appearing before a court of law when summoned to avoid prosecution and imprisonment, may we respond swiftly and intentionally to the command of Jesus Christ - not out of selfish fear of punishment, but out of a desire to please the God we love.  Let us recognise and affirm today the debt of love we owe to all men.  Galatians 5:13 reminds us, "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."  Every day may we make it our priority to pay our debt of love to God and others in full!

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.