Persuaded by Love

"So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The will of the Lord be done."

Acts 21:14

Luke and the believers who spoke with Paul in Caesarea demonstrated wisdom and grace believers today ought to embrace.  A prophet named Agabus had come from Judea and Acts 21:11-12 tells us, "When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'"  Understandably this revelation by the prophet was of great concern to Luke and fellow believers who loved and cared for Paul.  Why stubbornly persist in going to Jerusalem for the feast if bonds awaited you?

While it makes sense to avoid being arrested and sent to prison, remember how Jesus also set His face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem knowing what awaited Him there.  Paul was willing not only to be bound but to die for Jesus, so the threat of arrest and imprisonment was of small consequence.  Based on the protests of his fellow believers and friends Paul could have changed his mind, but he didn't.  And when they saw Paul's mind was made up, they stopped speaking to him on the subject and committed him and his future into the LORD's sovereign hands.

Whether you find yourself in the position of Luke (one trying to convince someone to change their mind) or a Paul (the one with a mind already made up) or an Agabus (one who has insight from the LORD), it is good for us to consider our motives in having robust discussions with others who are not in agreement.  When embittered Naomi decided to head back to Bethlehem, she told Ruth to return to her people.  Ruth 1:18 says, "When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her."  Luke had the freedom and well-being of Paul in mind, yet it is possible Naomi was in such a negative state she couldn't care less.  Regardless, Naomi picked up on Ruth's determination to accompany her and ended the discussion.

The ability to communicate remotely using phones, texts and emails have hindered our ability to pick up on social cues.  With the best intentions, we can be forceful in expressing our opinions to the point others do not feel the freedom to express disagreement--which may or may not be true.  This lack of honest dialogue can embolden one to keep pushing to make their points when both minds have already been made up.  Key takeaways for me from this passage is Holy Spirit-filled believers will not always agree with each other, and there is a time when it is appropriate to cease discussion over controversial subjects as we commit each other to the LORD's care.  Luke, Paul and the brethren remained brethren and friends, even though Paul went up to Jerusalem.

We would love to be conquerors of error and be proved correct when debates and discussions arise, but our victory does not come from convincing others to see things our way:  we are more than conquerors through Jesus who loves us.  Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Disagreements about travel plans or other things cannot separate us from the love of God, and thus we ought to walk in it ourselves and offer it to others always.

Our Hope and Help

The word of God never ceases to amaze as He opens our eyes to His wonders.  It is almost like putting on glasses with a new prescription that allow our faulty eyes to see clearer than they have in a long while.  We often don't realise how blurry our vision is until God breaks through with revealing insights.

As long as I can remember, one of the primary complaints and criticisms I have heard of Christians by unbelievers or people out of church fellowship is hypocrisy among believers.  Many times this accusation is based upon an offended person's view of what a Christian ought to say or do and them not measuring up to this immaculate standard.  Sometimes these observations can be well founded, where a person makes a claim and then violates it without shame.  There is a degree of hypocrisy found in everyone, and a maxim that rings true about hypocrisy is it takes one to know one.  We notice hypocrisy and it bothers us because we too, at some level, do the same thing (Romans 2:1).

Elihu in the book of Job presented a depiction of a hypocrite which has nothing to do with common ways people claim Christians (or others) demonstrate hypocrisy:  it is to know the LORD God is sovereign and not go to Him for help in time of need.  In Job 36, Elihu laid out ways God disciplines, teaches and helps God-fearing people like Job by binding them in cords of affliction.  He then said in Job 36:11-13:  "If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. ¹² But if they do not obey, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge. ¹³ But the hypocrites in heart store up wrath; they do not cry for help when He binds them."  To say you trust God to save your soul yet do not cry for help when He binds, that is a mark of hypocrisy we do well to repent of.

It is one thing to speak or act hypocritically, yet to be a hypocrite in heart is a devastating condition only God can deliver and save us from.  If we find in trials and troubles we depart from the LORD, feeling He is pushing us away, our hearts are not righteous before Him.  God allows painful circumstances to draw us near to Himself, to open our eyes to our need for help only He can supply.  When situations are out of our control and help is needed, Christians ought to turn to the almighty God Who has saved us by grace and use our lips to praise Jesus Christ who is our hope.

May our lives proclaim the goodness of God in all seasons of life as it is written in Psalm 31:21-24:  "Blessed be the LORD, for He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city! ²² For I said in my haste, "I am cut off from before Your eyes"; nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to You. ²³ Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. ²⁴ Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD."  The God who is our hope is also our help.

The LORD God Our Maker

"Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. ⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name."

Psalm 100:3-4

As human beings created in the image of God, through faith in Jesus Christ we can know our Maker.  Having a maker is very significant, for one who invents or creates something knows the purpose and reason for it.  The design we see in the symmetry and function of a leaf suggests strongly it has be designed, and it only can fulfill its purpose because it was the product of a designer.  When it comes to inventions of men, going to the maker provides an opportunity to hear why the invention was made, what is broken and how to fix it.

The world is filled with "self-made" men and women who live as if they do not have a Maker and do not seek God the source of abundant life.  We go about trying to improve or enhance our lives by enriching them with experiences, achievements, goals, acquiring new and better things, increasing our holdings or net worth, and seek the best the world can offer.  We can foolishly assume we decide what is best for us and what the pursuits of our life ought to be.  Because God is our Maker He is the One who has already determined the purpose of our existence fulfilled in knowledge of Him.  The psalmist describes the chosen people of Israel--which can be extended to God's children by adoption through faith in Him--as God's people and the sheep of His pasture.

God created sheep to bleat, grow wool and have a strong herding instinct.  As sheep of God's pasture He has made us to sing praises to God, to enter God's kingdom with thanksgiving, be spiritually fruitful by the Holy Spirit, and bless the LORD as we gather together in His name as one flock.  Through the Good Shepherd Jesus God has brought many sheep together from countless folds that we may be one with each other even as Jesus is one with the Father (John 17:20-21).  It is God, our Maker and heavenly Father who has given us the ability to enter His gates to praise Him, to think and consider His awesomeness so we might thank Him continually, to speak so we might bless His holy name.

How tragic it would be to use the access we have to the throne room of grace more as a "fire escape" on the back alley of a building only to be used in emergencies rather than the main thoroughfare we frequent into God's presence in prayer!  Our minds can be filled with proud, selfish and envious thoughts  and our mouths more apt to complain, criticise or slander than to think to bless the LORD at all times.  We learn to bless the LORD at all times when we begin to recognise the LORD is God who made us, not we ourselves.  It is strange we could ever forget this, yet the scripture exhorts us to remember God is our Maker.  The knowledge of our gracious God moves us to thank Him and thus fulfill our divine purpose with joy.

The Spirit Without Measure

Before Elijah was taken up into heaven, he did a miracle in the sight of Elisha and the sons of the prophets:  he rolled his mantle or cloak and struck the waters of the Jordan river which parted, and they passed over on dry ground.  2 Kings 2:9-10 reads, "And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?" Elisha said, "Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." ¹⁰ So he said, You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so."  Elisha saw Elijah ascend to heaven in a whirlwind, and tore his clothes.  2 Kings 2:13-14 then says, "He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, "Where is the LORD God of Elijah?" And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over."  There was no power in the cloak in itself, but in fact God parted the waters for Elisha as He had for Elijah confirmed the Spirit of God rested upon him as prophet.

When people perceive someone to be gifted and anointed by God who is nearing the end of their lives, some desire this "power" or "authority" for themselves so they too could have sway with God.  Perhaps because of the unique situation with Elijah and Elisha they hope to receive spiritual power by succession, to inherit a portion or a double portion of believer they admire and desire to emulate.  David Ravenhill wrote in the preface to Revival God's Way concerning Leonard Ravenhill, the famed revival preacher, "Prior to his death in 1994 he told me he had received a number of requests from seminary students who wanted to come and see him for the sole purpose of having him lay his hands upon them in order to receive his "mantle."  With his typical dry British humor, but at the same time deadly serious, he said, 'Everyone wants to have my mantle but nobody wants my sackcloth and ashes.'"  His retort shows great insight into the hearts of men who look to men they admire rather than seeking Christ themselves in prayer.  They would have been better served to look to Christ who gives the Holy Spirit without measure than to be the next Leonard Ravenhill, for there cannot be another.

I am convinced if there is a mantle of spiritual power and authority today it is only Jesus Who has it, and He will not share His glory with anyone!  Oh, that we would look to Jesus Christ with such devotion, admiration and desire as we can the saints God has used as His vessels to show forth His glory!  Church history is littered with pedestals erected for "giants of faith" who were exceedingly small in their own eyes because they knew the almighty, glorious God they served.  Blessed is the man who is born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, the one who is given the privilege of access to God's throne room of grace.  We follow the LORD Jesus Christ upon Whom our eyes are firmly fixed, for He is the Head of the church and we have been made one with Him and one another by grace.  Under the new covenant revealed by Jesus Christ the concept of a mantle passing from one person to the next is an archaic notion when we know Jesus who has called, saved, gifted, and made us fruitful by the Gospel.

Seek the LORD of hosts, not His power; praise the Giver instead of exalting a spiritual gift.  Know that God rules over all and He is worthy.  I am grateful for the testimony of godly men and women who serve our LORD Jesus Christ, yet let us not desire their mantles when we have a Saviour clothed in glory who draws us to Himself.  John 3:34 says, "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure."  Why settle for a double portion when overflowing Living Water, the fullness of the Holy Spirit is provided by Christ Himself?