It Is Finished- reboot

Our Lord and Savior was crucified on a Passover Thursday nearly 2,000 years ago. I know most folks will say what?  Haven’t you heard of Good Friday?  What kinda christian are you?  Well, I’m the kind that loves Christ with all her heart and soul.  The kind that cries with shame and remorse every time I read the accounts of my Savior’s last day before He died for me.  The kind that is anguished watching movies or programs depicting the agony of my sweet Lord as he suffered for me, for my sins, my vileness.  It was me who held those nails, that swung the hammer, in my soul I feel every blow of my responsibility for Him being on that cross.  Today my heart breaks under the weight of what I did to hold Him there.  I recall the times I denied him like Peter, the decisions I regret just as Judas did, the things I did that rejected and pushed my Savior away for so very long.  They are why he had to die that horrible death that Thursday so long ago.  For you see he didn’t die on Friday, he couldn’t have if he was in the grave for 3 nights and 3 days as he said he would be.  If he died around 3pm as  the Bible tells us on Friday as the common tradition is and rose before sunrise on Sunday morning well that’s a day and a half at best he was in the grave, definitely not the three days and nights He mentions in the passage below.

For just 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.  Matthew 12:40

We know He rose on Sunday morning, scripture is clear on that.

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.  Matthew 28:1

The first day of the week is Sunday.  So let’s look at what the Gospels say about this most important week, this week that literally changed the world.  That changed everything, that conquered death and the grave once and for all, that gave hope to the lost and dying world groaning under the weight and wages of sin.

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.  Matthew 26:17-19

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”  Mark 14:12

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.  Luke 22:7

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.  John 13:1

In all four Gospels we see that the Last Supper was the Passover meal eaten that Thursday evening (Jewish time)after sunset and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread or Passover was begun by eating the Passover feast. After eating the Passover meal, he traveled to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, seeking God’s will and not his own but knowing full well what he would endure in the coming hours.  The weight he would bear for the world that had and would largely reject and deny him.  The cup he would be willingly drank more bitter than gall, more loathsome than the most vile poison, yet Christ obeyed his Father and drank willingly of it for all.  He was so anguished in His soul not over the physically pain he would suffer but the spiritual pain he knew he would endure that he actually sweat blood, that’s love people.  It was while they were in the Garden that Judas betrays Him with a kiss and he is taken, taken by those who would mock, beat, and torture him before turning him over to the Romans who would then scourge him, ripping the flesh from his bones, crowning him with thorns, mocking the King with a purple robe.  A royal purple robe that became scarlet with the blood he was shedding for the sins of the world.  Then when he was beaten to what should have been beyond the point of death Pilate offered to set him free and crucify the vile murderer Barabas instead.  But it wasn’t the will of the Jewish leaders, the people or the Father.

All this has taken place in the early morning hours of that fateful Thursday for before 9am our Lord was staggering in a horrific parade through the streets of Jerusalem on his way to his death at the Place of the Skull, Golgotha, to Calvary Hill!  At 9am that Thursday they nailed him to the cross, hung a sign saying King of the Jews over him and cast lots for his raiment.  For you see they added one final humiliation to his lot, the attending Roman soldiers took his clothes and gambled over them as he hung there above suffering, dying.  Psalm 22 gives us a haunting foretelling of Christ’s suffering, so accurate in it’s detail, well, just read it for yourself.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou answerest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not ashamed. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, Commit thyself unto the LORD; let him deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighteth in him. But thou art he that took me out the womb: thou didst make me trust when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gape upon me with their mouth, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My Strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of evil-doers have enclosed me; they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones; they look and stare upon me: They part my garments among them, and upon my vesture do they cast lots.  Psalms 22:1-18

And then we have the Gospel accounts of the last three long, brutal hours of suffering that day.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood there, when they heard it, said, This man calleth Elijah. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him. And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit.  Matthew 27:45-50

And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to take him down. And Jesus uttered a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.  Mark 15:33-37

And it was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, the sun’s light failing: and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the ghost.  Luke 23:44-46

But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold, thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold, thy mother! And from that hour the disciple took her unto his own home. After this Jesus, knowing that all things are now finished, that the scripture might be accomplished, saith, I thirst. There was set there a vessel full of vinegar: so they put a sponge full of the vinegar upon hyssop, and brought it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.  John 19:25-30

John’s account always gets me, maybe it’s the momma in me but it gives us such a clear picture of the love our Savior has for each of us.  As he was suffering, dying a most torturous death he is worried about his mom, wanting to ensure that she will be taken care of.  So he tells Lazarus, the disciple he loved, whom he had raised from the dead, (not John, I’ll post on that another night) to take care of her as he would have his own mom. I love that image we are given of the love of a son for the woman who bore him, I always think it shows that Christ was human just like us, even though he was God just like his Father.

At about 3pm Christ gave up the ghost, having declared “It is finished.”  There was a great earthquake, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to  bottom, no more was there a separation between God and man, ultimately pointing us to our glorious hope, our only hope, an empty tomb.  A tomb which  our Savior was placed in just before sundown that Thursday, a tomb sealed tight and guarded.  A tomb foretold by the prophets of old.

We will leave off there tonight with Christ dead, with the Savior in the dark, fulfilling his Father’s will but leaving us feeling raw, hollow, despairing.  Much as I imagine his disciples felt that day.  How many questions they must have had.  Some must have felt guilt and remorse, others confusion, some reflection, realizing that he had told them what would happen, their scriptures had told them as well, and that maybe, just maybe all hope wasn’t lost.  Maybe they just couldn’t see the big picture in the dark, maybe the sign he gave about Jonah would shed some light on things.  They’ll find out in three days and nights.  For now it is finished.

May God bless and keep you my beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

Walking the Romans Road 1:16

Tonight we are just looking at one verse but what a verse it osgcThe truths contained therein will edify you as a saint and strengthen you. Let’s dig in…

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; Instead Paul proclaims boldly the joy that fills him, the hope of the gospel of the grace of Christ!

For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; The power of God unto salvation- just think on that. The almighty God of the heaven and earth uses His own power to save us, man, you, me. Every one, the separation of that word into a phrase somehow emphasizes His glorious power and merciful grace; the gift and hope of all that believeth. That’s all it takes today for a lost sinner broke as a joke spiritually to receive the riches of God through the sacrifice of Christ, to receive grace.

To the Jew first, and also to the Greek also.

God had been dealing first with the Jew since Abraham and this continued through Christ’s jnpearthly ministry – during that time the only way a Greek (Gentile) could be saved was through Israel, they must become a proselyte, a Jew in every sense from the customs to the chop for the guys. Until Christ shined down from heaven and saved Paul after Israel stumbled at the cross and eventually fell at the stoning of Stephen when God set them aside and began to reveal the mystery he’d been hiding since the beginning- grace to all the world through the finished work of the cross. Through belief in the death of Christ on the cross as the payment for all sin, his burial for the removal of those sins for all eternity, and His resurrection as the receipt of that payment all the world may be saved freely, as gift of God for His glory. You just have to believe that Christ died for your sins, that he took your place on that Cross, that it was your sins that nailed him there, held him there and you are freed from them forever; free to move forward in Christ as the new creature he has made you to be. Praise Him, glorify him and live for Him because he died for you, not just the Jew. Thus Paul went first to the Jew but they rejected grace as they did Christ and he went instead to the Greek Gentiles who received the gift of grace with deep appreciation and hope.

Seven Miles

Of all that Scripture tells us of Jesus’ resurrection I think I like the seven mile sermon the best. It’s such an apt picture of me when things get a little sideways, all jacked up. I mean here these two dudes thought their worlds had just ended, their Messiah had just been killed – dead and buried. They saw it from our side, with human eyes. Just like I do when things don’t go how I think they should. So they start out from Jerusalem, where in their eyes it all fell apart, and head to Emmaus. They’re mopping along, slowly, feet feeling heavier with each step, trying to make sense of it all. They know Jesus, walked, talked and are with him ; but if he was who he claimed to be, and certainly seemed to be, how could he have been killed. How could that happen, why did it happen?

So anyway there they are just plodding along, heads a hanging when this man comes up to them and asks “Why the long faces fellas, what’s wrong?” Then I can see the wide eyes and hear the disbelief as they reply wanting to know what rock this guys been under, hasn’t he heard Jesus, the Messiah, the one who was supposed to save his people was dead! They say some of the women say the tomb where he was laid is empty, that they saw him that very morning, which was the third day since the terrible tragedy. But they say this almost scoffingly it seems since this stranger rebukes them.

“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?”  (Luke 24:25-26)

And that’s when the longest sermon in the Bible starts, and what a sermon it was. Delivered by the very preacher of preachers! He preaches from Moses through the prophets all about himself, lovingly and patiently reminding them that all is well and as it should be. Just as he does with me when I doubt or worry or fear that things have gotten so jacked up that God can’t fix it. (I do get that way now and again and he does have to remind me that he built this world and he can surely keep it!) Well brothers and sisters in Christ just read the 7 mile sermon and the rest of the story for yourself.

“And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.”  (Luke 24:13-35)

Being Jobed

You ever catch yourself feeling all woe is me, having a Pauline pity party?  Yea, I do too sometimes, I call it being Jobed.  Sometimes life is hard, crazy, people hurt us, hate us, etc.  It’s just part of it which is what my study today focused on.  I started a chronological reading plan last week and today I got to Job.  Now that’s a book that fascinates me, I am always going back to it and always the Lord leads me to some new nugget of truth.  Today was no exception.  I just thought I’d share it with you as it blessed my life greatly and I pray it will yours as well.

…the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.  Job 1:21

You wanna talk about facing troubles Job is your man.  That dude faced some troubles!  It makes my head spin how fast it all slammed down upon him.  One servant arriving with news of some major calamity while the previous one is still telling his news.  Bam, bam, bam, bam!  He lost everything in the space of like an hour.  All his animals, his wealth, his family, then if that’s not enough he lost his health.  But the verses above highlight just how God’s servant Job handled it all.  He conducted himself like a wise and good man under his affliction, like a perfect and upright man, and one that feared God and eschewed the evil of sin more than that of outward trouble.

In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.  Job 1:22

We as believers ought always to follow Job’s example.  We know that we will face trials and tribulation in this world.

Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.  Job 5:7

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.  James 5:10

Even our own precious Savior was not spared from trials and temptations.  Was He not tempted in the wilderness?  Did he not suffer an unjust trial and brutal crucifixion at the hands of this world?  He gave us warning of what we are to expect as his followers.

… In the world ye shall have tribulation:…John 16:33

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.  John 15:18-21

We will be hated, persecuted, but we need not fear this for we rest in God’s sovereign will.  Trials do not mean we are not saved or are unfavored with the Lord.  quite the contrary the are what strengthens our faith.  God uses the worlds attacks – through it’s prince, Satan – to strengthen and refine us in our walk with Him.

Sometimes the trials are chastisements and that is good.  Just as we chastise our children and correct their errors so too does the Lord with us.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:  Job 5:17

Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;  Psalms 94:12

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  Hebrews 12:6

No matter the why behind our trials we are to persevere through them, relying upon the Lord to carry us through.  We are to trust His will to prayerfully seek His strength, wisdom, and protection. Just as our beloved Savior Jesus did on His journey to Calvary.  Remember that agonized prayer in the garden the night of His arrest.  “Not my will, but thine be done.”  He was obedient unto death and in so doing bought our life!  Praise God we have the glorious precious blood spilled out for us.  And the promise of resurrection because His death was only temporary.  He rose on the third and glorious day, the tomb is empty and death no longer has a sting.  It is conquered so we have nothing to fear.  We can rest secure and face whatever trials this world may bring because we know whose we are and that nothing formed against us shall stand when we are Christ’s.

In closing, yes we will face hardship.  Jesus told us of it, to expect it, to bear it.

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.  Luke 9:23

But he promised us a glorious hope, a sweet security that we can trust.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.  John 16:33

As always my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ may the Father bless, keep and strengthen you as you continue to:

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12

knowing that you can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth you. Philippians 4:13

 

 

 

King of Kings, Wrapped In Rags

Earlier I shared one of my favorite songs, Mary Did You Know, and asked you to listen to it and really think about what it’s saying.  Did Mary really know that that sweet, precious baby was God come to earth!  Did she get it, realize what was to come?

Did she know that that cooing, squirming innocent one was the Innocent one who could take our sins, her sins?  That He would one day be mocked, tortured, beaten then mercilessly hung from the cross, crucified, to pay a debt He didn’t owe.  As she heard his first whimpers and cries did she know that one day He would cry out to God His father to forgive those who nailed Him to that tree at Calgary, by the way He didn’t just mean  the Romans or the Jews, He meant me and you too.  Or did she look at the perfect gift from God and just feel the love all mama’s feel for their perfect little ones?  Did she hold Him close, breathe that sweet pure baby smell, nurse her child, rocking him gently as she pondered all that being the mom to the Son of God meant, all that her child, her sleeping bundle of joy would do in His 33 years?

God has really laid this on my heart this Christmas, that Mary was just a young mom, with an awesome responsibility – to birth and raise God’s son!  Maybe it’s because this year my own son gave His life to the Lord and is quickly moving from a child to a preteen and I am remembering my sweet baby bird, who’s now as tall as me!  But Luke 2:19 speaks to me, it tickles the back of my mind and my heart, almost makes me weep for sweet Mary.  That young mother so wonderfully happy, beautifully exhausted, lovingly terrified, who has just given birth to God’s own son in a lowly stable because she and her espoused husband Joseph were poor and in a town not even their own, at the end of a long and wearisome journey to be taxed and counted in Bethlehem.  They arrive with Mary ready to deliver the Mighty God upon whose shoulders the government shall one day rest and they can’t even find a proper bed for her to labor in.  No one would open their doors or their hearts to this poor young family, for the coming king!  So they did what they had too, I imagine her time was drawing nigh and Joseph was desperate to find a warm, dry place to give his beloved a place to give birth and somewhere the tender new babe would be safe and secure.  All he could find was a stable, it would have to do.  Her son whom God had entrusted to her out of all the women on earth and she gave birth to him with the cattle.  Then she wrapped the perfect, precious babe in swaddling clothes, that’s a nice way of saying rags ya know.  That’s right the King of Kings, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, Savior of the world was born in a barn, wrapped in rags and slept in a manger.

 

Not exactly the entrance into this world you would think of for the most memorable, amazing, revolutionary, radical person to ever live.  Yet, it’s perfect, after all Jesus was a radical teaching things like the first would be last and the last first.  He was a revolutionary talking of a kingdom no eye has seen where He is going soon to prepare a place for us.  A stable, rags and a manger somehow it was just right.  God’s funny that way, he works wonders in the humblest ways.  I mean when I really think of it, if they had been in an inn it sure would have been harder for the shepherd’s to reach them, all tucked away in a crowded building with people everywhere.  People and noise and chaos – not exactly a peaceful place to deliver a child.  On the contrary the stale was quiet, the animals all gathered round, curious yet gentle as the new family shares it’s first moments together.  Gentle moos, baas, and brays were the accompaniment to Mary and Joseph’s first tender, loving lullabies that our new born Savior heard.  Sweet smelling hay was a warm snug bed once the wee one had fed and was sleeping soundly, wrapped in those rags.  Rags that were worn soft with age and use but clean, easy to wrap around the tiny arms and legs, against new baby soft skin, and warm.  That night those rags were fit for a King.  The scene was perfectly set for the new family to catch their breathes, maybe a little rest, and just bask in those first precious moments with their son, God’s Son.

Moments that were short, fleeting because even as they are tasting love, trust and hope outside town God’s own heavenly host is spreading the good news to some visitors to come welcome His boy to the world.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  (Luke 2:8-12)

See the perfect place, God always has a plan.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.  (Luke 2:13-14)

Can you just picture the sight, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, proclaiming His glory, announcing His Son.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.  (Luke 2:15-16)

They came with haste, quickly, sparing no time, rushing, excitedly.  They had just been visited by God’s own angels and told that they need to go meet His own Son, I bet they came on the run alright.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.  And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.  (Luke 2:17-18)

Those simple shepherds were the first preachers, they were the first to share the good news, the Son of God, Prince of Peace, Savior of the world.  Whom they just saw in lying wrapped in rags.  The King of Kings, wrapped in rags, come to this sin cursed earth to be crucified on a tree for the sins of the world, laid to rest in a tomb in a garden to rise up resurrected on the third day offering the world eternal life through faith in Him.  The same God that rose Him from the grave created us, loves us, wants to be in fellowship with us.  But ever since that fateful day in the garden of Eden when Adam sinned and brought death into the world, we’ve been separated from God, our sin, rebellion, keeping us apart from our Creator, our Father.  It broke His heart that there was a veil keeping us from drawing near one to the other in closeness, fellowship, relationship.  So He fixed things, made them new, right.

God the Father sent his Son so you don’t have to die.  You too can have the gift, the grace, the mercy, the hope, the joy, the peace of eternal life.  Simply believe.  Believe in that sweet baby.  Born in the lowly stable, born in poverty, not even a proper bed.  But born with a mighty purpose, a mission to fulfill.  Born with angels from heaven proclaiming the good news, literally shouting with praise and glory!  Born to obey his Father even unto death, conquering death, defeating death – giving life!  Offering every soul on earth mercy, grace, rebirth through repentance of sin and faith in Christ.  Be born again this Christmas in that manager beside the King!

The Two Petitions of the Prodigal

This is a previously scheduled repost

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Yet again the Devotional Sermons of George H. Morrison has hit home.  Speaking on the Prodigal  has feed my soul with the meat it needed.   Sometimes it is hard to stand against the world, to not say give me, but instead to cry out from the heart with utter desperation “Father, make me!”  When our focus is not on our Father and His will but instead on the world and it’s meaningless desires, mere baubles and shinies to distract us from the true glory and riches found when we submit to our Lord completely, crying out “Thy will not mine.  Father, make me.”

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And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.  Luke 15:11-12

Father, Give Me

I wonder if my readers ever noticed that the prodigal made two petitions to his father. The first was: “Father, give me.” “Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.” The son was growing weary of the home. He felt acutely that he was missing things. The world was big, and the days were going by, and he was young, and he was missing things. It is always bitter, when the heart is young, and the world is rich in visions and in voices, to dwell remote, and feel that one is missing things. The fatal mistake the prodigal made was this—he thought that all that he wanted was far off. He thought that the appeasing of his restlessness lay somewhere over the hills and far away. He was destined to learn better by and by; meantime he must have every penny for his journey, and he came to his father and said, “Father, give me.” Mark you, there is no asking of advice. There is no consulting of the father’s wishes. There is no effort to learn the father’s will in regard to the disposition of the patrimony. It is the selfish cry of thoughtless youth, claiming its own to use just as it will: “Father, give me what is mine.”

Father, Make Me

So he got his portion and departed, and we all know the tragic consequences, not less tragic because the lamps are bright, and the wine sparkling, and the faces beautiful. The prodigal tried to feed his soul on sense; and the Lord, in that grim way of His, changes the cups, the music, and the laughter into the beastly routing of the swine. Then the prodigal came to himself. Memories of home began to waken. He lay in his shed thinking of his father. Prayers unbidden rose within his heart. And now his petition was not “Father, give me.” He had got all he asked, and he was miserable. His one impassioned cry was, “Father, make me.” “Father, make me anything you please. Make me a hired servant if you want to. I have no will but yours now. I am an ignorant child and you are wise.” Taught by life, disciplined by sorrow, scourged by the biting lash of his own folly, insistence passed into submission. Once he knew no will but his own will. He must have it, or he would hate his father. Once the only proof of love at home was the getting of the thing that he demanded. But now, “Father, I leave it all to thee. Thou art wise; I have been very foolish. Make me—anything thou pleasest.”

Insisting on Nothing, He Got Everything

And surely it is very noteworthy that it was then he got the best. He never knew the riches in the home till he learned to leave things to his father. When he offered his first petition, “Father, give me,” the story tells us that he got the money. He got it, and he spent it; in a year he was in rags and beggary. But when the second petition, “Father, make me,” welled up like a tide out of the deeps, he got more than he had ever dreamed. “Bring forth the best robe and put it on him.” He got the garment of the honored guest. “Bring shoes and put them on his feet, and a ring and put it on his finger.” All that was best and choicest in the house, the laid-up riches of his father’s treasuries were lavished now on the dusty, ragged child. Insisting on nothing, he got everything. Demanding nothing, he got the choicest gifts. Willing to be whatever his father wanted, there was nothing in the house too good for him. The ring, the robe, the music and the dancing, the vision of what a father’s love could be, came when the passionate crying of his heart was, “Father, make me“—anything thou pleasest.

I think that is the way the soul advances when it is following on to know the Lord. Deepening prayers tell of deepening life. Not for one moment do I suggest that asking is not a part of prayer. “Ask, and it shall be given you.” “Give us this day our daily bread.” I only mean that as experience deepens we grow less eager about our own will, and far more eager to have no will but His. Disciplined by failure and success, we come to feel how ignorant we are. We have cried “Give,” and He has given, but sent leanness to our soul (Psalms 106:15). And all the time we were being trained and taught, for God teaches by husks as well as prophets, to offer the deep petition, “Father, make me.” He gives, and we bless the Giver. He withholds, and we do not doubt His love. We leave all that to Him who knows us, and who sees the end from the beginning. Like the prodigal, we learn a wiser prayer than the fierce insistence of our youth. It is, “Father, make me“—whatso’er Thou pleasest.

Christ’s Prayer

Might I not suggest that this was peculiarly the prayer of the Savior? The deepest passion of the Savior’s heart rings out in the petition, “Father, make Me.” Not “Father give Me bread, for I am hungry; give Me angels, for I stand in peril.” Had He prayed for angels in that hour of peril, He tells us they would have instantly appeared. But, “Father, though there be scorn and shame in it, and agony, and the bitterness of Calvary, Thy will be done; make Me what Thou wilt.” How gloriously that prayer was answered, even though the answer was a cross! God made Him (as Dr. Moffatt puts it) our wisdom, that is our righteousness and consecration and redemption. Leave, then, the giving in His hands. He will give that which is good. With the prodigal, and the Savior of the prodigal, let the soul’s cry be, “Father, make me.”

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Beloved brothers and sisters I pray that your heart joins mine in crying out continually “Father, make me.”  As always may the Lord bless and keep you always.

Counting the Cost

** Previously scheduled repost.

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Today’s reading from Devotional Sermons by George H. Morrison is one we should all read and take to heart.  He points out the beauty and the sacrifice that comes with following Christ, with counting the cost of picking up our crosses.  It is a cost I have counted many times over, it is a steep cost, but it is worth it for the rewards are far sweeter to be following in my sweet Savior’s shadow.  Have you counted the cost?

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For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.  Luke 14:28-30

Life Is a Building

It is notable that in this little parable, and in the one which directly follows it (Luke 14:31), which deal with the great endeavors of the human soul, our Lord brings in the figure of the builder, and of a king making war upon another king. Christ always took human life at its best and kingliest, and even His illustrations have a royal touch. But the point to note is that Christ compared life to building. Life was like architecture or like war. Building and battling—these are the Master’s figures; and I do not think the world has ever bettered them. There are rare souls that seem to grow, not build. And it may be some of us have known one saint—our mother perhaps—who bore no marks of conflict anywhere, and seemed to have reached the highest without a struggle. But for most of us it is the other way. Effort on effort, failure after failure, we have to forge and hammer ourselves towards what is honorable. And there are days when we seem to be building up a prison-house, until God in His mercy shatters that to fragments. Just note, then, that it is in a little parable of building that our Savior teaches us to count the cost.

Christ’s Yoke Is Easy

Now, anyone who has read much in religious literature must have been struck by a kind of contradiction in it. He must have been arrested by two opposite conceptions of what religion really demands. I read some sermons, or I listen to some preaching, and religion seems exquisitely sweet and easy. I thought there was a cross in our religion, but when I read some of our current literature—if there be a cross it is so wreathed with honeysuckle that a poor soul can stumble past it easily. The valley of the shadow seems to have grown antiquated; we are to walk on the delectable mountains all the way. Mark you, we never can insist enough on the true joy of the religious life. We never can forget that to the heavy-laden, Christ said, and says forever, “My yoke is easy.” But that is so interpreted sometimes, and the harder and sterner sayings are so evaded, that religion seems to walk in silver slippers.

Christ Promises a Cross

But when I turn to another class of teachers—and some of the greatest of every age are in it—what impresses me is not the ease of things, but the depth and difficulty of religion. The gate is narrow; the way is strait and mountainous; the cross is heavy, and the flesh cries out against it. Read Dr. Newman’s sermons to see that view of the religious life expressed in matchless English. That, then, is the seeming contradiction. These are the two opposite conceptions. The one says, “If I come to Jesus, happy shall I be.” The other says, “If I find Him, if I follow, what His guerdon here? Many a sorrow, many a labor, many a tear.”

Well, in our text there can be little question that our Lord leans to the latter of these views. It is a great thing to be an earnest Christian, it is a high calling to be a knight of that round table; let a man, says Jesus, deliberately sit down and count the cost, lest the fair fame of it be smirched and sullied by him. Nothing impresses us more in Jesus Christ than His insistence on quality, not quantity. He never hesitated to set the standard high, even though men should be offended at Him. It is better to be served by twenty loyal hearts, than by half a hundred undisciplined adventurers. Think it all out, says Christ. Sit down, count up the cost, find what it comes to. Rash promising is certain to make shipwreck. I want you to be still, and know that I am God.

Now I think it immensely increases our reverence for Jesus to find Him dealing thus with human souls. He never veils the hardship of His calling, He is so absolutely certain of its glory. When Drake and the gallant captains of Queen Elizabeth’s time went out into the streets of Plymouth to get sailors, they told them quite frankly of the storms of the Pacific, and of the reefs in it, and of the fevers of Panama. They honored their brave Devonshire comrades far too much to get them to sign on under any false pretences. But then there was the Spanish gold and treasure, and the glory of it, and all England to ring with it. And the men counted the cost and signed for that daring service, in the spacious times of great Elizabeth. And I honor our Captain for dealing with men like that—that press-gang is an un-Christlike instrument. Christ says: You are a free man; count the cost. Life is before you: choose whom you will serve. I offer you a cross, also a crown. I offer you struggle, but there shall be victory. You shall be lonely, yet lo, I am with you always. You shall be restless, yet I will give you rest. Was there ever a leader so frank, so open, so brave, as the Master who is claiming you tonight?

Counting the Cost

And it is just here that the service of our Lord stands at opposite poles from the service of sin. For the one thing that sin can never do is to say to a man, “Sit down and count the cost of it.” Do you think that tonight’s drunkard ever counted the cost when men called him such splendid company twenty years ago? Do you think that the man who has tried for, and missed, life’s prizes counted the cost when he was sowing his wild oats? Sin is too subtle, too sweet, too masterfully urgent, to give a man time for that arithmetic. “Evil is wrought by want of thought, as well as want of heart.” If that young student will only deliberately count the cost; if he will only remember he is in the grip of law that no repentance ever can annul; if he will think that as he sows, so will he reap, I think he will shake himself and say, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” It is true that you cannot put old heads upon young shoulders. But don’t we begin counting when we are little children? And half the battle of a man’s life is won when he sits down and counts the cost. Sin will keep a man from that, by hook or crook. But “come and let us reason together,” saith the Lord.

Of course we must distinguish this wise deliberation from a merely calculating and cowardly prudence. It is often the man who has counted the cost most earnestly, who shows a kind of splendid imprudence to the world. I mean that what the world calls prudence is very often a somewhat shallow thing. It does not run its roots into the deeps; it is really a kindlier name for selfishness. And the man who has dwelt alone with the great things, and who has been touched by the hand of the Eternal, is not likely in that sense to be worldly wise. I dare say that everybody thought John Knox imprudent when he insisted on preaching in St. Andrews, though the Archbishop had warned him he would slay him. I dare say everybody thought Martin Luther imprudent, when he said he would go to the Diet though every tile on the housetops were a devil. But Knox and Luther had been alone with God; it was deliberate action, and not reckless folly. They had counted the cost for Scotland and for Christendom.

The fact is, that in all the highest courage there is the element of quiet calculation. The truest heroism always counts the cost. The bravery of passion is not a shining virtue. I think that a very ordinary man could storm a rampart, if he were a soldier. They tell us there is a wild forgetfulness of self in that last rush that would fire the blood and thrill the most timid. The test of courage is the long night march, under the fire of invisible guns; it is the sentry duty in the darkness, when the shadows and silence might shatter the strongest nerve: I think that the man who deliberately faces that, who goes through it quietly because it is his duty, is just as worthy of the Victoria Cross as the man who has won it in some more splendid moment. No man, said one of Oliver Cromwell, no man was a better judge than Oliver of what might be achieved by daring. Yet the true heroism of that noble soul was not the heroism of the rash adventurer. He never let texts do duty for tactics, says Mr. Morley. I always admired the answer of that man who was going forward with a comrade to some dangerous duty. And his comrade looked at him, and saw that his cheek was blanched. And he laughed and said, “I believe you are afraid.” And the other, looking straight forward, said, “Yes, I am afraid, and if you were half as afraid as I am, you would go home.” Do not forget, then, that when Jesus says, “Count the cost,” He is really sounding the note of the heroic. He does not want anyone on false pretences. He will not issue any lying prospectus. He comes to you and says, you are a thinking man, with powers that it will take eternity to ripen. Look life in the face. Look death in the face. Sum it all up, measure the value of things. And if you do that quietly and earnestly, with sincere prayer to God to enlighten you, My claims, Christ means, shall so tower above all others, that I shall have your heart and your service from that hour.

The Secret of Calm Persistence

I have been struck, too, in studying the Scriptures, to note how the great men there learned to count the cost. They were not suddenly dragged into the service. There was no unthinking and unreasoning excitement. God gave to everyone of them a time of silence before their high endeavor. It was as if He laid His hand upon them and said, “My child, go apart for a little, and count the cost.” Moses was forty days alone with God. Elijah was in the wilderness alone. Paul, touched by the finger of the Lord whom he had persecuted, took counsel of no flesh, but departed into the loneliness of Arabia. Moses, Elijah, Paul—yes, even Simon Peter going out into the night—were learning the deep lesson of our parable. And whenever I read of the temptations of Jesus, and of how the Spirit of God drove Him apart, and how Satan came and showed Him all the kingdoms, and taught Him a less costly way to sovereignty than by the sweat of Gethsemane and the water and blood of Calvary—whenever I read that and recall how He stood fast, I feel that our Savior had counted the cost Himself. We shall never understand the calm persistence of the glorious company of martyrs and of saints till we go back to that quiet hour at the beginning when they faced every difficulty, weighed every cross, forecast the future, looked at life whole, and then, having counted the cost like reasonable men, took up their stand upon the side of God. A blind acceptance may be justifiable sometimes. But the great hearts were never led that way.

Now I want you to join that reasonable company. I do not know that that is popular doctrine, but I want to get the young men back to the Church of Christ again, and I am willing to risk unpopularity for that. “Come, let us reason together,” saith the Lord. “Sit down and count the cost,” says Jesus Christ. I do not ask any man to become a Christian blindly. It is the most reasonable act in the whole world. For the sake of a saved life and of a rich eternity you ought to make that reckoning immediately.

PRAYER THAT OBTAINS

** Previously scheduled repost.

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And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  Luke 11:9

THERE ARE many conditions of true prayer. For instance, it must be earnest. There are times when we know we are on the line of God’s purposes, when we may dare to be importunate. Prayer must be offered in the Name of Christ, i.e., it must be in harmony with the nature of Christ, which was devoted to the glory of God and to the blessing of men. That Name will eliminate the ingredient of selfishness which will mar any prayer by whomsoever offered. Prayer must also be based on some promise of God, which is presented to Him as a cheque or note is presented to a bank.

All these are but steps to the faith that obtains, for it is, after all, not prayer but faith that obtains promises. That is why our Lord lays so much stress on receiving. Much of our prayer fails because we forget that He said,

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  Mark 11:24

So far as one can describe the process, it seems something after this fashion. The soul reverently kneels before God, glorifying and praising Him for His greatness and goodness. It is conscious of needing some very special gift which is promised. In the Name of Christ it presents the request with the confidence of a child. With earnestness of desire and speech it unfolds the reasons why the gift sought is so necessary. But it does not leave prayer at this point to go away in uncertainty as to what the issue shall be. By an act of the spirit, the suppliant seems to receive definitely the spiritual or even the temporal gift; and realises that it has received, that the special grace has been imparted, to be discovered and used under stress of need; that the temporal gift has also been received, though it may be kept back until the precise moment when it can be delivered, in much the same way as a present may be purchased long before the time of handing it to its destined possessor .

And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.  1 Samuel 1:15

And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.  1 Samuel 1:18

For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:  1 Samuel 1:27

This is what Christ meant by “receiving,” and it has a mighty effect upon prayer, because it makes it so much more definite. It leads to praise, because we are able to thank God for His gift. You must take as well as pray.

PRAYER

We rejoice that our Saviour ever lives to intercede as our High Priest and Mediator. Through the rent veil, let our prayers ascend to Thee mingled with the fragrance of His merit in whom Thou art ever well pleased. AMEN.

Harvesters

** Previously scheduled repost.

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I had planned to post this last night and apologize that life delayed me.   Actually that life more closely resembled sleep, I was exhausted.  Sleep is my balm in Gilead and something I get far too little of.  But here it is a day late, I hope it inspires you brothers and sisters to join in the mission of the seventy!

The Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come …. Said he unto them …. heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you  Luke 1-2, 9

Picture if you can a farmer who looks out at his fields and realizes that they are ready, it is time, but it’s just him all by his lonesome.  How’s he going to harvest those fields?  It was such a dilemma that filled Jesus’ heart as He looked out on His harvest field. Seeds had been sown; sun and rain had come; by the songs of psalmists and the message of prophets, by national guidance and national disaster, God had been bringing Israel to its autumn. And now the harvest was ready to be cut, but the harvesters—where were they? How desperately Jesus felt the need of helpers, he knew he couldn’t be as effective alone! He clearly saw that the world was to be won through the enthusiasm and the effort of humble men! It is one glory of our joyful Gospel that if we wish to help, there is a place for us. We will never be left out of the game by our Master, never.

When the work of Jesus in Galilee was over, and a larger field was calling for larger service, Jesus chose seventy, as before He had chosen twelve. Who these seventy were I do not know, there is no list of their names in the Gospels. But one thing we are sure of, for we have it from the lips of Christ Himself, their seventy names were all written in heaven.

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.  Luke 10:20.

A beloved poet once requested his friend write upon his gravestone, “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.” But the least of these seventy, when he passed away, would bid men write, “Here lies one whose name is writ in heaven.” What a debt we owe to them, these unnamed disciples! How we are helped by those whose names we never heard of! If trials are easier and life pleasanter, we owe it largely to those faithful souls who pray, work, and die, unknown. Do you long to be one of the twelve, the latest celebrity in a sense, you’re name burning up the social media feeds?  I pray not, its is far better to be one of the unnamed seventy, who happily, quietly did their work, whose names are only known to God. Better: perhaps safer too. There was a Judas in the twelve, yet thankfully, we never read of a betrayer among the seventy.

I wonder why Jesus chose that number seventy, rather than say 25 or 100?  Fine souls have proposed that Jesus was thinking of the twelve wells and seventy palms of Elim that had refreshed the children of Israel long ago.

And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.  Exodus 15:27

But, if that be a fancy, this, then, at least is fact. It was seventy elders who went up with Moses to the mount and saw the glory of the God of Israel.

And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words. Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:  Exo 24:1-9

Seventy workers are to go out for Jesus, and see a glory far greater than that of Sinai. It was seventy elders who were afterwards chosen to strengthen Moses in his stupendous task.

And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle. And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.  Numbers 11:24-25

Now seventy are, chosen, set apart by Jesus to aid Him in His glorious service. Do you see how Jesus gathered up the past? How He was guided by it in making His great choices for the task at hand?

So the seventy were chosen; and with an exquisite kindness were sent out two and two. They were to heal the sick, as well as to be the heralds of God’s kingdom. If men received them, let them rejoice. If cities rejected them, let them remember Jesus, for “he that despiseth you despiseth me.” He was the Lamb of God, and they were sent forth as lambs among the wolves. They were to try to win men by trusting them. For when Jesus bade them leave their wallet and their purse behind, He was not only teaching confidence in God; He was teaching them to look for the best in man. That was one secret of the seventy’s success. They took it for granted they would be hospitably treated, and men responded to that trustfulness. They honored that confidence placed in them; till the hearts of the seventy overflowed with praise, and they came back to Jesus full of joy.

We should note also, that in their directions Jesus guarded against all waste of time.  There is a note of urgency we must not miss. The value of precious hours is realized. Take, for instance, “Salute no man by the way.” Did Jesus mean that the worker should be a grump, hateful? Never, that is no way to accomplish their goals. But in the East greetings are tedious,  full of flattery, thus prone to lead idle gossip, that men who are on a mission of life and death must run the risk of seeming unsociable sometimes. When Elisha bade his servant carry his staff and lay it on the dead child of the Shunamite, do you remember how he ed him saying, “If thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again” ? The call was so urgent, there was no time for social graces, and there is a thousandfold greater urgency here. Or why, again, did Jesus say, “Go not from house to house“? Did not the disciples break bread from house to house?

And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,  Acts 2:46

Did not Paul at Ephesus teach from house to house?

And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,  Acts 20:20

But the warning Jesus gave the seventy was this. It was to avoid accepting that endless hospitality that to this day is the custom in an Eastern village. It was against frittering all their priceless hours away in the little invitations they would get. They must remember how the days were passing quickly by. They must never lose sight of their glorious work. The time is short, and all must give way to this—the preaching of the Kingdom and healing the sick.

The seventy did their work and then returned home again, home to their Lord whom they so willingly served.  When Jesus heard their story and saw their joy, there came a wonderful gladness on His heart, This Man of Sorrows was often very joyful, but never more so than in His friends’ success. Now is not that a Comrade for us all, a Companion who will make life rich? We are so quick to envy one another, allowing jealousy to grip us at a moments passing. We cannot hear about a brother’s triumphs without feeling it’s ugly sting in our hearts. Jesus exults when His nameless children prosper. He is jubilant, in heaven,as well, when we succeed today. It is worthwhile to master self; it is worthwhile to be a Christian, in our own nameless way, when we have a Friend like that to please.

As always brothers and sisters in Christ may God bless and keep you

Forgive Them…

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Forgive them, Jesus repeated that phrase many times during His ministry, but the most striking time; other than the time that cuts me to the core as my sweet Savior is dying on the cross; is the parable of the unforgiving servant.  That story it’s a hard one to hear, I mean we are all guilty of being like this servant.  We’ve all been wronged by someone at some point in our lives, so we have all had anger towards someone.  Sometimes we’ve let that anger build and boil until we act like this guy did, we don’t forgive those who have wronged us, instead we set out to punish them, make them pay.  And by doing so we drive them away, we grow hard hearted, and ultimately if we do not repent and forgive them then we damage our testimony and salvation.

See unforgiveness is really hate, and guys hate will eat you alive.  It robs you of the joy that comes from forgiving and it makes you a hypocrite before God.  See you’ve said you accept his free gift of forgiveness for your sins; and no offense here but your sins are just as bad as everyone else’s in God’s eyes because God is holy, just, perfect so any sin, all sin is equally vile to him; but you are denying forgiveness to your brother.  Please head the words of our Lord and Savior – forgive them!

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.  Matthew 18:21-35

And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.  Luke 23:33-34

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14-15

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.  Mark 11:25-26

Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:  Luke 6:37

Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.  Luke 17:3-4

See what I mean, Jesus was serious when he stressed the importance of forgiving one another.  Very serious, so serious that the last words he cried out from the cross were “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”.  As your Savior hung there dying nailed to that cross by your sins (and mine), his last plea was to God the Father to forgive us, to forgive all sinners including those who nailed him to the tree.  Folks that is the example we are given, that is the footsteps we follow in, let’s live it.  Let’s make our lives the proof of his love on earth!  I know it isn’t always easy, truly forgiving is hard, it means accepting being wronged and not expecting retribution for those hurts.  We can’t hold onto the anger we feel though it doesn’t really hurt those who have hurt us, most times they never even realize we are upset, but it eats at us like a cancer, slowly poisoning our life, our light, stealing our joy and our freedom.  We become slaves to the anger and hate unforgiveness causes and eventually we begin to blame God for it, asking Him why we were wronged and hurt.

Please brothers and sisters don’t let it get that far!  Don’t let it steal you zeal for the Lord, don’t let it destroy your testimony, your love.  Cause you see when you refuse to forgive and allow it to take root in your that poison it shows, others see it and they know, they see the darkness creeping about you.  They see it and it begins to dim the light in you of Christ, the light that points them towards Jesus and salvation, the light of love.  You’re not giving love to everyone, you are withholding it from one, yet  that one person’s wrong towards you isn’t as bad as your wrong towards your own Savior.

I know what I am talking about here, see I have had to do some hard forgiving.  Someone close to me betrayed me and hurt me deeply, not just me, but my son as well.  Now for a while I just stayed mad over it, actually mad is an understatement, furious, I was furious, I wanted them to pay dearly.  I would pray about my anger each night though, and ask God to soften my heart and make it more like His precious Son’s so that I could forgive them.  For a very long time I wrestled with it, stubbornly taking it back up each morning like putting on a favorite pair of jeans.  But it was hurting me, hurting my walk with the Lord, hurting my ability to serve God.  The one day in my daily reading I came across the passage above from Matthew about the unforgiving servant and man did it hit me.  Like a ton of bricks, I hit my knees right then and begged God to forgive me.  Forgive me for being stubborn, disobedient, a hypocrite.  I forgave them right then, I just poured all that anger and hurt out, cast it from me and tasted freedom a fresh.  Tasted peace, love, life again.  Once I let God work on my heart I realized that my sins against God and others were just as bad and that if I couldn’t forgive then I could accept forgiveness.  I didn’t deserve it and by saying that they didn’t either and not giving it to those who wronged me I was refusing to accept my own forgiveness.  It was holding me down, holding me back.  Keeping me from being able to share about the forgiveness of Christ because I no longer felt I had it.  Praise the Lord, that he set me free of my own prison, one of my  own making.   Don’t be like me, don’t waste your precious time carrying around a heavy burden of unforgiveness.

Let’s forgive freely, love like there’s no tomorrow and let’s light the world by allowing Christ’s light to pour forth from us!  We are forgiven!  Free!  Let’s share that freedom, that forgiveness, and Jesus our precious Lord and Savior, the only one it can come from with the world.  Forgive them!