A Story of Redemption - Part 2

Continuing from yesterday, we read how King Manasseh of Judah continued to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. In the following passages, we see that he participated in child sacrifice (his own son), consulted with mediums and spiritists in direct violation of God's law, and sought spiritual guidance from things other than God. Remember, this is the King of Judah. He also placed a pagan item of worship into the house of the Lord:

He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them.” But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.

In addition to his own wicked behavior, Manasseh led his people away from God and they did more evil than the pagans who had lived in the land before the Israelites settled there.

A Story of Redemption - Part 1

A couple of weeks ago, our pastor gave a sermon on King Manasseh from 2 Kings 21. It was a powerful sermon because it showed me that no one - absolutely no one - is beyond God's redemption. Over the next few posts, I'll quote from the Scriptures and show you first the absolute wickedness of Manasseh and then - despite his evil - how God reaches down and redeems him. It's an incredible story.

*************************

In the first few passages, the Scriptures reveal that King Manasseh: (1) brought back the pagan practices of the Canaanites who existed in the land before the Hebrews arrived; (2) worshipped pagan Gods and built statues and altars for them; and (3) not only did he build altars in Israel, but he built them inside God's temple:

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.

More about Manasseh's disrespect and utter disdain for the Lord tomorrow.

The Heart of the Gospel

The Son of Man was crushed instead of us; Jesus himself drank the cup of God's wrath in our place. God's anger and righteousness are truly holy. Yet in the gospel we also find unprecedented mercy, love, and mercy. The penalty our sins deserve is redirected so that all we receive is grace. - Edward T. Welch

Friends

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun. - Charles R. Swindoll

What is Christian Kindness? Part 6

This is the last post on John Piper's essay on Christian kindness. Some of the posts in this series were a little longer than my usual posts, but I didn't want to break them down any further; I thought they held together nicely as written. I hope the posts I've shared will help you consider ways to be kinder to others. They have given me much to consider.

5. The Source of Christian Kindness

The text tells us what we must believe if the Spirit of God is to conquer unkindness in our hearts. Three things:

1. We must believe that Christ died in our place. Verse 2: "Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." That is simply an awful sentence—that the slaughter of his Son smelled good to God!!! There are in this sentence realities so great and so awful and so wonderful and so devastating that when we believe them, they are the power of God unto sanctification and a great uprooting of unkindness.

2. We must believe that God has forgiven all our sins. Verse 32: " . . . forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you." In order to be kind, you must be forgiven. In order to be kind, you must believe that you are forgiven for all the sins you have ever committed and will ever commit. To know and believe that every slap in God's face has been forgiven freely in Jesus Christ breaks a Christian's heart and makes it lowly and tender and kind.

3. Finally, we must believe that we are loved by God. Verse 1: "Be imitators of God, as loved children." As LOVED children! Child of God, you are loved by God! Believe this with all your heart, and you will behold a miracle in your own life—the fruit of the Spirit, the gift of God!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us believe these things, and be kind to one another! Amen.

What is Christian Kindness? Part 5

4. The Instrument of Christian Kindness

What do I mean by the "instrument" of Christian kindness? I mean to ask, What is it that we must employ or exert in order to become kind and tenderhearted?

A Passive Verb

The answer is hinted at in the form of the verb in verse 31. Literally it says, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be taken away from you." The verb is passive. This is a hint that the instrument of our kindness is not simply ourselves. If left to ourselves, we will no more be able to get the bitterness and malice out of our heart than we can lift ourselves by our own bootstraps. It doesn't lie within us.

They must BE TAKEN from us. "Let all bitterness . . . BE taken away from you." Someone else is at work here besides us. It is the same thing we saw in verse 23: "BE renewed in the spirit of your mind." (Another passive verb!) There must be a renewing power or person. There must be a power that takes bitterness and malice from my heart and makes me tenderhearted and kind.

The Holy Spirit and Faith

And we know what that power is (who that person is!) because Galatians 5:22 says very plainly, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness . . . " If the Spirit of God does not come into our lives to do a supernatural work, we may be able to spruce up the outward manners of kindness, but the poison within will remain. Of that Paul says, "Let it BE taken away." This is a cry for the work of the Spirit to conquer the old self and clothe us with the new.

But the question is not fully answered. We must still ask, What is the instrument with which I appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit? And the answer is faith. The Spirit flows in the channels of faith. Paul cries out in Galatians 3:2–3, "Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?"

And our answer should be a resounding, NO! I am not trying to overcome my bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander and malice in the power of the flesh! I am looking to the Holy Spirit to bear his fruit in my life. How am I looking? What am I doing? I am doing what I did to receive him in the first place: I am believing. I am trusting.

Which leaves one last question: What must I believe, in order to see the Holy Spirit conquer the bitterness and anger and malice of my heart and make me tenderhearted and kind? That is the fifth thing that our text teaches us about Christian kindness.

Prayer for a Journey

Lord God, who reigns in the heavens and on the earth; we ask for your guidance and protection for your servant now leaving on his journey. Against all dangers be his strong defense, and be his faithful friend; keep him in health and heart and prosper the ends of his journey. Guard him, we ask you, from all dangers, from sickness, from the violence of enemies, from every evil; and conduct him in safety to his destination with a grateful sense of your mercies, in the firm knowledge the he is yours, through Christ our Lord. Amen. (1906 Presbyterian Common Book of Worship)