OF PENITENCE AND PATIENCE!!!
First things first. What is the chief and highest end of man? Let the revered Christian Book namely the Westminster catechism give the answer. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify (worship) God, and fully to enjoy him forever. When it comes to glorifying Him and fully enjoying Him, let it be said that the entire exercise ought to be “absolutely genuine emanating right from the innermost core of one’s being (read spirit)”. This would lead to the next question, how could the process of glorifying Him originate right from the depths of one’s heart? It is only possible, when a person is truly fascinated by His unique traits. Remember, worshipping God for WHAT HE IS, is the highest form of worship, standing head and shoulders above other forms of worship, which come with strings attached, such as worshipping Him for the blessings, He showers upon us. While on the subject, at this stage, it would serve us well to look at the synonym of the word “Glorify”, which is “Magnify”. When, one magnifies Him, that is to say, when one keenly observes His Divine nature, with a magnifying glass, as it were, the “spiritual explorer” (if you permit me to use this expression) in you is bound to come across several unique attributes of the Almighty, which would evoke awe, and in turn lead to spontaneous, heart-felt worship and praise.
In this message punctuated with…what else… “Hallelujahs” (incidentally Hallel in Hebrew language means To praise and Yah means God) I would like to bring before my readership, one definite attribute in the Almighty, which at once evokes awe in me that is …He is (as the above-captioned Scripture emphasizes) an unchanging God.
A close examination of our changeless Heavenly Father’s ways would underscore one fundamental truth again and again. That is if our Almighty God has always reserved his best and interestingly even his worst for the last, it is to birth in us two responses…of penitence and patience.
Penitence…
Action: Display of the Map depicting a) From and b) To places of total Jewish Exile...
Let’s take the Jewish exile as a case in point. The closer scrutiny of events related to the Jewish exile from the Promised Land as a result of their constant disobedience to God would reveal that it (exile) took place in four phases. Did not the good Lord warn our counterparts of the OT Dispensation even before the Conquest of Canaan that their stay in the Promised Land and their enjoyment of it would depend on His obedience to Him (Deu 28)?
I) Northern Israel: In 722 BC by the Assyrians’, after the idolatrous people of Israel (10 Tribes) had paid a deaf ear to several warnings of exile from committed prophets like Hosea, Amos and Micah
II) Southern Judah: By the Babylonians’, who by then had usurped the Assyrians’ as the World’s numero uno among Nations’ (especially those of the “Fertile Crescent”)
a) Political – Daniel 1:1-4 - during which the Royals and the political class were exiled in 606 BC. To this group belonged the death-defying terrific trio…Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego
b) Economical- 2 Kings 24:16 -during which the craftsmen and the business class were exiled in 597 BC
c) Universal- 2 Kings 25:8-9 -during which everyone including the Judean King were exiled in 586 BC. The prestigious Jerusalem Wall was demolished and the Temple in which many Jews prided ( built by King Solomon) was burnt …very much in conformity with the Lord’s warnings (1 Kings 8:6-9). All these after fervent pleas’ of that zealous Prophet Jeremiah to repent and come back to the God-honoring “straight path” had been stone-walled by the hard-hearted Judeans’ of his generation.
The batch-wise exile reinforces’ the fact that God was giving an opportunity to His chosen ones’ to repent and seek Him in order their punishment is limited. Doubtless, a loving God would never want a massacre of His loved ones’ laced with destruction of His either beloved city or His magnificent temple. But was there a reciprocal response from His select nation to His lenience? Was the first comeuppance adequate to make His special people make amends in their lifestyle? NO! His people sadly stuck to their stubborn ways despite several warnings of Prophet Jeremiah (I reiterate) of a more serious indictment coming their way. Finally the somber record of II Chronicles 36:14-20 stands as a grim reminder of the fact of what would happen when we foolishly exhaust His patience for in that is a heart- rending account of a ruthless destruction sweeping across of what was once a proud capital of a God-honoring nation. This paved the way for the “universal” exile of those who survived (very few did ) the onslaught of an all powerful Babylonian war machine spurred on by God’s Divine wrath. Just as God’s best is reserved for the last (John 2:10) for those who love him (Rev 21-23), His worst too is reserved for the last for those who forsake Him relentlessly (Rev 19:17-21, Rev 20:14-15)!!! Ask the hard-hearted Egyptian Pharoah, who had to bear the ignominy and pain of losing his first-born (Exo 12:29-30), when he did not humble himself after receiving a few divine blows initially…
Action: Display of picture of ten consecutive Egyptian Woes'....
Say, Dear Christian, do you sense that you have grieved the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is such a priceless gift to you (Eph 4:30)??? Then make amends in contrition as early as possible, lest matters get worse. How about saying along with me…stitch a time, saves nine.
Patience:
Action: Picture of "Chain reaction" in Joseph's life...
The fact that God’s best is also reserved for the last ought to cultivate patience in us. Take the case of young Joseph in the warm embrace of his doting dad (Jacob) as it were, having dreams about his elevation over not only his siblings but over several authorities (Gen 37:4-11). Then it ALL happened…one tragedy after the other befell this eldest son of of Rachel…thrown into the pit, sold for a pittance to the Ishmaelite traders by his envious brothers’, being a slave in a benevolent Potiphar’s house in a foreign country (a lull before another storm), literally and figuratively pulled by the prurience of Potiphar’s life partner, landing up in a prison for no fault of his before being finally elevated as the Prime –Minister in the the Land of Pharoahs’ and Pyramids all in God’s perfect time. Boy it took him 13 long years’ to come to his promised posting. What carried him all along??? His PATIENCE, Ladies and Gentlemen (Psalm 105:16-19 TLB) that the good Lord would eventually deliver what He had promised him through the dreams. If the story of Joseph is the very definition of the phrase “Patience is a virtue that carries a lot of WAIT”, then what about the one of young shepherd David anointed the King, even in his teens (I Samuel 16)? From that time of promise onwards till the time of its fulfillment many years later (2 Sam 5:4-5), David’s life represented a chaotic rollercoaster ride what with he being chased as a fugitive all over the countryside by the envious incumbent of the throne…King Saul.
Action: Display of pictures of
a) David the Shepherd anointed by Prophet Samuel
b) Map of different places' where David the fugitive hid while fleeing from King Saul
c) David being eventually crowned the King of United Israel
Then coming to the climax, as it were on the subject of exhibiting patience, what about the Saviour? Let the Scripture take over at this stage…
Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame , and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.- Heb 12:2
Yes, he endured the unimaginable, physical, emotional and spiritual suffering on the cruel Roman Cross. Now how many of us know that in order to cover the shame of our sins (Gen 3:1-10), He was crucified stark naked on the Cross? Reading accurate historical books on this savage Roman method of execution of yore or browsing the Net on this subject would underscore the point, I am making. Truth to tell, there is not an “area” of human suffering that the good Lord in His earthly sojourn did not “visit” (Heb 2:10).
Honestly, should I need to say more? We His children, who have been promised what “no mere man has ever seen, heard, or even imagined” (1 Cor 2:9), need to patiently walk in the straight and narrow empowered from within by His all-powerful Spirit till we are “ up there”. Yes, let’s be patient when difficulties come along, trusting that He would not allow any problem into our lives which is beyond our capacity to bear (1 Cor 10:13).
By the way, have you ever contemplated that even in Creation the Lord’s best, is reserved for the last. If in the old dispensation the Lord God created the perishable Heaven and Earth FIRST and the first Adam last, then in the New dispensation, having “re-created” (read resurrected) the Final Adam First on the First Easter He is going to “re-create” the indescribably beautiful, imperishable Heaven and Earth towards the END (Rev 21:1) as an abode for all the “re-created ones’” who then would bear the image of His glorious Son (1 John 3:2)!!! As we await patiently for all these ethereal events to occur at the end of Biblical history, let’s make firstly receiving a Heavenly commendation our first priority (Matt 25:21) at the completion of our Earthly pilgrimage…a preceding event before the ones’ of Rev 21. So Dear Fellow Sojourners’, as we trudge along (I write these words cheerfully…a la Paul…down as I am presently with a disc-prolapse condition) first in the straight and narrow path with irksome surmountable obstacles en-route towards the Country, we are citizens of (Philippians 3:20) banking on the perpetual peace and joy of the indwelling Holy Spirit to encourage us every step of the way… PATIENCE OUGHT TO BE OUR WATCHWORD!!!
(Suresh Manoharan)
ps...This message replete with pics/map/animations is available on the following URL...
http://www.jandsmministries.com/message_sep1_14.asp
