2021年6月20日星期日

Disaster is Always a Call to Repentance

 


Luke 12:49–13:9

Introduction

Catastrophic earthquake, tsunami and the radiation leak of nuclear power plants In March 2011 have caused Japan to be plagued by the severest disaster of the age. Some perceive it to be the retribution of Japanese atrocities of the second world war. However, was it really the case?

The coup in Libya caused death to countless number of people, and their neighboring countries like Yemen Syria, Bahrain also underwent coups too. Are they more problematic or sinful than the rest of the other countries?

Covid-19 began in Wuhan in December 2019, and it has surprised everyone by spreading all over the world. Now it is still rampantly spreading and causing severe damages to both human lives and their possessions. Whose fault is this?

Natural calamities and man-made disasters are often caused by many factors. Some are avoidable while some are beyond our control. We ought to look into the matter for remedy and accountability purpose. However, how does the Lord Jesus look at these natural and man-made disasters?

Christ’s Urgent Call to Repentance

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices (Luke 13:1-5). 

Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

The Galileans were killed by Pilate when the Jews were making their sacrifices in the temple, and their blood was mixed with the sacrifices of the Jews. This raised a question for the Jews: Was it that these Galileans were so sinful that God punished them in such a way?

The Siloam tower fell on those eighteen people, and they died. Why these eighteen ones? Were they more guilty than the others? Both these incidents have caused many to ask: Does God give men their reserved retribution in their lifetimes? Whose fault is it indeed?

Natural and man-made disasters do inform us a fact, that all people are destined to die once, and their times are not predictable. An end shall come to all men, and physical death is the end of all things in our lives. However, “repentance” is the main point in this passage.

But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:3,5)

The Lord Jesus did not make clear the reasons of those natural and man-made disasters, and He also did not hold any person responsible for them. But He turned the issue of physical death in sufferings to the issue of eternity. Death brings men before God, and it ends the problem of sin once and for all.

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” (Rev 20:12)

Therefore, it is the grace of God when man is given a choice and opportunity to repent while he still lives.

Do Not Consume All the Grace of God

Subsequently, Jesus uses a parable to explain the importance of repentance and the limitation of grace (Luke 13:6-9).

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So, he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

It was something special for a fig tree to be planted in the vineyard. The soil in the vineyard was better and the fig tree did not need such good soil to live on. Therefore, the fig tree was under grace. With such a good environment, it should yield a better harvest.

Nevertheless, the master waited patiently for three years, but he still could not find a good fruit from it. No wonder the master was so angry that he wanted to cut off the fig tree.

By using this illustration, the Lord Jesus warned the Jews of His day not to abuse or consume God’s grace, but to live out a godly life. John Baptist also issued a warning to the Pharisees who came for baptism, and he said, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Luke 3:8)

If one truly believes in God, his faith would carry an attitude of “repentance”. Similarly, if one is to truly repent, this repentance must also be built upon the foundation of “faith”.

“Leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.  If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”.

The request and aid of the gardener were in fact, extra grace given. However, the extension would only last for another year. In another word, grace also has an expiry date!

Even though God has eternal love and grace, man’s life is limited, and the intervention of death is unexpected. If we did not repent and be saved on time, it would be too late for us to do so when death looms.

In Romans 11:21-22, when Apostle Paul talks about salvation that has come upon the non-Jews, he uses the wild olive branch which is grafted into the natural olive tree to illustrate the saving grace that is freely received by the Gentiles.

Here, he warns the Gentile Christians that since God did not spare the fallen Jews, He would not spare the fallen Gentiles either. Therefore, we are not to neglect both God’s kindness and harshness.

Why Would People Despise God’s Grace?

God’s mercy and righteousness are not to be overlooked or taken lightly. What causes one to despise and overlook this great salvation? In the teachings of Jesus found in Luke 12:49-59, we can observe three reasons:

1. A Wrong Interpretation of Gospel

“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Luke 12:49-53

John Baptist introduced the Lord Jesus and said, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luke 3:16). “Fire” represents judgment, and God once said, “I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes.” (Jeremiah 5:14)

The Lord Jesus came to preach the message of judgment, and that caused many to confess their sins and repent. However, His action offended the religious leaders of the day, and they conspired to put Him to death.

Modern day culture depicts Jesus as someone who would pursue peace at all cost, and he is someone who holds himself aloof from the world, and he never talks about judgment.

However, real peace is not about compromising, giving in, accommodating to the general interest of all, etc. Real peace is built upon confession, repentance and reconciliation with God (1 John 1:3).

The Gospel of Christ carries with it the message of judgment, and it leads people to repentance and reconciliation with God. The gospel of the Lord Jesus demands people to make a choice by either receiving or rejecting it, and hence, it causes family conflicts (Luke 12:52-53).

2. Refuse to discern the Truth

Jesus said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? (Luke 12:54-56)

What the Lord Jesus meant is very clear. It is not that they were unable to discern but were unwilling to. They might have to pay a price if they were serious in discerning truth from falsehood. Not being discreet when challenged by God’s truth looked like the wisest choice to them.

Nevertheless, biblical truth is to be accepted and obeyed by faith, and it is not to be interpreted according to our own intention or to be used as an application by our own choices!

3. Take the Impending Judgment Lightly

“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you; you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.” (12: 57-59

“Try hard to be reconciled on the way” is an opportunity and a grace that would rescue oneself from an inevitable severe punishment.

The Lord Jesus reminds us that everyone of us should be responsible for the task we assume. Be it a small or a big task, God’s judgment is never slack! “How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29)

Conclusion

“Repentance” is the greatest grace given by God to all living men, so that men could receive the joy of salvation. Submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit always, and to be set apart in our daily life through the truth that is given by God. This is something that we should do now.

2021年6月7日星期一

The LORD Longs to be Gracious to You

 


Isaiah 30:1-18

The LORD longs to be Gracious to You

Many truths of the Bible, like this one found in Isaiah 30:1-18, seems to be inappropriate for people now who seek practical and pragmatic ways of living. How could one receive power through quietness and trust? This sounds ridiculous to the modern-day society.

We shall look into Isaiah 30:1-18 to discover how we could be saved and empowered in a turbulent and changing world today. I summarize it into three points as follow:

Being Practical and Pragmatic are not Golden

To be practical or pragmatic is a prevalent atmosphere in the current society. It is an ideology that values everything by questioning whether it is practical or not for the people.

Thus, people tend to measure everything in accordance with its results and achievements. They measure their life and self-worth by how high an income they earn. In school reunion gatherings, we tend to find out about each other’s career and income earned.

A pastor or a seminary teacher will not be able to earn a high income no matter how qualified he is. Does it mean that he or she is worthless?

Given such pragmatic ideology and peer pressure, men would continue to work hard, be occupied and wrestle to climb high. They believe they would become more valuable with more work done, and more useful if they were busier. Hence, they would not have time to quiet down themselves. The whole society is fully occupied, and nobody even has time to ponder, “What indeed am I busying for?”

“Busyness” causes majority of people to look lightly the need of quietness and still. In fact, many people feel useless and insecured when idle and isolated. They don’t feel easy being alone with God.

How do you feel living under MCO period, when most of the economic and social activities are shut down?

In short, the emphasis of pragmatism has brought forth bad influences on our faith. Believers are tempted to believe that nothing could be achieved without hard work, and hence, they are busy doing things, and overlook the importance of quietness and trust before God.

Many believers have become “Martha” who are worried and upset about many things.” (Luke 10:41) They have forgotten about one thing that is needed for them, and that they have to be like Mary, who in quietness, waited at the feet of the Lord Jesus.

In the times of King Hezekiah, the Jews were terrified and worried over their own nation. They were hard-pressed by many nations, and hence they sought help from the Assyrians. However, they were afraid to be controlled by the Assyrians, and thus, they sought helps from the Egyptians too. The Jews thought that Egypt could deliver them from the bondage of Assyria. They forgot to put their trust in God for their rescue.

Therefore, Isaiah 30:1-18 is an instruction from God to the Jews to return to Him and not to put their trust in Egypt. In the same way, God is calling us today not to be over worried by the pandemic, and thereby trust in our own efforts to find relief, but to return to Him and trust Him only.

In repentance and rest is your salvation; In quietness and trust is your strength

The issue of the Jews then was that, instead of seeking God first, they sought the aid of Egypt (Isa 30:1-5). Therefore, God rebuked them through the prophet Isaiah and said, “Woe to the obstinate children, to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’ protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge.” (vv.1-2)

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” (v. 15)

In other words, what God meant is, “You believe that the Egyptians can rescue you, but what you believe is in vain. There is a God who is in control of everything, and He shall come and judge you, for it is in repentance and rest that you can be saved.”

We are reminded here that to be saved and delivered is only through returning to God and resting in Him. Return means to go back to God, with a true repentance, and turn away from the path where we make our own choices. Rest means to cease from trusting ourselves and go on doing things in our own way which may be even displeasing to God.

The Jews were busy in sending envoys with carriers of gifts to please the hearts of the Egyptians. They were very active and busy trying to save themselves. Unfortunately, this could not save them. In fact, salvation lies on rest, and it means that we must cease from human activities and rely on God’s grace for rest.

Rest in God is not solely passive and idling, but it includes overcoming sins and behaving the way of a genuine child of God. Judah needed this kind of power, the real power to resist their enemies. Yet this must be acquired through quietness, putting aside their busyness and concerns, as well as those desires that they had been hotly pursuing, and instead, trust God in their hearts.

It means that they must have an ability of self-denial, and to return to God wholeheartedly (Ps 46:10; 29:10-11;28:7). 

When we encounter attacks from others and viruses, the message of Isaiah found in this scripture reminds us to be still, to be patient, return to God and him in order to persevere through this difficult time. We shall see our salvation and strength in this manner of resting in God.

For some people, it also means that we do not pick a fight with others, for God says, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay.” (Romans 12:19) We should pray to God by faith and wait on God to execute His justice and shower on us His mercy.  This prayer will change the whole situation and God shall become our rescue.

Never be fearful and lose our hope when we face the widespread of viruses, and when we are uncertain of our future. We should instead take heed of the instructions of Isaiah, “in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” It was in repentance and returning to God and resting in Him that the Israelites could be saved.

For those who long to receive power and strength, we must put aside our own ideas and return to God fully, and to receive His strength as we wait upon Him and trust in Him.

However, as what is found in the above-mentioned text, it is not human nature or our inclination to wait and trust, and neither were the Israelites. They sought helps everywhere! Because of this, God spoke to them agonizingly through the prophet, “but you would have none of it.” (Isa 30:15) This is the reality of human tragedy, because all of us have neglected the source of true power, and we hope to find it somewhere else!

When the Israelites rejected the true means of their deliverance, and sought their own ways out, they turned to the Egyptians for helps, and hence acquired from them a big number of horses. They thought that by having these horses and chariots, they could be free from the pursuit of their enemies.

The Consequences of Unbelief

In the ancient time, horse signified someone who was fearless because he had something or someone to back him up and it was a sign of arrogance and haughtiness (Ps 20:7).

The Jews rode on their horses, but their enemies rode on their horses as well. Hence, they had no way to run away from their enemies. The Jews’ problem also lied about the fact that they believed they had outnumbered their enemies and they hoped to defeat them with a majority. They thought by recruiting soldiers from Egypt, they could overcome the Assyrians chariots. However, it was just an illusion without hope.

God says in verse 17, “thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away…” One man’s threat caused one thousand Jews to flee, and with five enemies, all the Jews would flee away! This was God’s punishment. God set His heart to punish His rebellious children, and hence, nobody could escape from it.

The truth is that the punishment mentioned in verse 17 is a reverse to the promises that God had given to the Israelites before. In the historic period of Israelites’ exodus and their entry into the land of Canaan, God promised that He would be with them and bless them, so that they could chase out their enemies (Lev 26:8; Deut 32:30).

The rebellious children would have to stand alone. God says, “till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” (Isa 30:17b) This situation looks like it is describing those Israelites who had placed their trust on the Egyptians.

“Egypt” is sometimes used in the Bible to represent the secular world. Believers must never put their trust in this world and seek their helps from it. Instead, we should trust only God and seek His aid.

No doubt, God is the Lord of judgment, but He is also a God that is full of mercy. Verse 18 points out the lovingkindness of God, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore, he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Our God is full of mercy and righteousness. In fact, God’s mercy is built upon His righteousness. God is waiting to reveal His favor and mercy, but are we willing to wait upon Him? Those who wait upon God are the blessed, for they shall receive deliverance and strength in Him.

Later, the Israelites obeyed the message of prophet Isaiah, and they returned to God under the leading of Hezekiah and found their rescue and strength in Him. According to the records found in Isaiah 37:36 and 2 Kings 19:34-37, God sent His angels to the Assyrian camps and killed about 185,000 men. He destroyed the entire Assyrian army just in a second! The Israelites won the battle without a real fight!

Conclusion

May we today come to realize that resting in God is the source of our strength, that we will return to God, rest in Him, and trust Him to lead us through this stormy life journey, until the day we meet Him face to face. Let us make adjustments to our life now, retune ourselves by spending quiet time with God, let us be occupied with God’s words not with Egypt concerns, walk in his way and not our own ways.

The LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!