Doing The Impossible - Matthew 19:26

 
But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:26

    I have struggled over the years with my inability to show my Christian love to all mankind. I have been angry, outraged, and insulted by the very people Jesus commanded me to love. “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...” - Matthew 5:44. After giving the issue much thought, it became clear to me that I have not been giving it my Christian effort.
    Certainly, it is easy for us to go around spouting off Scripture references to applicable situations, but how often do we actually walk the walk? It’s not ignorance on our part when we don’t seem all that Christian. And we must remember that often, we are creating an image for those around us who never pick up a Bible or attend a church service. Does our reaction to things that irk us illustrate how Christians are supposed to behave toward our fellow men and women? I’m afraid that in my case the answer has far too often been ‘No!’
     I tried to understand why it was so. I truly wanted to project a good Christian image to those around me, but failed to meet that godly standard. Why didn’t I have that kind of strength? I reminded myself of Paul’s frustration and exasperation : “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” - Romans 7:15. How could I accomplish this will of God for my life?
    Then, the very words that I had so often quoted to my family and loved ones came floating back to me. They were words I had used to encourage them in times of similar disappointments with varying issues and challenges they had faced: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:13. I realized I could never love my enemies in my own power. I wasn’t strong enough in myself, but I could be through Christ Jesus!
    Obviously, there will be times when maintaining a godly attitude around troublesome people is going to be next to impossible. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” - Romans 12:18. Paul knew that there would be times of difficulty with people who didn’t have our best interest at heart. But even then, his words were not to pick a fight or walk away in anger. “To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” - Romans 12:20-21.
    Our calling in Philippians 4:13 is a strategic response that our tactical response can illustrate, and that should be: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” - 1 Corinthians 10:31. We cannot glorify God with hatred, anger, antagonism, impatience, or resentment, because none of those attributes exemplify love. As Scripturally responsive Christians, we should know by now what love is : “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. This is the love that Jesus is talking about when He tells us to “Love (y)our enemies and pray for those who persecute you (us). Can we do so on our own power? I wouldn’t even suggest trying. Go to Christ and plead with Him for the strength that only God can provide.
    “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” - 2 Corinthians 12:8-9.
    No matter what we must do or accomplish, we must grasp the fact that God’s will alone determines how our efforts turn out. Sometimes even the simplest plans go awry; sometimes the impossible happens, all to the glory of God.

The Fruit Of Babel - Genesis 11:3-4

And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” - Genesis 11:3-4

    There seem to be three benchmarks of this sordid story of man’s self-aggrandizement:
    1) Men believed they could trespass against a holy God.
    2) They believed they could do what they wanted and as they wished.
    3) They believed they could use every means at their disposal to do as they pleased.
    As we can see early on in Genesis 11, men were starting out on the same treacherous foundation that cost Adam and Eve their place in the garden. And just as with Adam and Eve, their slippery footing also ended in a fall. God does not look kindly on the excesses of man’s pride. ‘Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’ - Deuteronomy 32:35.
    God accomplishes His will despite everything that man can devise to thwart it. There is no moment in human history when God is caught unaware of man’s disobedience. No matter how often man has tried to get the jump on God, man is frustrated in his attempts. God might not move immediately to curb the diabolic plans of men, but He moves in His own time to do so. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.     People often accuse God of failing to stop ungodly behavior and evil in its tracks. “Where was God?” They scream, then bring up the 9-1-1 attacks, the Holocaust, the institution of slavery, to name but-a-few of the more graphic illustrations of man’s inhumanity to man. Among the more continuing issues of barbarism and brutality, they cite abortion, sexual depravity, and corruption to show that God is seemingly uninvolved in such pedestrian wickedness. But we must never make the mistake of assuming that God is aloof during such examples of depravity simply because He doesn’t hurl a lightning bolt to stop the violence. We must remember that God is patient, just, and wrathful. Think first of God’s enduring promise: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28. We too, must, therefore exemplify patience.
    And let us not forget that as for those who refuse to repent and are intent on enacting Satan’s iniquity in this world, God has made us another promise: “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.”: Revelation 19:20-21. God’s Word is often graphically harsh, and so it should be to those who would build themselves a city and make a name for themselves, transgressing God’s laws.
    Despite the lawlessness and evil in the world today, we must recall the words of Jesus Christ: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33. For those who are truly in Christ, peace is coming.

When The Gospel Is Rejected - Matthew 10:14

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. - Matthew 10:14

    “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” - Matthew 7:6. These seem like pretty harsh words coming from the mouth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. But Scottish Biblical scholar, F. F. Bruce explains that, ‘The general sense of the saying is clear: objects of value . . . should not be offered to those who are incapable of appreciating them.’ Bruce was referring to special objects, privileges, or taking part in sacred things; and there is no more sacred thing in our day-to-day lives than God’s Holy Word!
    Whether we are referring to Christ as the Word or Scripture as the Word, both are sacred. Why, tossing about the name of Jesus and His words in a crowd of those who neither want to hear it nor will listen to it is borderline blasphemy. Jesus Himself said as much in Matthew 7:6.
    So how do we reconcile the words of our titular passage with Christ’s Great Commission? The way to do so is by discernment. We must be wise enough to know where and when we are to share the Gospel, and with whom!
    I have found myself in many an instance where I shouldn’t have brought my faith to the fore. In fact, I shouldn’t have even been there in the first place. Another instance is our timing.“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . . ” - Ecclesiastes 3:1. We must be prudent to choose the right time to speak to our listeners about the glory of God and His Gospel. There are moments in life when the fields aren’t yet ready for planting. They have yet to be prepared for the sowing of the word. An old mentor of mine once told me that ‘timing is everything.’ Indeed, it is.
    Finally, we must even be careful about whom we bring the Gospel to because that requires judgment as well as discernment. The looks of a person are often deceiving, but not always. Sometimes a person’s countenance betrays their hearts in not-so-subtle ways. Therefore, godly discernment is of the utmost importance where, when, and to whom we present the Gospel.
    We can too often become victims of our own enthusiasm. Surely, we are excited about spreading the Word of God, but we can be too hasty in moving from thought to action when we sense there is a receptive audience awaiting God’s revealed Word. We must pray for the Holy Spirit’s intercession and direction before we rush head-long into conversation, regardless of the spiritual value of our discourse. Until we do, we can never follow the words of Paul to Timothy : “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” - 2 Timothy 4:2.
    I have found myself in situations where unbelievers made it clear: they were not agreeable to hearing the preaching of the Gospel. If we insist on speaking the truth at that moment, we may experience the audience simply getting up and leaving. In cases where we are the visitor, we might be asked to leave, and if we persist, we may be told to leave. Either way, they have rejected our Gospel message off hand and with extreme prejudice. Was it our approach? Possibly, but the chances are better that the intended audience is too worldly to care about eternal things. That is exactly why Jesus said, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs.”
    Many pastors and commentators will give varying advice on how we should handle these tense and tenuous situations. However, Matthew 10:14 is perfectly clear about how we are to react.