The Mercy Parables

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy“ (Matthew 5:7). Throughout His earthly sojourn, Jesus’ parables helped even illiterate folks comprehend what He was teaching. The ones involving the giving of mercy and the penalty of withholding it were no exception. Three in particular come to mind.

Christ presented the story of the “Good Samaritan” in response to a question posed by one of the religious know-it-alls who asked Him, “Who is my neighbor?“ It’s in Luke 10:29-37. Here’s my take on it:

A man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho. Tragically, he was attacked by thugs who not only robbed him of everything he had (including his clothes) but also cruelly pummeled him nearly to death before dumping him on the side of the road. Not long afterwards a priest showed up. He callously chose to ignore the poor victim, giving his bleeding body the widest berth possible before continuing on. Next a Levite arrived on the grisly scene, but he did what the priest had done – Nothing.

Then came a Samaritan fellow. This plot twist probably elicited gasps from Jesus’ listeners because Samaritans were considered practically subhuman and were an ethnicity despised by most Jews. However, Christ shocked them all by saying that’s who showed mercy to the critically injured man! He doctored his wounds, hauled him onto his donkey, took him to an inn, gave the owner cash to cover costs his care would incur and promised to reimburse any overages when he returned.

Our Lord then inquired, “Which traveler viewed the beaten man as being his neighbor?” No doubt the religious know-it-all angrily mumbled through gritted teeth, “I reckon it was the one who was merciful.” As he sulked away Jesus called out and recommended that he “Go and do the same.”

Notice the Samaritan didn’t know the crime victim from Adam. Neither did the priest or the Levite. But it was the Samaritan, the man not depicted as religious at all, who displayed true compassion in the situation. The point? God’s blessing is bestowed upon everyone who’s merciful. The parable indicates that everybody is our neighbor and deserving of receiving mercy whether we feel like giving it or not!

In the second parable Jesus elaborates on whom the merciful will obtain mercy from – God the Father. The well-known story of the Prodigal in Luke 15:11-32 involves a man with two sons. The youngest is a selfish, disrespectful brat who insists his father fork over his share of the family estate. He then takes off to indulge in all the sinful things this fallen world has to offer every pleasure-seeker.

Like many of us learned the hard way, wealth and the pals it attracts have a way of disappearing in a flash. The punk finds himself starving in a hog pen. He “comes to his senses“ and realizes he’d be better off slaving away as a lowly serf on his daddy’s farm. At least he’d be fed. So, he gets his apology speech together and heads for home.

Now, the Pharisees listening to Christ’s tale were expecting to hear that the father would murder the kid on sight because what he’d done was so outrageously wrong by every measure. Nothing less than the death penalty would be in order. Show him mercy? You gotta be kidding. But Jesus proceeded to take the story in a most unanticipated direction.

When the father spots his ingrate offspring’s noggin rising over the distant horizon he slips on his Nikes and sprints down the path to hug and kiss his surprised son. The prodigal begins uttering his “I’m so sorry” spiel but only gets a few words out before dad cuts him off and announces he’s going to host the biggest celebration anyone’s ever seen because the son he feared was lost forever has returned home alive.

Jesus was teaching us that God the Father is a gazillion times more merciful to His own than can be imagined. One of my favorite books is The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen. It’s a must-read. His insights are flat-out amazing.

He wrote of Father God, “The only authority He claims for Himself is the authority of compassion. That authority comes from letting the sins of His children pierce His heart. There’s no lust, greed, anger, resentment, jealousy, or vengeance in His lost children that hasn’t caused immense grief to His heart. The grief’s so deep because His heart’s so pure. From the deep inner place where love embraces all human grief, the Father reaches out to His children. The touch of His hands, radiating inner light, seeks only to heal.”

The third parable serves as a warning to those who refuse to be merciful. Jesus’ narrative appears in Matthew 18:23-35. In it a king decrees to “call in” his loans. One of his most massively-in-debt subjects confesses he can’t immediately meet his financial obligation and begs the king to give him more time. The king not only has mercy on him but cancels his debt altogether!

You’d think the king’s graciousness would change the man’s heart forever. But no. The pardoned debtor immediately walks out, grabs an acquaintance who owes him $10, and begins to throttle him while demanding he pay up pronto. The guy’s broke and pleads for mercy, but he gets tossed in the slammer for his trouble. Word gets back to the king, and he’s understandably incensed. Not only does he incarcerate the unsympathetic jerk but instructs the guards to torture him accordingly.

Jesus ends the parable with: “So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you doesn’t forgive your brother from your heart.” Too harsh? Only if we think being merciful to others is optional. If we show mercy only to people we deem worthy of it, we’ve failed to understand that not one of us merits God’s mercy because we’re all unholy sinners undeserving of even a shred of His grace.

Jesus couldn’t have made it clearer. Be merciful and be blessed.

Have Mercy

Spurgeon called the Beatitudes a “ladder of light” because each successive rung represents a step up toward attaining righteousness. While the initial four describe what sincere believers find when we honestly examine ourselves, the fifth describes a blessing we’ve been given and are to give away to others.

Jesus preached, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy“ (Matthew 5:7). However, we won’t necessarily receive mercy from those we’re merciful to. The mercy Jesus refers to is God’s. Notice this Beatitude also contains a stipulation similar to what our Lord taught regarding forgiveness: “If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father won’t forgive you your sins“ (Matthew 6:14-15).

The Bible emphasizes the importance of being merciful. “God has told you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God“ (Micah 6:8). Thus, “Judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment“ (James 2:13).

God expects His elect to be the most merciful people on the planet. Since I’m a sinner who feels I should crawl to God daily and literally beg Him for mercy, being merciful to others certainly doesn’t seem too much to ask.

However, we mustn’t get legalistic about it. Spurgeon warned, “We’d greatly err if we said we must be merciful in order to obtain mercy, and that we must only hope to receive it by being merciful ourselves. Any such legal notion would be contrary to the entire current of Scripture and opposed to the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ.”

Never forget, we’re not saved by being merciful but by faith alone.

Jesus infers in this Beatitude that God’s chosen have already been blessed with His mercy, else we’d have no hope for salvation! History shows humans aren’t naturally merciful. Only the Holy Spirit’s transformation of our heart grants us the ability to be merciful. Henri Nouwen wrote, “The blessings we give to each other are expressions of the blessing that rests on us from all eternity.”

The most obvious recipients of a Christian’s mercy are the “less fortunate.” Of course, the number in that category is astronomical. We can’t fix them all. Christ told His disciples, “You’ll always have the poor with you, and you can do good for them whenever you want“ (Mark 14:7). God said through Moses, “There’ll never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I’m commanding you to make sure you open your hand…” (Deuteronomy 15:11).

In today’s world “charitable organizations” often turn out to be anything but charitable. It’s wise to be wary. One of the functions of your church is to ensure the tithes and donations of the congregation don’t fall into the pockets of the greedy but actually go to those in need. So, when in doubt, give generously to your church.

The most merciful thing a believer can do is to instantly forgive those who intentionally or unintentionally injure us physically or emotionally, who insult, slander, disrespect us – or inflict even worse harm. Paul wrote, “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse“ (Romans 12:14) while our Lord taught, “Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:44).

Being merciful is being vulnerable. Dallas Willard commented, “The worldly-wise say, ‘Woe to the merciful, for they shall be taken advantage of.'” Brennan Manning wrote, “The world doesn’t understand vulnerability. Vulnerability is flatly rejected by the world as incompetence, and compassionate caring is dismissed as unprofitable.”

Yes, it’s hard to be merciful to some. It’s one thing to have mercy on our friends and family members, but to pray God has mercy on evildoers who appear hellbent on destroying our country, letting murderers go free, blaspheming our Savior, etc. is a huge challenge. I confess it’s something I usually don’t desire to do. But if I want to receive mercy it’s what I must do.

Furthermore, we’re to be merciful towards all of humanity. Spurgeon wrote, “The merciful Christian doesn’t care merely for the extremely fallen class, so-called by the men of the world, but they regard the whole race as fallen.” It’s sinful to deem the “non-elect” undeserving of mercy. Election is God’s prerogative. Who are we to judge?

Spurgeon commented, “The great doctrine of election is very precious to Christians, and we hold it most firmly, but there are some – and it mustn’t be denied – who allow that doctrine to chill their love toward their fellowmen.” Our #1 job is to mercifully inform everybody about the gospel truth that saves. Period.

James S. Stewart wrote, “Shall I, as a Christian, be content to pursue the religious quest as a private hobby, and to develop my own spiritual life? Or will I concern myself personally for those outside and deliberately take upon my heart the whole world’s need for Christ? …The Gospel isn’t for an age, but for all time. Yet it’s precisely this particular age – this historic hour and none other – to which we’re commissioned by God to speak.”

Spurgeon summarized thusly: “I firmly believe when a man is in trouble, if he’s been enabled through divine grace to be kind and generous toward others, he may look to God in prayer and say, ‘Lord, there’s Your promise; I claim no merit for it, but Your grace has enabled me to help others when I see them in the same condition as I am.'”

I admit I don’t always faithfully obey my Savior who proclaimed, “Give, and it’ll be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive“ (Luke 6:38). But I should. There’s nothing we can receive and freely give away more valuable than mercy.

Lastly, God is “the Father of mercies…” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Therefore, His chosen should be “children of mercies…”

Blessed Assurance

Sometimes my assurance needs reassuring.

I reckon I speak for the majority of Christians when I admit that, at times, it’s hard for me to believe I’m saved because I repeatedly fail to meet the standards Jesus set for His followers. He said, “If you love me, you’ll obey my commandments“ (John 14:15). The first part isn’t the problem. I sincerely love and adore my Savior. It’s the second half that haunts my conscience. I let Him down by disobeying His commandments too often.

R.C. Sproul wrote, “Assurance can be easily disrupted and rudely shaken. It can be intermittent. It’s particularly vulnerable to sin… We’re faced daily with manifold temptations, some of them grievous in nature and intensity, and we all too often succumb to them. Sin is the great enemy of assurance. When we commit it, we ask ourselves, ‘How can a true Christian do such things?'”

Yet the Bible implies the Reformers’ creed of “once saved, always saved” is true. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption“ (Ephesians 4:30). That’s just one of many reassuring passages for sinners like me to bank on.

The Westminster Confession of Faith declares: “Hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God… Yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love Him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in good conscience before Him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that they’re in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God…”

How do we accurately gauge our affection for Jesus? Ian Hamilton commented, “The depth of our love for the Savior is in direct proportion to the depth of our experience of and appreciation for His forgiving grace.”

The trouble is, we live in a fallen world hellbent on crushing hope. That’s why Christians must stay focused on God’s Word. There we find other God-fearing people who harbored doubts like King David who sang to God, “Your lovingkindness is before my eyes“ (Psalm 26:3), then later cried, “Lord, where are your former lovingkindnesses?“ (89:49). Thus, doubt’s nothing new.

The confession I cited includes the word presumption. How can we distinguish between what’s assurance and what’s merely “wishful thinking”? Again, the Scriptures clarify. Producing good spiritual fruit and exhibiting a humble demeanor is evidence of our salvation. “The effect of righteousness will be quietness and assurance forever“ (Isaiah 32:17).

Thomas Watson wrote, “The more love a Christian receives from God, the more he sees himself a debtor to free grace, and the sense of his debt keeps his heart humble; but presumption is bred of pride. He who presumes disdains; he thinks himself better than others.”

Nevertheless, it’s hard for me to fathom why a perfectly holy God would love, much less adopt, a remarkably unholy sinner like me. The Bible teaches the key to obtaining assurance is what so many of us lack – patience. “The one who maintains his faith will not panic“ (Isaiah 28:16). Can I, who for decades was guilty of withholding my love from God, not wait patiently for His blessed assurance?

The worst presumption a believer can make is that God has broken His promise and disowned them. David confessed to God, “I jumped to conclusions and said, ‘I’m cut off from your presence!’ But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help“ (Psalm 31:22). Watson wrote, “If we pour out our sighs to heaven, God will hear every groan; and though He doesn’t show us His face, He will lend us His ear.”

God gave every Christian the gift of faith. He never takes it back.

Calvin wrote, “Though we’re distracted by various thoughts, it doesn’t follow that we’re immediately divested of faith. Though we’re agitated and carried to and fro by distrust, we’re not immediately plunged into the abyss; though we’re shaken, we’re not therefore driven from our place. The invariable issue of the contest is, that faith in the long run surmounts the difficulties by which it was beset and seemed to be endangered.”

Some Christians think it’s possible for a person to get genuinely saved and then, due to committing a particularly egregious or horrific sin, they not only forfeit their salvation but are abandoned with no possibility of redemption. In other words, God’s choosing them before time began came with conditions. Nonsense. Remember, the father welcomed his filthy prodigal son back home.

Reformers have another saying: “If we have it, we never lose it. If we lose it, we never had it.” About backsliding prodigals Spurgeon preached, “He’d been once saved, yet it’s supposed that he’s lost. How then can he now be saved? Is there a supplementary salvation? Is there something that will overtop Christ and be a Christ where Jesus is defeated?” Of course not.

Conversely, be aware of the danger in becoming overly assured. It can lead to presumption and being less wary of our sinful nature. We can never allow ourselves to cease being humbled by God’s incalculable mercy and forgiveness that sent His Son to the cross for our sake. When we sin, we must always repent. Immediately.

Christians should be immensely thankful for the assurances of eternal life God provides. How can we not feel gratitude for being rescued from the punishment our sins deserve? How can we not join with David in obeying the Holy Spirit’s instructions to “Love the LORD, all you faithful followers of His!“ (Psalm 31:23).

Sproul wrote, “The certainty of our assurance rests on an infallible basis. This basis isn’t our infallibility, but that of the One who grants it… Together the promises of God, the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit, the earnest of the Spirit, and the sealing of the Spirit comprise a solid ground for the believer’s full assurance of salvation.” I must not only bear God’s promises in mind but depend on them 24/7.

Our Merciful God

Questions many have (including some Christians) are: “Why does God allow so much hatred, injustice, murder, etc.?” and “Why doesn’t he fix all that’s wrong?” They’re reasonable questions. But the most logical would be: “What keeps God from simply flicking the earth into the sun and being done with it all?” The answer? He is merciful.

Truth be told, we brought the world’s sad situation upon ourselves. Check out Genesis 3. We can debate whether or not the fall of Adam & Eve was part of God’s master plan, but the bottom line is they chose to believe a lie rather than God and the consequences were severe and far-reaching. If God wasn’t “merciful, gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness…” (Exodus 34:6) we wouldn’t still be here. But He’s all that and more.

Thomas Watson noted, “The Scriptures represent God in white robes of mercy more often than with garments rolled in blood; with His golden scepter more often than His iron rod.” In other words, God’s inclined to generously pour out His gracious love on mankind rather than the disastrous wrath we’ve earned.

Understand, there are three distinct manifestations of God’s mercy – General, Special and Sovereign. The first is indiscriminately bestowed upon all of creation continuously. “The LORD is good to all and has compassion on all He’s made“ (Psalm 145:9). “He gives life and breath and everything to everyone“ (Acts 17:25).

His Special mercy is given to every man and woman regardless of their beliefs. All necessities for sustaining one’s life are freely available (Except when human greed interferes). Jesus taught, “…Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous“ (Matthew 5:44-45).

That doesn’t mean everybody will spend eternity in paradise. Alas, those who reject God will pay an appropriately steep price. “It is a people of no understanding; therefore, He that made them will not have mercy on them, and He that formed them will show them no favor“ (Isaiah 27:11).

His Sovereign mercy is reserved exclusively for the elect, i.e., those God has chosen to adopt. Some claim that contradicts the proclamation of Psalm 145:9, “The LORD is good to all and has compassion on all He’s made.” It doesn’t. Since God is immutable, His merciful essence remains constant. However, the granting of His mercy is regulated by His sovereign will.

A.W. Pink wrote, “This must be so, for there’s nothing outside Himself which obliges Him to act; if there were, that ‘something’ would be supreme, and God would cease to be God. It’s pure sovereign grace which alone determines the exercise of Divine mercy.”

To clarify, nobody deserves heaven. “…There’s no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God“ (Romans 3:23). We’re utterly unworthy of receiving any mercy. “But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. God chose what’s low and despised in the world, what’s regarded as nothing, to set aside what’s regarded as something, so that no one can boast in His presence. He’s the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:27-30).

So, does God’s mercy interfere with His justice? Not one bit. Calvin wrote, “It’s impossible to doubt His punishment of crimes… Though He often permits the guilty to exult for a time with impunity, and the innocent to be driven to and fro in adversity, even to be wickedly and iniquitously oppressed, this ought not to produce any uncertainty as to the uniform justice of all His procedure. An opposite inference should be drawn… His leaving many crimes unpunished only proves there’s a judgment in reserve, when the punishment now delayed shall be inflicted.”

For a sinner to think he/she can take advantage of God’s mercy is folly. Pink wrote, “Let us note how vain is the presumptuous hope of the wicked, who, notwithstanding their continued defiance of God, nevertheless count on His being merciful to them. How many there are who say ‘I don’t believe God will ever cast me into hell. He’s too merciful.’ Such a hope is a viper which will sting them to death.”

The bad news? Only the righteous will be saved. That disqualifies all of us. The Good News? The individual who “…believes in the One who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness“ (Romans 4:5). The “One” is Jesus Christ.

Spurgeon preached, “The grandest fact under heaven is this – that Christ by His precious blood does actually put away sin, and that God, for Christ’s sake, dealing with men on terms of Divine mercy, forgives the guilty and justifies them, not according to anything He sees in them, or foresees will be in them, but according to the riches of His mercy which lie in His own heart.”

It’s all about Jesus. It’s never been about anybody else. James S. Stewart wrote, “For God judges men, not by legal righteousness, but by their response to His righteousness in Christ; not, that is, by position, but by direction; not by the fact that some are ethically better equipped than others, but by the fact that some have their faces to Christ and some their backs.”

So how do we reconcile our inherently limited concepts of justice and mercy?

Frederick Buechner explained: “Romantic love is blind to everything except what is lovable and lovely, but Christ’s love sees us with terrible clarity and sees us whole. Christ’s love so wishes our joy that it’s ruthless against everything in us that diminishes our joy. The worst sentence love can pass is that we behold the suffering which love has endured for our sake, and that is also our acquittal. The justice and mercy of the judge are ultimately one.”

Our Tender Savior

Born-again people immediately discover how irresistibly lovable Jesus is.  In the early chapters of Augustine’s compelling Confessions, in which he chronicles his search for God and meaning, he repeatedly mentions Christ’s delightful “sweetness.”  While I rarely use that term in reference to my Lord, it certainly isn’t inappropriate.  No one’s heart is as sweet and tender as our Savior’s.

In reading the Bible and books by great theologians, I sometimes get so caught up in admiring Jesus’ power, sovereignty, omniscience, etc. that I often need to be reminded of His alluring graciousness.  When I contemplate Christ’s hours of agony on the cross in order to redeem my wicked soul I can’t help but love Him even more.

Sweetness is something we all savor.  Indeed, the Bible invites us to “Taste and see that the LORD is good!” (Psalm 34:8).  Ian Hamilton wrote, “The gospel doesn’t come only to transform our minds and reform our lives; it comes to implant within us godly affections.”  By centering our love on God – love’s pure source – we’re better able to “love each other deeply.” Our ongoing sanctification is grounded in love, “because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).

The Scriptures state: “God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in Him” and “We love because He loved us first” (1 John 4:16,19).  The latter verse is genuinely astounding.  The sinful nature I was born with contained no affection for God whatsoever.  Yet, He loved me eons before I even gave Him a passing thought.

Believers must comprehend that our Heavenly Father doesn’t love His elect because His Son died for us.  On the contrary, His Son died for us because our Father first loved us with an overwhelming, compassionate love far beyond our understanding.

Shortly after I rededicated my life to following and learning more about Jesus, an acquaintance sent me a copy of Brennan Manning’s wonderful The Ragamuffin Gospel and it impacted my faith greatly, as it has others’.  Michael W. Smith confessed, “The first time I sat down with the book, I devoured it.  I discovered how little I had to do to deserve and receive the love of God and that He loved me more than I’d ever imagined.  Suddenly, instead of fearing and denying all of my real or imagined shortcomings, I could embrace my humanness.  I could see God pursuing me through it and in spite of it.”

Don’t get the wrong impression.  Brennan didn’t advocate that Christians “should sin because we’re not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:15).  No way.  God’s adoption causes us to hate sin with a fervent passion because we realize it’s a disgraceful affront to the One who saved us from the devil’s grip.  Manning, a former priest who struggled with alcoholism for decades, helped me to more fully wrap my tiny brain around the gospel’s fundamental message that I’ve been rescued solely by God’s grace and that Jesus is the only hope for sinners like him, me, and you.

“Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth.  ‘Follow me,’ He said to him.  And he got up and followed Him.  As Jesus was having a meal in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Jesus and His disciples.  When the Pharisees saw this they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’  When Jesus heard this He said, ‘Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do.  Go and learn what this saying means: “I want mercy and not sacrifice.”  For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Matthew 9:9-13).

Brennan commented, “Jesus, who forgave the sins of the paralytic (thereby claiming divine power), proclaims He’s invited sinners and not the self-righteous to His table.  The Greek verb used here, kalein, has the sense of inviting an honored guest to dinner.  In effect, Jesus says the kingdom of God isn’t a place for the self-righteous, nor for those who feel they possess the state secret of salvation.  No, it’s for a larger, homelier, less self-conscious caste of people who understand they’re sinners because they’ve experienced the yaw and pitch of moral struggle.”

Manning (along with the Bible) assures me my Savior is kinder, more sympathetic, and welcoming to me, a habitual indulger of iniquity than I will ever deserve.  Is Christ a king?  Yes.  Does He rule over the universe He created?  Yes.  Is He the ultimate Judge of everyone?  Yes.  But He’s no cruel tyrant.  Rather, He’s my most loyal friend, my indefatigable advocate, and my protecting shepherd who’s more than earned my devotion, dedication, and unconditional love.

A while ago one of my minister brothers in Christ gave me a book by Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly – The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers.  Like Manning, Ortlund emphasizes our Lord’s tenderness.  As he expressed in his introduction, “It’s one thing to know the doctrines of the incarnation and the atonement and a hundred other vital doctrines.  It’s another, more searching matter to know [Jesus’] heart for you.”

I have yet to recommend either book to someone who reported back that its beautiful observations didn’t comfort them.  They’re that good.  When Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I’ll give you rest.  Take my yoke on you and learn from Me, because I’m gentle and humble in heart, and you’ll find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29), He meant it.

Ortlund wrote, “You don’t need to unburden or collect yourself and then come to Jesus.  Your very burden is what qualifies you to come.”  Christ announced, “Everyone whom the Father gives Me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I’ll never send away” (John 6:37).  He’s our love-filled, relentlessly tender-hearted Lamb of God whom we can trust in and depend on without reservation.  Have you ever heard greater, more glorious news than that?

The Yoke

Since it’s not a commonly-used word these days a definition’s appropriate.  A yoke’s a wooden crosspiece fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow/cart they’re to pull.  Whether we acknowledge it or not, in our fallen state we all wear a yoke.  (In Celebrate Recovery we identify it as a particular hurt, habit or hang-up.)

Jesus said “Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I’m gentle and lowly in heart, and you’ll find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load’s light” (Matthew 11:19-30).  A yoke’s a perfect illustration because oxen will aimlessly wander off in every direction unless they’re harnessed and controlled by their owner.

Truth is you’re owned either by Satan or Christ.  If it’s the devil he’ll get you believing you’re free to do as you please while he covertly saddles you with your sin’s heavy yoke.  The Bible says the natural man or woman is “like a wild ass’s colt” (Job 11:12) in that they’re totally unmanageable and stubbornly determined to assert their egotistic will in every situation.

Taking on Jesus’ yoke isn’t a suggestion.  It’s a requirement for obtaining the “rest” He promised to those who’ll believe in Him (see my last two blogs for clarification).  We Christians gladly swap our yoke for Jesus’ after we realize what a forgiving, merciful and loving Master He is.  We understand we “…are not our own”, that we “were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19,20) and thereby graciously saved from eternal separation from God.

This doesn’t mean one’s life becomes a trouble-free stroll in the park.  On the contrary, He warned “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).  Wearing Christ’s “yoke” means obeying His commandments and bravely enduring the persecution that inevitably comes along with doing so.

He “unhitches” us from the world’s yoke.  Jesus told His disciples, “If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own.  However, because you don’t belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you” (John 15:19).  Hardship and ostracization is coming fast for believers.  Already I’m hearing the derogatory phrase “Christian privilege” more and more often. Get prepared.

But Christians are never alone.  A yoke isn’t an individual harness.  Jesus unites its wearer with other believers.  “Two people are better than one, because they can reap more benefit from their labor” (Ecclesiastes 4:9).  In fact, a believer is forever “yoked” to the entire body of Christ – His church.  Therefore the assignment Jesus has given its members, to spread the Good News of the Gospel to all the ends of the earth, isn’t meant to be accomplished solo.

In His statement our Savior also tells us to “learn” from Him.  A.W. Pink wrote, “What is it we most need to be taught of Him?  How to do what’ll make us objects of admiration in the religious world?  How to obtain such wisdom we’ll be able to solve all mysteries?  How to accomplish such great things we’ll be given preeminence among our brethren?  No, ‘For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight’ (Luke 16:15).”

What we’re to imitate is Jesus’ gentleness and lowliness.  We’re to learn how to be numbered among the “meek” who’ll one day “inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).  Alas, no lesson’s harder to learn and live out because it’s the opposite of our inherent selfishness that demands we always be treated fairly; that we never get “the short end of the stick.”  However, Christ doesn’t intend for us to be silent doormats.  We’re to stand up for and testify about what we believe – that Jesus is our Lord who died for sinners like ourselves.

Is the “yoke” concept confusing?  At times.  Pink wrote, “It may sound much like a paradox – to bid those who labor and are heavy laden, who come to Christ for ‘rest,’ to take a ‘yoke’ upon them.”  Thus it’s important we comprehend the ‘rest’ in question is for one’s soul, not for one’s physical body.  We still have to work.

Dane Ortlund opined, “All Christian toil flows from fellowship with a living Christ whose transcending, defining reality is: gentle and lowly.  He astounds and sustains us with His endless kindness.  Only as we walk ever deeper into this tender kindness can we live the Christian life as the New Testament calls us to.  Only as we drink down the kindness of the heart of Christ will we leave in our wake, everywhere we go, the aroma of heaven, and die one day having startled the world with glimpses of a divine kindness too great to be boxed in by what we deserve.”

Who of sane mind would resist taking on a “yoke of kindness”?  Would a person drowning refuse to put on a life preserver because they consider it too much of an additional burden?  Yet many folks view Christianity that way.  And, until the Holy Spirit regenerates their heart, they’ll continue to flounder.  We can only keep tossing them the only authentic “life preserver” in existence – saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Humility is key.  Pink wrote, “We most need to learn of Jesus not how to become great or self-important, but how to deny self, to become tractable and gentle, to be servants – not only His servants, but also the servants of our neighbors.”  We’re not born humble creatures.  Our first cry outside the womb is for attention.  That’s why we need to emulate Christ, our ultimate role model.

Jesus announced, “The Son of Man didn’t come to be served but to serve” (Matthew 20:28) and “I’m among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).  Therefore, to be “yoked” by Christ is to willingly submit to a life of joyful, rewarding servitude.

Why Pray?

Last time I tried to define what prayer is (in a word, it’s a high form of worship) before addressing the above question.  But now it’s time to challenge those who, because of the doctrine of predestination, have concluded prayer’s a useless exercise.  Or, even worse, a “cosmic joke.”  All Christians should be assured it isn’t because God has encouraged us to pray.

“Pray constantly…” (2 Thessalonians 5:17).  “…Always pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).  “…The prayer of faith will save the one who’s sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he’s committed sins, he’ll be forgiven.  So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness” (James 5:15-16).  Our gracious, loving God wouldn’t tell us to pray if it was worthless.

The reason believers are urged to pray isn’t to coerce God into changing what He’s decreed will happen.  It’s expressing to Him our willingness to be the means through which His will is done.  In other words, every one of God’s elect, being deliverers of the soul-saving Gospel to the lost, should insist God use them in any way He sees fit, no matter what’s entailed.

I’ll concede that if all things occur solely by random “chance” then praying is, indeed, a futile act.  However, since the Scriptures (which I hold to be God’s inerrant Word) teach prayer is regulated by the guidance of the Holy Spirit that lives in me, then my prayers have an important role to play in God’s master plan.

Pray to imitate God.  John Calvin wrote, “We’re taught to deny ourselves, that God may rule us according to His pleasure; and not only so, but also having annihilated our own may create new thoughts and new minds so we’ll have no desire save that of entire agreement with His will.”

Because of what God revealed to Jeremiah far in advance, Daniel knew Israel’s captivity would last exactly 70 years.  Nevertheless, as their exile was nearing its end, we’re told he prayed, pleading for God to have mercy on His chosen people.  “So now, our God, accept the prayer and requests of your servant, and show favor to your devastated sanctuary for your own sake” (Daniel 9:17).

Jesus, God incarnate, knew without a doubt His Father would resurrect Him after three days in the tomb.  Still, He prayed the night before His crucifixion, “I glorified You on earth by completing the work You gave me to do.”  He then requested, “And now, Father, glorify Me at your side with the glory I had with You before the world was created” (John 17:4-5).  Christ, our ultimate role model of righteousness, didn’t demand God “change His mind.”  Neither should we.

But what’s frequently preached today is that, via prayer, we’ll get whatever we want.  A.W. Pink wrote, “This popular belief reduces God to a servant, our servant; doing our bidding, performing our pleasure, granting our desires.  No; prayer’s a coming to God, telling Him my need, committing my way unto the Lord, and leaving Him to deal with it as seems best to Him.”

Because of the false teachings of the “prosperity gospel” proponents, many Christians understandably become discouraged when they conclude their prayers have gone unanswered.  That’s a shame because every single prayer a believer utters isn’t just heard but, without fail, gets answered.  The problem is God doesn’t always answer the way we want Him to.

Lazarus’ resurrection is a prime example.  He’d fallen ill and was near death.  His sisters notified Jesus ASAP.  However, they didn’t ask Him to heal their brother.  They trusted Jesus would do the right thing.  Did our Lord respond?  Yes.  But not how the sisters surely would’ve preferred.  He waited two whole days before starting toward Bethany.  Meanwhile, Lazarus died.  Of course, Jesus miraculously brought his decaying body back to life so He came through for the family.  Just not as quickly as they’d hoped.

1 John 5:14 provides clarification: “…This is the confidence we have before Him: that whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”  Our prayers should always be for God to fill our heart and mind with His desires so His and our desires will be identical.

The Bible addresses those who don’t automatically get what they pray for: “You don’t have because you don’t ask; you ask and don’t receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions” (James 4:2-3).  When we harbor disappointment in God’s response to our prayers we reveal our shameful lack of trust in Him.

Jesus did say, “…Whatever you ask the Father in My name He’ll give you” (John 16:23).  Therein lies the crucial caveat.  Pink wrote, “To apply to God for anything in Christ’s name, it must be in keeping with what Christ is!  …We can only ask God for what Christ would ask.”

It’s not always easy to know how God’s answered our prayer request, regardless of how humbly we presented it.  Usually He’s silent.  J.I. Packer wrote, “While you’re unclear as to God’s will, wait if you can; if you have to act, make what you think’s the best decision, and God will soon let you know if you’re not on the right track.”

Have I adequately answered the “Why pray?” question?  Unlikely.  Yet I remain positive there’s nothing contradictory about God’s sovereignty and Christian prayer.  What I’ve endeavored to stress most is that modern-day teachings about prayer are centered too much on us and not enough on God.

When Christ-followers start thinking they’re entitled to demand things from God, they inadvertently give non-Christians the impression that if the Lord had even half the compassion they or the person praying has, the world would be a utopian paradise.  That mindset denigrates God’s graciousness.

Bottom line: God has commanded His children to pray and to ask that His will be done, not ours.  I want what He wants.  That’s why I pray.