New Thoughts (12/16/04-12/21/04)
Two Baptisms (12/17/04)
John baptized with water, but Jesus came with a baptism of the Spirit and of fire. These are two distinct baptisms, as I saw in my last study. However, with John’s declaration announcing this difference, the distinction is explained. John baptized with water. Water is the substance by which the soul is refreshed, as Thayer’s Lexicon explains. Water was the symbol chosen for that baptism John performed, the baptism of repentance.
In looking at the previous section of the texts, I noted the fitness of baptism as a symbol for that awareness of sin that is the necessary precursor of salvation. It is not until we have drowned in our sins, as it were, recognized the helplessness of our situation, that we are willing to lay hold of the salvation that is ours. We have tasted death, as it were, and never did the hope of life look so sweet. Now, the baptism John performed was with water. Water was his chosen symbol. Why? Because, as noted before, it represents the refreshing of the soul. There has been agony, as our soul saw death looming. If we had been left only with the recognition of our sinful state, that agony would be all we knew for the rest of our days. But, John brought the first glimpse of hope, “repent, that you might be forgiven.” It was not yet salvation, but it was the hope of salvation, and that is refreshing indeed to a soul that has no hope.
Jesus would continue this first baptism in His ministry and in that of His disciples. But, as promised, there was something beyond the holding out of hope. There was the consummation of hope. Here was another baptism, one that could not be offered until His ministry had been completed. This was the baptism by fire. It was entry into the death He died, that we might live. It was the fulfillment of what Isaac had symbolized.
Abraham had been promised a posterity, yet he had but the one son of his old age. Into this, God spoke a command: “go, and sacrifice your son.” Was the faith of Abraham true? Would he still believe God’s promise was given in faithfulness when all about him pointed to the impossibility of it? Abraham passed the test. How he must have died inside as he approached that altar, yet he would not be dissuaded either of God’s goodness, or of His faithfulness. Whatever the circumstance, he knew God was able. Isaac, too, must have been dying inside. He was not a fool. He knew what was happening, and yet he submitted to it. If this death was required by God, then so be it. His life was God’s doing anyway. What right had the creation in opposing the Creator?
Return to Jesus. He, too, is an only Son. He, too, was called by God to willingly approach the altar, to be the sacrifice. But, how different was He from the type of Isaac! He went not as a sacrifice for the sins of a few – for the tribe of Abraham was but a small portion of humanity, He went as a sacrifice for the sins of every man that ever was or ever would be. Also, Isaac had gone to the altar a sinner. He had an awareness of his own failures, his own guilt before the pure and holy Judge. He could, perhaps, accept that he deserved the death he was commanded to die. Jesus faced death having committed no sin. In no way could He accept that death as a fit punishment for Himself. He was not dying for His own sins, because He had none. He was dying fully aware that His death was given as payment for the sins of all mankind.
Every man has sinned. Every man is guilty of the death penalty which is the fit punishment for his offenses against a holy God. He has been a traitor to the kingdom of heaven, and even amongst the nations of the earth, treason is paid for by one’s life when found out. That is the reality for every man. That is the hopeless situation each one of us is in until somebody calls us out of it, until somebody points out the One who paid our debts, and tells us how we might know salvation at His hands. “Repent! Turn from your wicked ways, that you might be forgiven! Lay yourself on the mercy of His court, for that mercy is new every morning!” Mercy stands before us, as we come out of the waters of John’s baptism, of the baptism of repentance, but Mercy is a fearsome thing to behold, for He stands as a flaming fire.
He is the All Consuming One. Those who have beheld even the hint of Him have been overwhelmed by the fiery Presence. To Moses, He was seen in the bush – ever burning, never consumed. Is that not what we are called to be? Talk about a baptism by fire! That bush was drowned in fire. It ought to have been roasted and dead, yet when its mission was completed, it would emerge whole and living. It is no different for us. When the real baptism of Christ comes upon us, it will wholly envelop us. It will purify us entire. It will sanctify. It will burn continuously, for that purity it brings is of a heavenly nature, not inclined to pass away. Yet, it will not consume us, only change us.
To the Israelites, He came as a pillar of fire. That fire indeed consumed, but it consumed the enemies of the kingdom. The fire of God remains deadly to those who will not lay down their arms and cease their rebellion against the true King. It is the fire of God that burns up the chaff, that destroys the fruitless branch, the eliminates every worthless thing from His presence, leaving Him in the pure atmosphere that is His pleasure. We, who have tasted His baptism, are called to be pillars in His house, pillars of fire, for I am convinced His house is a house of fire – fire to cleanse all that would approach His throne. We are called to be purifiers: to shed light into the dark places of men’s lives, that they might see themselves as they are; to destroy every false hope within them, that they might lay hold of a real hope, an eternal hope; to bring them a little pain now, that they might not experience the eternal torment that awaits them on the course they’re on.
The prophets, when they caught a glimpse of heaven and its King, saw a King blazing with the fire of His purity. “He had fire in His eyes.” This is why we must be baptized in fire! Fire is the symbol of purification. Though we continue to use water as the symbolic material of baptism, it is the fire that really does the work. Fire must burn away all that is dead in us, that the living might step forth. Fire must destroy all that is worthless in us, that what is of worth might grow and flourish in the ashes of that remain. All that remains of the flesh in us must die, that the spiritual in us might live.
That is the baptism Jesus brought to man. The soul, as we understand, does not ever truly die, yet the soul in us is in an eternal state of dying until we lay hold of the death of Christ. Until we have been baptized into repentance, such that we might seek the benefit He purchased at so dear a price, and until we have been baptized into His death and His resurrection, that we might gain that benefit, we are dead men. We move, we breathe, but we are dead. In our future, there lies nothing but an eternity of approaching death, of suffering death, yet never with finality. We enter the fire, but only to be burned up.
By the grace of God, though, we are given to emerge from the flames, with all that is not fit for heaven burned away. We emerge not singed and smudged, but like Daniel in the furnace, we come out with not even the scent of smoke upon us! It is a fire not of consuming, although it will consume every last shred of our unrighteousness. It is a fire of purification, of sanctification. It is a fire enlivened by the Holy Spirit. He is the purification within the flames. It is His fire that John saw in the eyes of God. It is His fire that descended upon the heads of those in the upper room. It is His fire that comes into the life of every man who believes the Word of the Lord, and commits himself to the Lordship of the Son.
As Paul reminded Titus, our salvation did not come as a fit reward for some good deeds we had done. Rather, He saved us because to do so fit with His mercy. How did He save us? He saved us by the baptism of repentance, and by the baptism of purification. Paul words it this way, “The washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Ti 3:5). The words differ, but the answer remains the same. The washing of regeneration is none other than the baptism of repentance. At the moment we repent of our sins, at the moment we confess our real condition before a Holy God, He comes with the robes of righteousness, the robes purchased by Jesus’ blood, and applies the righteousness of Christ to our debt, washing away the record of our sins, and beginning the long scrubbing that will remove the traces of those sins from our souls. The renewing of the Holy Spirit is the baptism of fire. As He enters into our lives, our lives are changed. What is not fit for His presence is burned away by His presence. Yet, we are not consumed, for even as He burns away the sinful fibers of our life, He is growing within us a new core of purity, a core of purest gold, tested, tried, and true.
All of this by His own grace is made ours. We are justified by His grace, heirs to eternal life by His grace (Ti 3:7), called to the twin baptisms by His grace. The righteousness in which He has clothed us is ours, yet not ours. It was not our own before He draped it upon us. It belonged to His Son. He has taken from His Sons infinite righteousness to supply us with a righteousness we could have by no other means. He has given us of that righteousness for the simple reason that it pleases Him to do so. It was not because of our own works of righteousness. If there are indeed any works of righteousness we can call our own in any sense, it is because He has placed His righteousness upon us.
God, how wonderful to know that You have been pleased to do this for me. Thank You! Thank You, thank You, thank You! What words could ever hope to express the gratefulness I feel? What words could ever be enough? What could I hope to offer You that might properly show it? There is nothing I can give, Lord, yet I would that I could truly give You all. Even then, I will not have given You what You deserve, yet I offer it up. I know I am weak, Lord, as do You. I offer You my all, then, knowing that except You empower me to do so truly, I will doubtless fall short. But, it is my desire, God. It is my desire that You would take this life, and turn it wholly to Your purpose, to Your pleasure, for Your pleasure is a good pleasure, and what pleases You can only be good.
Lord, God, I find that in spite of my confidence in Your salvation, my heart still cries out the same questions that came from those John was baptizing: What can I do that will show forth the fruits of this repentance? What can I do that will show forth the fruits of Your salvation? I know the answers, yet seem unable to apply the specifics. Speak, Holy Spirit, to my ears when those situation s are come that You would have me shed the light of God into. Don’t let me be found amongst those who shrink back from the task You assign. Fill me with the boldness and the wisdom to bear Your presence into every situation that I face. Let me show forth the truth of my salvation by the fruits of repentance and righteousness in my life. My eyes must see this, Lord, lest I faint! I must! Yet, in all that it is only by Your grace, and this I know very well. I simply long to see Your grace more active in my day to day, Lord. I long to see Your Light in my life even during working hours, even during commuting hours, even during parenting hours. Don’t suffer me to compartmentalize my spirituality, but let it flow unstoppably from everything I do. Drench me in the flames of purity, Lord. The water of repentance shall be the refreshing of my soul, but the purifying fire must breathe life into my soul as well. Let it be so, I pray, let it be so.
Israel and the Church (12/18/04)
Clearly, the arrival of John on the scene declared a warning to the Temple and to its leadership. The warning to the Temple was much the same as that which was given to the people at large. “Repent of your wicked ways, for the One you claim to worship is coming to clean up His house.” So many of Jesus’ parables would pick up on this same Truth. The Master returns to find the slaves have not been taking proper care of His properties, so the slaves are punished. But, the brunt of the punishment belongs to the overseer, the one whose responsibility was to keep the rest about their proper duties.
This was the core message to the Temple: If the nation has failed, if Israel has lost faith in God, the fault lies with the leaders, with the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Have the people gone astray into Hellenistic lifestyles? Are the Herodians on the rise? What other reason can be found for this than that the leadership of the Temple has been infected by the same disease? If religion has become but a branch of politics and power, then it is no wonder that the sons of God have gone wandering far afield. Where is the example for them to follow?
Now, I notice that even in the opening salvo that was John, the warning that the Promise was moving is given. The tree is being cut down. Israel, planted by God was proving fruitless, and He would no longer tolerate the precious land of His vineyard being wasted for no return. The tree is being cut down, but the land will not be left wasted. The vineyard will be of as little use with no tree as with a fruitless tree. No, something new would be planted, a fruitful branch grafted in. This was a message, certainly, for all Israel, for the whole nation of God’s people. However, it was more specifically a message to the leadership of God’s people. That leadership was not to be found in the house of Herod. The leadership that mattered was to be found in the Temple. It was the Pharisees and the Sadducees who bore the brunt of this rebuke because it was to them that the power of the Temple had devolved. They were in charge of the Holy of Holies. They were in charge of the spiritual health of the nation, and they had failed their charge.
I find it intriguing that in the present passage there is this glimpse into the history that led up to the moment. There is mention of Abraham, the one to whom the promise was given. The people of Israel, even to this day understand that much, and think to find security in the simple fact of being a Jew by birth. It is not enough. It never was. Only the chosen sons of Abraham were allowed to inherit the promise, and every one of them had to come to grips with God for himself. Abraham’s righteousness was never enough for his sons. Never. It was not, in the end, his righteousness that brought the promise to the nations. Each generation had to lay hold of the promise for themselves. It was never, ever, guaranteed. It was not constrained by the wishes of the nation. It went to those God chose.
Abraham’s purpose was the Temple’s purpose, is the Church’s purpose. It is one purpose: to preserve the Truth, most critically, the truth regarding salvation, and to declare that Truth to the world. Abraham’s world was relatively small. In large part, it consisted of his family, and a few neighboring tribes in Canaan. He declared God’s Truth faithfully, and it is because of this that Isaac knew Truth and pursued it. It is because of this that Isaac also declared God’s Truth, such that his child Jacob would, in spite of a bad start, lay hold of the promise in the end. So it continued for the first few generations, each declaring the Truth of God to the next, ensuring that as generation succeeded generation, there would always be a voice declaring God’s Truth. There would always be the Promise. Salvation would never be lost from sight, no matter how ugly things got.
In time, the nation of Israel was settled in the land, yet the mission had never changed. Israel was planted on the major trade crossroads of the region, put in a place where it could not be ignored. It was planted there with a mission: to declare the Truth of God, to make His Truth evident to the nations passing through their lands, that the world might know. Somewhere along the way, though, Israel decided that God was for them alone. We can trace this, perhaps, to the prevailing understanding of the pagans of that age, that each nation had its god. Thus, we might look at this misunderstanding as yet another case of the people of God being shaped by the world, rather than shaping the world to God’s blueprint.
Still, as misguided as they were, the Temple leadership was at least still primarily concerned with God, and with godliness. Into that setting came the Hasidic movement, a movement deeply concerned with being truly righteous, with coming into real compliance with the impossible Mosaic Law. In time, the Pharisees appeared, a shoot off of the Hasidic sect. Yet, they were not immediately known as Pharisees. They began, by referring to themselves as the saints, the sanctified ones. Of course, this is the very same title that Christians tended to refer to each other by. To be a saint is to be separated to God’s purposes, devoted to Him and to His use. It is a declaration of “Yours and Yours alone”. More than a declaration, it’s a living out of that truth, and as such, it is a faithfulness to the call of God, to make His Truth evident to the surrounding world. The point I would like to make from this is that the Pharisees started out on a course every bit as good as the Christians.
However, the world began to shape the movement. As much as they were set apart for God, their concerns began to turn more towards the nation than towards heaven. The intrigues of politics crept their way into the Pharisaic agenda, and in time, their opposition to the Hasmonean throne became more important to them than their unity with the God of Israel. This shift of focus was declared in the shift of name by which the sect went. No longer did they call themselves the saints, the ones set apart for God alone. They were merely the separatists. What began as a movement towards personal purity had fallen into a display of social acceptance. What began in seeking to please God fell into pleasing society and self. It felt good to have the peoples’ awed respect. Never mind that such awe should not be felt towards any man. It felt good, and that was enough. Their lives were making a statement, and that was enough.
But, the shift in their focus led to other deviations from the plan of God. God had planted Israel to be a guidepost to the nations, to make His name known in all the world, but the Pharisees, so focused on being separated, shunned everybody that was not from their own ranks. Indeed, they found the very idea of any association with any Gentile to be a matter of defilement. How, then, could they hope to present God’s Truth, if they would not even associate with those most in need of hearing it?
The Sadducees were no better. Indeed, in many ways they were worse. Their name bespoke righteousness, yet it was not for righteousness they were named. They liked the reputation, mind you, but it had little or nothing to do with their daily life. No, for them, the sect’s name bespoke lineage, the honor of ancestry, and no more. They were the sons of Zadok, the proper inheritors of the office of high priest. They were the elite, and they loved being the elite. They would not allow such modern inventions to infest their religion as the Pharisees had. No oral traditions for them! If it wasn’t in Torah, it wasn’t in. We think of the Pharisees as the fundamentalists of their day, and that may not be too far off. But, if they were the fundamentalists, the Sadducees were the staid, grand old denominations, the protectors of the pure doctrine handed down long centuries ago.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. There is much to be said for preserving sound doctrine, to insisting on Truth over novelty. However, when that purpose is allowed to decline, to come to the point of thinking its understanding perfect and beyond all correction, then doctrine has become idol. Here was the great divide, or one great divide between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: the Sadducees denied the existence of spiritual beings, denied the possibility of direct spiritual communication from heaven; the Pharisees did not. Never mind the possibility of resurrection, another great dividing point, this one was really at the core of the contention. If there is not spiritual being, there is not spirit realm, there is no life hereafter, and whatever it takes to survive this present life is what matters.
Now, I have heard it said that if we allow for modern-day spiritual direct lines of communication, then we have eliminated all possibility of argument. When one side declares that God told them to do or believe as they do, what room is left for debate? There is certainly some truth to that view. However, if we have shut down all possibility of God speaking into our lives, have we not just as fully shut down debate? If we have allowed our doctrine to set so firmly, and cannot any longer hear the voice of God when He is telling us that our doctrine is wrong, what then? This was the state of the Sadducees; inheritors of power, dead set certain that their interpretation of things was right, that all that God was ever going to say had been said, and nobody could gainsay that this was so.
Into this steps John. “The axe is laid at the root of your fruitless pretensions.” If the vineyard is fruitless, it will be replanted. Over and over, this same message is replayed through Jesus’ own teaching. There is the parable related in Luke 13:6-9, the tree had been planted for three years now, and still there was no fruit to be seen from it. This coming near the end of Jesus’ ministry, clearly points back to the scenes of this present passage. The tree was planted in the baptism of repentance. The warning had been delivered to the Temple, an insistence that they put aside their appearances and return to a reality of faith in God. The call had been placed, but the call had been ignored. Now follows the promise of the keeper of that vineyard, that he would, if given one more year, fertilize that tree most fully, tend it most carefully, and if in that time it still failed to produce, then certainly God was in His rights to cut it down.
Three years had passed. Three years of God walking among mankind, preaching the message John began, displaying the Truth of God as Israel had been called to do. Three years there stood in Israel One who would do as Israel was called to do – displaying powerfully that God was indeed God, that He was righteous and true. Three years, by word and by example, He prodded the religious community to take up its task once more, to set aside its pretense, to repent of its worldliness, and be restored to the full purpose of God. There had been no response, or very little. One year remained. The fertilizer would be rich indeed! I think this last remaining year must speak of that period in which the seeds of the Christian church were planted in Jerusalem, struggling to grow amidst the weeds. For a year, the center of God’s purpose would remain there, then it was moving on. He would plant His new tree in a place where it could thrive. The tree that was Israel was cut down. The new tree that would become Christianity was planted in its place.
The Church was planted in Israel’s place and given Israel’s purpose. Sadly, when I look at the Pharisees and the Sadducees that represented the church of God in Israel, I see too many parallels to the church of God today. There are many, perhaps even a majority, that lay claim to being Christians, yet show no signs of actually being Christians. There are many denominations that, like the Pharisees, have shaped the Law of God to fit their own meager capabilities. They declare themselves righteous, but they have lowered the standard almost to the ground in order to achieve this.
There are others who hold to what is written, what is ancient, and deny all possibility of correction. What was determined to be true four hundred years ago is the truth. Period. There can be no discussion. The God Whom we declare never changing has apparently changed in this much: He no longer speaks to His children. He no longer sends His messengers to the sons of man. I guess He changed after all.
There are too many churches today that care not a whit for doctrine, who care not a whit for what is written in Scripture. They want the name of Christianity, but they want nothing more of what Christianity is. They want the honor that goes with being religious. They want the prestige of ancient tradition, of being a longstanding church, but they don’t want to hold with tradition, don’t want to stand with the church. They want God to be what they want to be. They will cheerfully cut away huge swaths of Scripture for the simple reason that those sections disagree with their opinion. They will declare to their fellows a Jesus who never was, a God who never was. They will insist that God look like them, and in this they declare the real core of their belief. They worship the idol of self. They insist that whatever their own sins and foibles are, God shares them, so it’s ok. These bear the name of Christ, but have nothing to do with Him.
For all these, the warnings that were given to Israel two thousand years ago should be heard with fear and trembling. The same shaking, the same pruning, the same elimination of all that is useless is hanging over the Church today. The same message is being shouted into deaf ears. All that will not bear fruit will be eliminated. All that is not seeking God on His terms will be eliminated. For centuries, the tree has been taking up space in the vineyard, yet there has been no fruit from it in ages. If it will not respond to the Gardener’s ministrations, it will be cut away and burned. God will have a fruitful harvest, and it will come on His terms and no other.
The example seen in this passage shows the representatives of religion standing about, putting on appearances. They’re doing their level best to look good, but the look is only in their own eyes. Meanwhile, the soldiers, the unreachable, the scum of the earth, are coming in earnest. The ones who should have heard are too busy looking righteous to repent. The ones they despise are repenting in earnest. Is it that different today? So many denominations trying to look good, trying to define a good they can actually manage to look like; so many denominations trying to make themselves presentable to the world, trying to dress up God in the latest fashions; so many denominations so determined to resist any and all change that they have refused God’s voice. Each of them claims to speak for God. Each of them claims to be declaring what is right and true and good. And to them all, the word of God comes with a question: “How can you expect to say what is good? The mouth can only speak what fills the heart” (Mt 12:34).
The pruning will come. When it comes, expect to hear shouts of joy in the camp of the enemy, for they will see only the fall of the Church. They will rejoice to see the demise of the army of God. What they neglect to notice, though, is that the army has been made stronger for the pruning. Where useless briars had grown, there are now strong trees. Where weak and fearful soldiers once stood, there are now dedicated, well-trained, seasoned men of war. The ranks have not grown thinner as the enemy thought, but have grown stronger, thicker, impregnable. What had seemed to signal certain victory for the principalities that have occupied the throne of the world actually signaled their demise. Their doom was ever certain, but in this final pruning, it will be sealed. And all creation will rejoice to see the sons of God fully and truly revealed, for the day of their deliverance is come!
Wow! I thought I was done for today, and then I see this in today’s entry from Spurgeon’s devotional. It’s so tightly integrated with what I’ve just been writing that I really think I must include it here entire.
God, You are just so cool! Yet, at the same time, I’ve got to admit that it’s a fearsome coolness. For weeks now, You’ve been hammering on this theme: real repentance. Everywhere I turn, the message comes again and again and again. Indeed, every study, every sermon, every way that You speak to me, the message is largely the same. Am I getting it, Holy Spirit? Or, have I simply allowed it to excite emotions that change nothing? Are those fruits showing in my own life? God! Let it be so! Prune away whatever habits, whatever desires, whatever sins are holding me back from fruitful growth in You. Let my spirit truly hear the warning cry, and truly heed the warning. May You find fruit from having planted me in Your courts, Lord. Show me, even today, Jesus, where I have crowded You out. Breathe life into my branches. Wash me in the water of Your Word, and let it nourish every fiber of my being. Don’t let it be just show. Don’t allow me to delude myself. Cleanse me, oh Lord!
"Rend your heart, and not your garments." Joel 2:13
“Garment-rendering and other outward signs of religious emotion, are easily manifested and are frequently hypocritical; but to feel true repentance is far more difficult, and consequently far less common. Men will attend to the most multiplied and minute ceremonial regulations--for such things are pleasing to the flesh--but true religion is too humbling, too heart-searching, too thorough for the tastes of the carnal men; they prefer something more ostentatious, flimsy, and worldly. Outward observances are temporarily comfortable; eye and ear are pleased; self-conceit is fed, and self- righteousness is puffed up: but they are ultimately delusive, for in the article of death, and at the day of judgment, the soul needs something more substantial than ceremonies and rituals to lean upon. Apart from vital godliness all religion is utterly vain; offered without a sincere heart, every form of worship is a solemn sham and an impudent mockery of the majesty of heaven.
“HEART-RENDING is divinely wrought and solemnly felt. It is a secret grief which is personally experienced, not in mere form, but as a deep, soul-moving work of the Holy Spirit upon the inmost heart of each believer. It is not a matter to be merely talked of and believed in, but keenly and sensitively felt in every living child of the living God. It is powerfully humiliating, and completely sin-purging; but then it is sweetly preparative for those gracious consolations which proud unhumbled spirits are unable to receive; and it is distinctly discriminating, for it belongs to the elect of God, and to them alone.
“The text commands us to rend our hearts, but they are naturally hard as marble: how, then, can this be done? We must take them to Calvary: a dying Saviour's voice rent the rocks once, and it is as powerful now. O blessed Spirit, let us hear the death-cries of Jesus, and our hearts shall be rent even as men rend their vestures in the day of lamentation.”
Spiritual Wilderness (12/19/04-12/20/04)
What years of dead religion had produced in Israel was a spiritual wilderness. It was hardly the first time such a wilderness had appeared in Israel, but it came at a particularly critical time. It was because of the prevailing spiritual climate that John came to the region he did. It was the very climate that had been prophesied – a dead land full of hills and crevices, a rugged land in which any travel could be made only with difficulty. This is what the people of God had become to Him, a landscape in which real progress towards sanctification and righteousness could be made only with great difficulty. Everything about them mitigated against such efforts.
Recall what Isaiah had said of the place. There was need to build roads in the desert. The hills must be razed, the valleys filled in, the rugged places smoothed out, so that the King’s highway might make a straight path through the land (Isa 40:3-5). Fausset’s Bible Dictionary gives us a view to what some of these needs represented. There were hills of pride. This was particularly true of the religious leadership, so certain of their own righteousness that they could no longer see their own sins. This, of course, was the great complaint that Jesus had against them during His ministry. In an effort to feel good about themselves, they had blinded themselves to many of the basic truths of God’s word. They rejected the claim that no man is found righteous (Ps 143:2), and instead declared themselves to be righteous. The neglected their hearts in favor of appearances. They neglected Truth in favor of self-esteem.
There were valleys of degradation, continues the dictionary entry. Both the Pharisees and the Sadducees held all who disagreed with them in contempt. This necessarily included each other, for they were disagreed as to what the foundations of righteousness were. Thus, there was division in the leadership, with neither side right. And the people of Israel, far from being served by those charged with being their shepherds, were disdained for their very commonness. They would believe anything, as far as the religious authorities were concerned. They were dumb sheep. Well, where then were their shepherds? No, the shepherds had made of God’s people a true moral wilderness. They had been given charge of Abraham’s descendants and had made of them a nation with no place for God.
One thing to notice in all this is that, for the most part, the leadership had not given up belief in God, they had corrupted it. They were still quite aware of Him, but they no longer heard Him. They believed in Him, but they did not obey Him. Pride was in the way. To believe Him was to accept one’s real condition as a sinner. To believe Him was to admit that one was really no better than the rest of the people. To believe Him was to repent and turn from the errors that had been added to His guidebook. To believe Him was to put one’s attention on the much harder work of heart surgery.
There was another aspect in which the leadership had largely killed the nation. From the very first mention of the promise of God, He had made clear that Israel was to be a blessing to all the nations, that He was not only the God of Israel, but the God of all creation. He had made plain, through myriad prophecies, that through this seemingly insignificant nation, all the nations would come to know Truth; all the nations would come to Israel to seek the One True God. Somewhere along the way, Israel forgot this. They saw that other nations had kings, and they insisted on a king. They saw that other nations had national gods, and they insisted that their God be national. They saw that they were different than their neighbors, and rather than take up their holy mission, they insisted on changing their appearance so the neighbors would no longer think them strange. They gave up the Purpose of changing the world in God’s image, and chose to change God in the world’s image.
Thus, they moved from a purposeful evangelism, to a protectionist religion. God was theirs. He must be closely guarded, a national treasure. Foreign nationals must not be allowed near. Surely, it would be sacrilege to allow these unwashed heathens to approach Him! This is shocking. It is shocking because this was a people steeped in their historic faith. It is shocking because this was a people deeply concerned with the prophecies that were spoken over it. The scholars of Israel had poured over the prophetic message for centuries, seeking to discern every last detail of what had been spoken, probing the present to see if perhaps the time was now. The common folk were equally aware of the Messianic message. Many anxiously awaited Him. Many more had given up, yet they could not give up on what they did not know. So, they looked to the prophets to see when and where He might come. Everybody knew He must come from Bethlehem. Everybody knew He must come from David’s line. Everybody knew the details, but everybody had skipped over all those parts about His coming to all the nations. Everybody had erased those notes that the Gentiles would come to Him. No, when Messiah came, it would be for Israel, and Israel only.
Indeed, even in their hopes for Messiah, the corruption of religion showed. They no longer looked for a spiritual salvation. How could they, who thought their very ancestry marked them as righteous? They bore the mark, what else could possibly be required of them? No, they wanted a material salvation. They wanted national pride to be assuaged. They wanted the Roman Empire off their backs. They wanted to feed their pride amongst the nations of the earth, and they wanted to be proud on the world’s terms.
All of this comes down pretty hard on Israel. Indeed, most of Scripture, Old Testament and New, comes down pretty hard on Israel. Today, it gets labeled as racism, anti-Semitism, what have you, but it’s God’s word speaking the message! If these are His people, and He is their God, that’s pretty harsh, isn’t it? Why would He do such a thing? What assessment can He expect people to make looking at the people He has chosen?
Well, it is clear to me that whatever we see of Israel’s nature we’d best take a very good look at ourselves for. Their history is recorded with all its blemishes for the very reason that none are found righteous. Their history is recorded as a warning and a lesson for us. It is not given to impress the unbeliever, but to teach the believer. If we stop with reading the record and saying, “Ah, those poor, misguided Jews,” or “what an evil people,” then we have failed utterly to understand God’s point. Every failure of Israel, a people who had the supreme advantage in the things of God, we’d best hear it shouting to us to look to ourselves! How do we stand up?
We have not lost the talent for looking righteous. We practice it weekly. We go into our churches of a Sunday, perhaps more often, and put on our righteousness makeup. The last thing we want is for our fellow parishioners to think we have a problem with sin in our lives! But, God’s already said that there’s not a single member of the Church that’s really righteous. Who are we kidding? Until we get past that, we’re not going anywhere! The mountains of pride remain to be leveled in us.
Neither have we lost the power of disdain. How many can you name among your weekly acquaintances that you have labeled as being beyond saving? You may not say it out loud, because that would be less than righteous, wouldn’t it? Yet, by our actions, how often has the declaration been made? If they’re not beyond saving, why is there no effort on our part to save them? If we really think them capable of maybe, just maybe, accepting God’s offer of redemption, why do we withhold it from them?
Maybe this doesn’t apply to everybody, but I’ll bet, from my own experience, that it applies to more than not. It surely applies to me, sad to say. There is something that shuts my mouth when I’m there at work, something that cannot quite bring myself to declare the full Truth of God. How can it be? It’s nothing but perhaps the fear of ridicule, of being unpopular, of being rejected. This is no different than Israel wanting their God to look like everybody else’s. It’s the same problem, and it requires the same solution.
God, I want to say I truly repent of this. I want to not only say it, but to really mean it. There are things in the heart of me that are intolerable, yet seem so resistant to change. I know I have cried out to You many times to come repair what’s wrong. Even yesterday, I called upon You to show me what the issue is. Lord, I know the issue. I know the fix, for that matter, because You are ever declaring it. It’s been shouting from everything, even my own writing and thinking. “Repent!” It sounds so simple, Father, yet it is an impossibility without You.
Holy Spirit, You went to great lengths to plant in me the firm, unshakeable understanding that when You are involved, ‘impossible’ doesn’t even apply at all to the situation, yet I still look at myself, at my need for change, and say, “it’s impossible.” How can this be? What will it take, God, to shake me of this habit of looking at things only in my own strength? How long must I continue in the same mistakes? I need You. I need You to work what only You can work in me. I need Your possibility to lay hold of my impossible. I need Your invasion, Lord, to make me like You, to conform me to Your will and fit me to Your purpose. I invite that invasion, beg for it! I fear for the lack of fruit I see in my life, and I know that in myself I am powerless to do anything about it. But, with You, all things are possible! You, Lord, can make this barren plain a garden for Your delight. Jesus! Come breathe life into this clay! Build a shout in me that nothing can contain! You took Peter from a cowardly weakness to a holy boldness. You can do the same with this flesh. Bring the change, Lord, bring the change!
I’ve got to note that this thing has been resonating in me all day. It is such a revelation, in spite of its feeling so obvious after the fact. We are called to repent, and in that calling we are called to the impossible. We can’t do it! The call to repentance may well lead us to put great effort into answering the call, and it is that very effort that will drown us in the depth of our sins. The more we try to repent, the greater our realization that we are indeed slaves to sin. It is then, and only then, that we can understand the true scope of our need, understand just how terrible is our condition.
Into that hopelessness that must come with such a realization, we are faced with a choice: the choice between Zacharias and Mary. We can look at the situation and say, “How am I supposed to do this, God? It’s impossible!” or we can hear the message God gave to Mary, “When you are with Me, when you are in agreement with me, all things are possible. ‘Impossible’ doesn’t apply to Me.” The point is this: so long as we insist on repenting in our own strength, the best we can hope for is to become Pharisees. We can lower the standards to a point at which we can comply, but we can never really comply to the true standards. Until we let go of that vain hope and lay hold of the hope that is in Christ Jesus, we will know only anguish of soul as we recognize failure after failure in ourselves. That, or we’ll become so cold to the Truth of God that we begin to think we really have attained to righteousness on our own. Woe to us, if that is our story, for in that moment we have ceased to struggle against our bonds.
Spiritual Fruitfulness (12/20/04)
Yet, there remains that demand John made of his hearers. Let your lives reflect the repentance you seek to claim here! If it’s impossible, why was he so insistent? Well, when I look at the specific examples he gave to people, he was not asking the impossible from them. He was setting achievable goals. To the taxman, all he said was, “don’t charge more than Rome truly requires.” To the soldier, he in essence said, “don’t abuse your power for sordid gain.” So, was John lowering the standard of righteousness? Had he subscribed to the Codex of the Achievable? Not at all. He knew full well that true repentance required something beyond man to achieve. However, only those truly bent on the unachievable goal would be bothered to pursue the achievable goal he set before them. It was a symbolic gesture, a sign of heartfelt desire. It was not to be understood as the real deal, nor were those who came with a true heart of repentance likely to mistake it for such.
John was embattled against appearances. It is not possible that he would preach a repentance of appearance only. That was the whole point! Don’t come here looking for the sign, if the reality isn’t a part of you. That was the challenge he threw out to all who came to him. The sign is worthless without the reality behind it. There’s a message we need to hear continually! Church attendance is worthless if the heart’s not in it. Communion is deadly to the soul when it is taken by a heart that doesn’t care a whit for God. All of religion is but the seal on a tomb when it is allowed to become a matter of appearances. We join the ranks of white-washed sepulchers that populated the Jerusalem Jesus knew – sparkling clean on the outside, but inside, full of death.
The issue of repentance is the issue of fruitfulness – spiritual fruitfulness. Now, just as the gifts of the Spirit cannot be prevalent except the Holy Spirit is there to give them, just so, the fruits of the Spirit, that begin with the fruit of repentance, cannot grow where He is not. It is obvious, and yet, we miss it. It is plain truth, and yet we forget it constantly. We cannot have the fruit of the Spirit on main strength. We cannot show fruits of repentance by our own power. It’s beyond us.
Consider the fruits that Paul attributes to the Holy Spirit: goodness, righteousness, truth (Eph 5:9). How can we think to exhibit goodness, when Jesus Himself tells us that no man is good, only God (Mk 10:18, Lk 18:19)? Who among us will lay claim to righteousness, when God has long since pronounced judgment: “There is none righteous, not even one” (Ro 3:10). Truth? We suppress it in our unrighteousness (Ro 1:18)! We exchanged Truth for a lie (Ro 1:25), just like Adam. How can we think to produce spiritual fruits from such a body of death? The mouth can only speak what is in the heart. The flesh can only bear the image of the soul it contains. Any display we might put on must be hollow indeed, a clay mask that will crack in a moment’s time, leaving us exposed for what we really are. And we parade these masks before a God who sees right through them!
Read that verse that follows Paul’s list of spiritual fruits. “Seek to learn what pleases the Lord” (Eph 5:10). What pleases Him is when we finally get a grip, and recognize that things are beyond us. What pleases Him is when we finally admit that goodness is not in us, righteousness is not in us, and turn to Him wholly and completely. What pleases Him is when we stop pretending we are strong, and lay hold of Him to carry us through. What pleases Him is when we finally obey the command to confess our sins one to another in the body! We’re too busy parading our righteousness to admit that we have problems. Our children know us better than that. They’re not fooled. We know ourselves well enough that we’re not fooled by those around us. The pastors know us too well to believe the act. When the cracks start to show, they’ll be among the first to hear about it, whether in our own cries for help, or the complaints of those who have been hit by the shards of our broken façade. If there is anybody fooled, it is only ourselves, in thinking that we have fooled somebody.
No, John wasn’t looking for a simple, achievable righteousness. I really love what was said of him: “To John, repentance was a radical reality.” It was radical because nobody had ever pursued repentance after the fashion he modeled. It was something new to see somebody who wasn’t pretending everything was fine between them and God. It was reality because it wasn’t John doing the work. It was the Holy Spirit hard at work in that man, empowering his stand for righteousness, enabling his true repentance from all that stood between him and a holy God. When he spoke of the axe being laid to the tree, he was speaking from personal experience, not simply lashing out at the opposition. He had experienced the painful pruning that living for God requires. He had felt every thing in his life that was not the fruit of the Spirit being eliminated. He preached nothing more and nothing less than what he had undergone himself. He required nothing more and nothing less from his hearers than had been required of him. “Repent and be baptized.” Recognize that you are drowning in your sins. Recognize that all your posturing is getting you nowhere, that your ‘righteousness’ is no more than filthy rags. Admit you can’t do it, and come to the One who can. Lay yourself on His mercy, and stop trying to show him what a good boy you are. There is no other hope.
The Power of Spiritual Reality (12/21/04)
This is where John shone. His was not a spiritual pretense, but a spiritual reality. What he preached to the people that came to him was not spiritual pretense, but spiritual reality. When he told the tax collector to collect only what was necessary, he wasn’t suggesting that this one act would make the man repentant. What he was suggesting was that the man made repentant would transform not only himself, but his work as well. This is something that the world fights against. They don’t want faith displayed in the workplace. They want it to be something compartmentalized; acceptable, but only in its place. Spiritual reality can’t do that. If it’s real, it’s going to be part of everything we are and do.
The power of repentance, when God has really got hold of us, is going to change us so radically, that we in turn will change our workplace. It may begin only in our little corner of that place. It may seem like little is happening. But, as we allow God to work in us, as we refuse to allow His work in us to be contained and constrained, it’s going to make a difference. It’s going to make a difference in how we go about our work. It’s going to make a difference in how we interact with those we work with and among. It’s going to make a difference, and that difference is going to be noticed.
Face it. Many of us spend more time with our co-workers than with our own families, at least counting waking hours. If something radical has occurred in our demeanor, don’t you think they’re going to notice it? Now, the first reactions may range from labeling us as whackos, to simply noticing the difference and moving on. But, God will assuredly honor the commitment we have made to Him. God will assuredly take the opportunity to use our radical transformation by His hands to draw those around us whom He has chosen to call to Himself. They will eventually not only notice the difference in us, but they will notice the difference in the results of our labors.
I hear repeatedly how the successful business operations are modeled on Christian principles, whether knowingly or not. What I find mildly amusing about this is that the Church is now busy importing those business models to itself. That’s so backwards! Having discovered that we truly have the power to transform how business is done, we are inviting them to come transform us? What can possibly be the outcome of that? Either we have paid these fine people to tell us what we already know, or we are paying the devil to come corrupt God’s family. Either outcome is emptying the Temple treasuries to no good end. They should be paying us to come and show them how it’s done!
From my own experience, I can tell you that overt displays of Christianity can be the kiss of death on a job search. Care to know why? Because the overt ones tend to spend more time on the job pursuing their Christian interests than doing what they were paid to do. That’s not a repentant lifestyle, that’s sin using righteousness as an excuse. This has been seen over and over again, and so, the hiring manager scans the applicants, notes another one of ‘those,’ and puts that application aside. No need for further questions. It happens, trust me. When I was in charge of hiring at one small company, the first thing I was taught was how to filter out the bulk of the applications, so that I need only interview the handful that remained. The goal was to take the pile down to almost nil without having to work too hard at it. One of the easy filtering methods that I was taught was to immediately reject any application that listed a pastor, priest, minister, or what have you as a reference.
I’ll say this. When we finally get down to living the way Christ taught us to live, when we understand that Christianity is not an excuse for laziness, when we realize that the Christian ought to be the model citizen, the model employee, the most desirable candidate for any position; when this becomes our radical reality, the picture’s going to change. They may sneer at the thought that we pray over and about our work. They may find us incurably optimistic, although that’s not necessarily going to be the case. They may find our commitment to home and family odd in a society of workaholics. But, when we walk in radical repentant reality they’re going to notice something else, as well. The work is done, the work is done well, and things are generally going smoother than it is elsewhere. They’re going to see the power of principled labor. They’re going to discover that dishonest practices and a cheat to win mentality are not necessary preconditions to success.
I work in a trade that pretty much expects long hours from its labor force. Fifty to sixty hours’ work for a forty hour paycheck is not an uncommon expectation. Schedules are set on this expectation, and the threat of job loss is a pretty strong incentive to meet those schedules. Yet, it is possible to actually do the job in a regular forty hour week. It shocks everybody to discover that it is so, but it is. All it takes is less chat-time, less idle time, and more attention to the task at hand. I watch my coworkers work late, head home, put the kids to bed, and resume their labors from home, and I don’t get it. They’re no more efficient for having done so. They’re not getting any more done, they’re just spending more time to do it. They’re tired, they’re unhappy, they pretty much have no life, and they just can’t figure it out.
These folks will see perhaps two models of Christianity in the course of their work. They will almost certainly meet workers of the first type, who put in their forty hours, give a lackluster effort, and are convinced it’s OK because their attention is not on this world, but the next. Sounds great, but it’s just an excuse for slovenly practices. Scripture passes a pretty harsh sentence on sluggards. I’ve not noticed any verses singing their praises. Hopefully, they will also come across examples of the real thing. These, too, will likely hold to the forty hours they get paid for, won’t put in a lot of extra hours. But, the hours they put in will accomplish the assignments they have been given, and probably more. People may be surprised, but they’ll have no grounds for being upset by it.
Active Religion (12/21/04)
Here’s the core matter: Christianity is more than belief, more than philosophy, more than ideas. Christianity is action. John called the people to repentance, but it had to be more than just words. His baptism had no power in itself. The waters of the Jordan had no magical quality. The baptism just sealed the covenant that had already been entered into. The people came to confess their sins. They came to voice their agreement with the justice of God, and the verdict He had handed down in their case. They came to promise a change of heart, a change of life. This was the covenant that was being sealed in baptism. “Yes, Lord, You’re right. I am a sinner. I deserve the full penalty of the Law. But, with Your merciful help, I promise here and now that going forward, I will lay aside those sinful practices, and abide by the Law You laid down.” Like Abraham before us, it’s a promise we make fully aware that we can’t possibly keep it. Like Abraham before us, God enters into covenant just as fully aware of our incapacity. Like Abraham before us, He enters into that covenant with the assurance that He will not only uphold His end of the contract, but He will uphold ours as well.
There’s one more way in which the baptism of repentance follows the example of Abraham. It cannot stop at the contract signing. Agreements have been made, and they were necessary. Promises have been given, and these, too, were necessary. But, we must also fully engage in all that the agreements and promises pointed to. All three activities are required. It’s not enough to say, “I believe in God.” It’s not enough to pray the sinner’s prayer. There has to be action to accompany that faith. Faith that has no works of faith to show is no faith at all. It is a dead thing, empty words.
Repentance is the same way. The words of repentance are hollow things of no worth, if there is no change in action that follows upon them. Any parent knows this to be true. “I’m sorry” means nothing, in most cases, than “I’m sorry you caught me.” There’s no promise of change there, just annoyance at having been caught. Promises to behave differently are almost as empty. They reflect little more than a mind set on getting you off their back. “If I say this, they’ll be satisfied and leave me alone, and I can get back to what I was doing.” Our repentance before God can have these same tendencies. Yes, it causes us grief that we have been caught out, but it’s not godly sorrow. Yes, we will come to the altar promising to change, but we don’t even believe ourselves when we say so. We know full well that as soon as we’re out of sight of God’s house, we’ll be right back at it. Real repentance is going to take a whole lot more than that. It’s going to take effort.
The very real fact that real repentance is an impossibility for the human condition is not an excuse for us to cease from trying. No! It demands our greatest effort. Real faith was and is an impossibility for Abraham’s humanity, yet the acts that were required of him demanded incredible effort on his part. Offer up your only son? Act in a fashion completely contrary to every shred of survival instinct within you? Who among us could be that strong? Who among us could believe God sufficiently to see His true character when given such a task? Repentance is going to take just as much effort from us, and it’s going to take just as much faith in the God who is.
I am more convinced than ever that we can never truly repent until we confess – right along with our confession of sin – that repentance is beyond us. God, I promise to repent, but I cannot possibly repent except You bring it to pass. The prayer of repentance is a prayer of entreaty. It’s begging God to do what I cannot. It’s a promise to give it our best, even knowing that our best will never do. It’s a declaration of faith that God will be there to complete the task. It’s declaring in earnest belief that God will provide the repentance. It’s declaring with Paul that, “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it perfectly” (Php 1:6).
Faith, love, and repentance walk hand in hand. They are all active. Words of faith are dead without actions that display the faith we speak of is a reality. Words of repentance are hollow without a change of lifestyle that displays how much we really mean it. Words of love are cheap and worthless, if our actions deny the love we claim. God’s Word is constant on this theme. So, too, is man’s deliberate misinterpretation of it. If it weren’t for the latter, there’d be no need for the former.
Go back to Isaiah. You’ll find him correcting the pretenses of his generation. Yes, they came to the Temple religiously, offered their sacrifices for sin. Of course, they immediately departed the Temple precincts to start preparing the next batch of sin for which to sacrifice. They were become a callous, commercial society, bent only on their own profit margins, caring not a whit for any other Jew less fortunate than themselves. To such a people, Isaiah spoke God’s opinion. God doesn’t want, need, or really appreciate the sacrifices you’ve been bringing. You have not sought to please Him, but only to comfort your own misgivings. You know what God really wants from you? He wants you to share with those in need. The sacrifices He seeks are that you share your food with those around you who are going hungry; share your house with those who have no shelter from the cold; take some of those clothes out of the closet (you never wear them anyway) and give them to those you’ve been passing on the street that have nothing but rags to hide their nakedness (Isa 58:7).
You may have missed it, but John’s message was completely unchanged from this. It’s all very practical. He doesn’t require that we make ruin of our own lives to help. He simply says that if we have more than enough, we ought to recognize that it can be used more by those who have less than enough. If He has provided us with food in abundance, it’s not so we can over eat, it’s so that we can be the vessels by which His Provision comes to the hungry around us. If our closets are full to overflowing with clothes – if we have three or four winter coats from which to choose – it’s not so we can make an ever-changing fashion statement, it’s so that we can reach out to some poor soul who’s been shivering in the cold with nothing to so much as stop the wind. God does not give that we might horde. He gives that we might give unto others.
If we have truly laid hold of the call to repent, if we have truly laid hold of faith in God, if we have truly partaken of His love, we cannot sit idle. We cannot continue pretending that the need around us is not our problem. We cannot continue adopting the American lifestyle, the lifestyle that modern culture promotes. If it’s real, we’re going to have to be real. If it’s real, it’s going to show. James’ words on the subject seem harsh, and they are. Yet, they are only harsh because we know they’re words of Truth, and we know we’re falling short.
What’s the use of sharing your faith with somebody on the street if you won’t do something about his situation? You can see quite plainly that he has no means to even get a meal today, and yet all you do is say, “Smile, Jesus loves you!” What use is that? Is that going to save him? Far from it! More likely, your foolishness will drive that lost soul further into darkness. If you inform him that God will provide, yet offer no provision, what has he learned from you? No, a faith preached but not acted on is death in the wind. Faith that has no action to accompany it is not only death to those who hear of it, it is death to those who possess it. The faith you claim has died of starvation. Faith feeds on the works of faith. Yet, you fail to feed it. You think no more about your own faith than you do of that poor soul you left freezing on the streets. You have condemned both to the same death by starvation. Foolish man! Will you really tell everybody of your faith? Words! Empty words! How shall you convince me that what you say is true? Everything about you says otherwise. No, I’ll not tell you about my faith, I’ll show you my faith. The things I do, the compassion I have for those in need, the radical difference between me and the culture around me will all shout the message of my faith. Any words I might offer in support of my faith would be but confirmation of what is plainly evident in me. Are you even willing to understand? Faith without works is useless! (Jas 2:14-20).
Who was James talking to? He was talking to the Church. He was talking to the believers amongst whom he served. He was talking to you. He was talking to me. Here it is – critical mass! God is calling me, even as I’ve been typing this, to look around. The need lays all around me. So, too, does the wealth of His provision for me. I’ve been a fool. Here I am in a church that’s reaching out to the homeless – not handing them useless tracts, but handing them blankets, food, coats. How many winter coats do I have? At least three. What use are they to me? Is one not enough? How much are we spending on food each week? Why? Do we really need that much? Is variety and pleasure that important, that we can’t use that money for something else? What are we doing that shows a lost world the love of God? Praying for them? Telling them they need to be saved? That’s fine, but it’s not enough. We’ve told them to be warm and filled, but we’ve withheld the means we could have provided!
God, I’m as guilty as the ones James first wrote to. I’ve completely missed it. The opportunities have been all around me, and I’ve done nothing. Nothing! How can You stand it? In this season of giving, in this season when I join in the celebration of the Gift of great Worth that is Your Son, help me to really think about the sacrificial giving You displayed. Help me to display that same sacrificial giving, not to impress You, but because this is what You really have wanted of me all along. This is religion… Forgive me, Father, for misrepresenting You. Have mercy on my weakness, Lord, and give me the strength of character to truly lay hold of the commitment You’re asking for right now. Empower me to take the action that I know I must, so that in my weakness, You can be shown strong. Allow me to be the hands by which You touch somebody’s life. Allow me to be the field from which some hungry soul might glean. Allow me to be the warmth in which You wrap them from the cold.
