Yesterday, I looked at our call to self-denial. Today I will go just a bit farther with that same theme our renunciation of all things for Christ. And as with the first, many of us do not want to do the second because we treasure our worldly stuff, which is itself in a constant state of deterioration. Because stuff is a broad term which includes idol worship and a host of other evil practices, even mans religions and all that is associated within them. Why O Why is this so? At first thought it grips us with a flood of emotions, as we have placed great value on our stuff and because it is an emotional kind of thing we must of all necessity get rid of the things. Because our acquiring Christ and the true an accurate knowledge of Him is so essential to our own well being, any thing less is hypocrisy. And could keep one out of the Kingdom of GOD and heaven. After all we are NO longer our own. Today Pastor Hoekstra is looking at Grace and the person of Manasseh. Then I will move on using the ESV translation with all done under the watchful eye of my LORD. As I do all things through His name, being One with Him.
"Manasseh Humbling Himself before the Lord"
"Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was GOD." (2Chronicles 33:12-13)
"Manasseh's prideful rebellion against the LORD was astoundingly extensive. He was deeply engaged in abominable practices. He "caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists" (2Chronicles 33:6). Nevertheless, when he humbled himself before the LORD, GOD gave him Grace.
In the place of humility, phenomenal spiritual recovery can be experienced. The abominations that Manasseh perpetrated would seem to leave him no path for restoration. Yet, the scriptures are replete with declarations and testimonies of GOD's gracious response to those who humbly cry out to Him. The LORD invites such entreaties in the midst of great need. "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me" (Psalm 50:15). Even when the trouble would be captivity that resulted from rebellion, the LORD promised to hear and to deliver. "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I Will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I Will be found by you, says the LORD, and I Will bring you back from your captivity; I Will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I Will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive" (Jeremiah 29:12-14). To some this is spoken only to those of Abraham's seed, not realizing that those who exhibit the kind of trust that Abram first did, are counted as being in his righteousness making GOD's Promises their own.
This is the gracious heart of our GOD toward genuine humility. No wonder that the LORD would give Grace even upon a prideful rebel like Manasseh. "Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom." This was no casual entreaty. In the midst of his shameful agonies, he was overtaken with humility. He begged, implored, the LORD to rescue him. The LORD restored him. The wonderful result of this gracious work of GOD was the spiritual reality it planted in the heart of this former rebel. "Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was GOD."
Renunciation of ALL Things for Christ:
Leaving Home and Friends,
Mark 10:28-31 and Luke 5:1-11 "Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left everything and followed You." To this Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for My sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the Age to come eternal life. [what Age? in that which now is. The Age through which the LORD is building His and the Fathers family unit, one soul of man at a time. The Christ Ones.] But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
Luke 5:1-11 "On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Him to hear the word of GOD, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at Your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O LORD." For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed [to walk in agreement (Amos 3:3) with while learning (Matthew 11:29) of] Him."
Leaving Business,
Luke 5:27-28 "After this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And said to him, "Follow me." Leaving everything, he rose and followed Him."
A Condition of Discipleship,
Luke 14:25-33 "A great crowds accompanied Jesus, and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life [in comparison to our own loyalty and reverence of Him, love of Him], he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross [our place of offering of ourselves as a living sacrifice Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 2:20] and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple."
Reward Promised,
Luke 18:28-30 "Peter said, "See, we have left our homes and followed You." To this Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of GOD, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the Age to come eternal life."
Paul's Renunciation,
Philippians 3:7-11 "Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my LORD. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from GOD that depends on faith— that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."
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