The Reach of Grace

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (Titus 2: 11 – 13)

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (Hebrews 11:7)

And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: (2 Peter 2: 7 – 9)

Why do we have to live amidst corruption? Why must we have neighbors who will have nothing to do with our faith? Why do we have to endure the taunts of people who are diametrically opposed to what we believe?

Can’t God give us neighbors who believe as we do? Can’t He just remove people who make our lives a living hell from our immediate environment? Does He not have the power to make the practicing of our faith bliss? Shouldn’t we start exercising the joys of heaven here on earth?

What was the experience of Noah? What about Lot?

I try to imagine Noah in his times. God had condemned his world and he was the only one who had found grace in His sight. Imagine being the only righteous man in the whole world? He was the only source of fresh water in a sea of sewage so to speak. He must have been the laughing stock of the whole world. Any headline of any media outlet had to have something to report about this queer character who was obnoxious to all to say the least. I am sure even children on the streets openly made fun of him with the full backing of their parents.

Instead of God rescuing him from all that derision He makes it even worse. He orders him to do something that was queer even to Noah. He asked him to prepare for a catastrophe of unimaginable scale. Build an ark to save you and some animals from a flood from the heavens.

That may make sense to us with the history and experience we have. But even to Noah it looked farfetched. Imagine that it had never rained till then. There was water but never had there been any from the sky. How does one prepare for something beyond the scope of imagination, leave alone experience?

I believe starting to build that ark is the one thing that that solidly got him in God’s team. Like Abraham it must have been credited to him for righteousness.

Now imagine his neighbors, indeed the whole world. They had already had enough suspicion on him because of his standards and values. Building the ark solidly put him in the camp of the insane. All of a sudden they start to understand what his problem had been from the start – he was terribly deranged. That was now clearly evident to all.

Did he build alone? I doubt he only used his sons as assistants.

What were the other assistants, whether paid or not think of this grandiose white elephant they were helping Noah build? It would have been difficult to raise labour for the project from goodwill. I suspect that those who helped were simply seeking to humor this old man so that they can at least contain his excesses. You see then they could keep him in their sights in case he did something dangerous to society. Helping him was better for the common good of society than leaving him do it himself because then they could restrain him had he thought to do something more outrageous.

Yet they must have been others who must have constantly and consistently have been laughing him to scorn. Others might have decided that laughing at him was the strategy to bring him back to earth. Others must have tried various methods of doing the same. The wise must have tried to talk sense to him for one last time before he did something even worse to himself or others. The five hundred years they had been with him had proved beyond doubt that Noah was one queer, insane albeit harmless kind of fellow.

Building of the ark had stretched the limits of society. I need to mention that the said society had seen everything. Imagine in the same chapter we read about people having sex with angels! There was enough progress to counter Noah’s narrow minded approach to God.

As we were growing up we were taught that Noah took 120 years to build the ark. I cannot vouch for the truth of that. I do not even think it is true. In any case I do not think it is really important as it could then have been recorded in the Bible.

The clear fact is that it took quite some time to build. Imagine a box longer than a football field and as tall as a six-storey building!

What was the need for Noah building that ark in the presence of a hostile crowd?

Grace. That is what God is saying. Why must we live amongst people hostile to the message we bear? Grace.

God must expose His grace to all before He judges. This is so that there will be no excuse when God comes to judge.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:20)

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: (Acts 17:27)

These scenarios we see here apply to people who have not been exposed to the life of God or the Gospel of Christ. But I think they are pointing to another thing, the need for a flesh and blood witness. This is what necessitates the presence of a worshipper in a hostile crowd.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matthew 10:16)

That is the need of a hostile crowd. God places us there to carry His message to them as they seek to devour us.

God could have created the ark Himself without needing the assistance of frail humanity. He had created everything without needing raw materials, leave alone assistance from anywhere. It is therefore not for assistance that He asks for man to do something for Him.

Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; (Acts 17:25)

It is therefore not in order to suppose that Noah built the ark to help God. We have enough examples of God rescuing people without needing their assistance in the Bible and our experience.

I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. (Psalm 50: 9 – 12)

There was another purpose for Noah needing to build the ark. And I think it is the reason for God giving me this message to us. He simply wanted to display His dealings with mankind through Noah’s act of ‘stupid’ obedience which was simply outside the scope of normal human experience.

Noah was a spectacle of grace. He was God’s sign post to the world. Again this is consistent with the scriptures.

For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. (1Corinthians 4:9)

Again I want us to remember that the purpose of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was essentially to MAKE us witnesses and not necessarily send us witnessing.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

 The thrust is more on our lives than our words when Christ is talking about our witness. Our lifestyle should be the most powerful tool for ministry and witness. Like someone said ‘your actions are shouting so loudly that I can’t hear what you are saying’. We are always reminded that actions speak louder than words.

Grace therefore requires that our faith is displayed to the world so that they can be able to see God at close quarters through His worshipper/ servant.

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (1John 4:20)

The converse is also true. The easiest way to encounter God is to come in contact with someone close enough to Him. It then becomes very clear that the person you are dealing with has something other than normal human experience.

But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying, (Daniel 4:8)

Daniel was disadvantaged in all ways, severally. Yet any time something beyond all wisdom came up there was no argument. And why so? Simply because his life had demonstrated a relationship with a different kind of God than their experience.

 We see the same with Joseph.

And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? (Genesis 41:38)

It was not the fact that he was wise. He was a young foreigner in jail for attempted rape. He was not even interested in the position he was being offered. But his life had demonstrated something out of the ordinary; something that could only be described as the presence of a different God than the normal Egyptian gods.

That was the primary reason He sent these young people to foreign nations. They were to simply spread the aroma of a Holy God to people who had ever come in contact with Him. Again the scriptures say the same thing.

For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? (2Corinthians 2:15, 16)

I need to hasten to add that for that aroma to come out whatever holds it has either to be broken or crushed. And this ties perfectly with our ministry amongst the hostile crowd. It is there that the precise nature of our ministry will be revealed. It is only under the pressure of resistance and persecution that the inherent nature of our worship is seen.

Like Christ said we must live way beyond the acceptable, even excellent standards of the world to please Him.

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)

He applied to our prayer and giving, indeed our whole being.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? (Matthew 5: 38 - 47)

That was the experience of Noah. That might have been the purpose of that whole experience. God needed the world to see His dealings with His servant at close quarters in order that they could get a chance to consider whether they were willing to bow under His yoke or otherwise.

God will place His servants in places where they have the greatest opportunity to be squashed to produce His aroma, which is what I think witness is. I will be squeezed and God will seep out because He is the constitution of my innards. Then His grace can be displayed.

Comfort rarely, if ever, made a witness as the study of the scriptures can prove. It is the worship lifestyle of a disciple under pressure that will easily draw people to Christ unlike the message of most motivators today.

Paul had to go to prison for the Gospel to reach Caesar’s household. He and Silas had to be unfairly beaten, humiliated and imprisoned for the jailor and prisoners to hear the gospel. Saul had to oversee the stoning of Stephen to consider the claims of Christ. You remember that it is God himself who released Job to the devil! This, I believe is what made his witness more authentic.

Joseph had to be a slave and prisoner to take his witness to Pharaoh. Daniel had to be made a eunuch to minister in Chaldea. His three friends had to be thrown into the furnace for the king to declare Jehovah the God superior to the gods they worshipped. Jonah had to be thrown to the sea for his companions in the ship to worship God.

Again we do not have to suffer to be witnesses. But it is imperative that we consider that as an essential aspect of our lives because the God we represent overcomes the world using tools and methods that are totally foolish to the world.

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; (1Corinthans 1:27)

We are the objects of His grace. We must allow God to place us wherever He pleases without requiring our agreement as He is the Lord. But it must be Him placing us and not otherwise. This is because many times in our zeal to represent Him we have taken ourselves in places that have crushed us completely instead of crushing us to release His aroma.

We see an opportunity and think we are the ones who should make a difference there instead of asking the Lord of the harvest for His solution and delve head first into the fire. We will burn not because God refused to rescue us but because He did not send us there in the first place and therefore had no provision for us there.

Being where God orders us is the only thing guaranteed to bring us His breakthrough. Just doing things in His name might be similar to King Saul wanting to sacrifice what God had ordered him to destroy presuming that it made no difference to God.

Christians have been burning their fingers in every generation because they used the common consensus to serve God. They served God in ways that were in vogue. In other words they followed the fashion of their generation, which fashion was shaped by the whims of the majority or the popular. We will assume that God will go with the majority opinion. Forgetting

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12: 2)

Also this

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1John 2: 15 – 17)

It is therefore important to acknowledge that the world and its systems are completely opposed to God’s will. Following them even to serve God is therefore sin, even rebellion.

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (James 4:4)

I believe this talks more about the driving forces and motivation than the actions themselves. Christ said as much. No wonder the word exposes that very clearly.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:12, 13)

It is therefore as we interact with the Bible reverently that we will be able to accurately know what drives us. Else we will be very content working in what we think is God’s field yet at the end find ourselves in the uncomfortable position of the Matthew 7: 21 – 23 crowd.

Where has God placed you? Are you sure that He is the one who has done so or could they the suppositions of the majority? Are you doing what He has ordered you or are you afraid of offending the majority? Is there any opposition when you do what God has ordered you? Where does it come from? Could you be in the place Noah was at? Do you have peace with God as you obey you or do you need the affirmation of your crowd?

I will give one example of the result of the need of us being in the presence of a hostile crowd.

Remember the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16)? Do you realize that the rich man did not argue against his being taken to hell? Why do you think it was that way? Having lived around Lazarus the ‘idiot’ left him with a clear picture of the judgment he deserved. What he requested was a more creative way of reaching his brothers who were heading to the place he was unless something was done more differently. But the solution was the same. They needed the presence of other idiots like Lazarus to either repent or join their brother in hell.

It is interesting that some preachers are looking for creative ways to reach these when Christ said that what has been there since the beginning is adequate to convict. What I have seen happening is that we make sinners so comfortable in our churches that it becomes just another social joint, a bar of sorts with the only prohibition being drinking while there.

I have heard of harlots coming to churches to solicit for customers and they are very comfortable with the preaching that goes on the pulpit as it is geared at drawing in the crowd. And there are many other sinners who do their sinful business in the shadows of the pastors since they must make their churches comfortable enough to draw in the sinners. No wonder we have even homosexual facilitators and even practicing homosexuals as bishops.

The latest such fad is what is called ‘seeker sensitive churches’ though it started some time ago. In it they ask sinners what they want the church to be like and make their church such. Then they will introduce the gospel a little by little like leaven. The bulk of the mega churches use that method to grow. The sad fact is that it is sin that corrupts like leaven, righteousness simply can’t. Righteousness confronts without making apologies. Using the gospel like leaven is therefore not only impossible but an abomination in God’s eyes.

We are simply required to live our lives in such a way that we are the gospel. Our relationship with God should be so rich that it will live the sinners with no option but to change or hate us genuinely. And this because we are showing them by our lives that God loves them but that He requires them to bow under His yoke if they want to go to heaven otherwise hell is clearly their destination.

I may later write on some of the places God will place us to display His grace to the world as well as some of the places I am convinced we place ourselves in rebellion to His orders because they make enough sense to the world we seek to reach.