February 13, 2005

“Kingdom of God: Humility and Wisdom: The Way To    
             Opening God’s Grace of Life”  

We have been concentrating on the grace of God in its working power and triumph.

The grace of gratitude and praise for that working arises from the depth of our hearts for it.

That was seen in the one leper who came back to thank Jesus for healing. (Luke 17)

He was the one out of ten who expressed his appreciation for changing life so dramatically!

The other nine, who were Jews, were not found to return and give God glory.

‘Can it be true that none of them, except this one of another race, returned to give God the glory?’, Jesus asked. 

This Samaritan was given grace to gratefully acknowledge Jesus Christ and His power!

From this point, we must ask the question: What is it that brings forth Christ’s working grace in a man to do that? 

Let us look at this briefly tonight.

We start with the text taken from James 4:5-6.

It reads: ‘Do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, The Spirit that God has promised to dwell in us yearns jealously over us?

He shows more abundant grace. Wherefore the Scriptures says, God sets Himself against the haughty, but to the lowly He shows grace.’

We have already seen how the Jews, at this time, so hated the Samaritans.

They despised how those people had mixed Assyrian worship with the worship of God.

But - in their determination to keep everything as they thought it should be, the reality of it all was not there.

To be sure - they were strong about the observance of their religion.

But - their formal acknowledgment of God had hardened their hearts into only a form of godliness. (2 Timothy 3:5)

In it, they denied and were actually strangers to His power.

Yes - they talked about God, even religiously attended temple worship.

But - they ‘resisted the might of His influence.

And they refused to let it be a power in their own hearts.’ 

And this is what Jesus was disclosing in His question of: ‘Where are the other nine?’

They had been cured suddenly.

Spiritually, however, it had no effect to startle them out of their limiting mindset. 

But it was the Samaritan who felt so compelled to thank the Giver of His Gift.

Although the record does not say so, it is quite likely that all ten lepers talked together on the way to the temple.

If they did, they probably discussed the prospects of healing.

And - surely, in their shock of being healed along the way, they must have spoken about what Jesus did. 

I suppose the blessing would have cost them their standing with their fellow countrymen if they said Jesus had done it.

One must almost have to be in their shoes to really know what a sacrifice it would have been to express that.
 
They were grateful, to be sure.

But Jesus’ statement hints to pride in failing to answer to Him and His blessing upon them. 

You see - one thing is certain: it takes the wisdom of humility to acknowledge Jesus Christ!

It was the Samaritan who did it.

He was intensely grateful to Jesus!

And he wanted to express his appreciation with his whole heart.

I dare say  - he probably could not get back to Jesus fast enough!

So he left the others to let them do as they pleased!

When he knelt before Jesus, he knew he was in contact with God!

He was dealing with the infinite relationship between God and man that the others chose to ignore!  

He saw that it was the Lord Who had done the work!

He saw a revelation of God in this healing.

And He glorified Him with a loud voice!

He recognized it, acknowledged it, and humbled himself in the presence of Jesus.

He was humbly wise to bow his knee at Jesus’ feet.

And Jesus pronounced the ultimate blessing of: ‘Thy faith hath made thee whole!’

Was it just physical health he had received?

I think not - for all ten received that!

But - it included a spiritual healing, a healing of humbling spiritual health!

Way beneath the surface of all things, this mystery was to be unveiled to him!

For - look at what God wanted His people to do in Jeremiah 13.

We start with verse 15: ‘Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.

Give glory to the Lord your God - before it cause darkness, and before your footsteps stumble on the dark mountain,
and, while you are looking for light, He turns the deep dark, and changes it into gloom.’

This was the warning to those whose hearts had been hardened before Him.

But - thankfully - this Samaritan was blessed with the grace of gratitude, as we saw earlier.

And - he was doubly blessed with the sober mind of humility and wisdom to see God Almighty in Jesus Christ!

His faith that would make him whole enlarged his vision of the intent of God’s heart for His people.

For the Lord had also said to His people: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom [about God],

Neither let the mighty man boast in his own strength, nor the rich man of his riches: but let him that glories glory in this only, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, working mercy, giving true decisions, and doing righteousness in the earth:

For these are what please Me,’ the Lord said to them in Jeremiah 9:23-24.  

This is what was given to the Samaritan as he humbled himself before Christ. 

Through the grace of Christ, his little bit of faith was going to be unveiled to understand and know God personally.

The wisdom of humility in the face of Jesus Christ was the secret!

The passage in Luke 17 goes on with the discourse initiated by the Pharisees about the Kingdom of God.

‘Having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them, and said: ‘The kingdom of God is not ushered in with visible signs that you can see: and so people will not say, ‘It is here’, or ‘It is there!’ for, the reason is, the kingdom of God is within you.’

The Pharisees had heard Him speak much of the Kingdom of God.

They wanted to get the ‘inside information’ of when it would come.

So - Jesus’ answer of ‘...it is within you’... was hard for them to grasp.

They could not understand it.

But - the Samaritan leper had found sense of it.

The Kingdom of God had been opened to him. 

No one could see it nor observe its coming at that moment.

But his spirit had bowed to it.

And - in humbling himself, he gained entrance to the grace of Christ working within.

Here, it was as if Jesus was saying to the Pharisees, ‘You, too, need to learn what this Samaritan has learned.

You will never discover it, even though you live under its shadow. 

Even though, you are called - as he has been - to enter into it, and be governed by it, it will never be.’

And, in the parable of Lu 18:9, Jesus went on to pinpoint the reason why they would never find it.

It is because ‘there were some who relied on themselves, who were satisfied that they were religious.

They felt secure in their own righteousness and...had a very low regard of others,’ He said to them.

That is, ‘You will know nothing of its nature until you, like this Samaritan, humble yourselves to find it.

You can cry out all you want to, but it will never be yours until you willingly and gladly bow in the presence of God!’ 

In such humility and wisdom, ‘Draw nigh to God, submit to Him, and He will draw nigh to you.

Humble yourselves in His sight and He will lift you up.’

‘As this Samaritan, that little bit of faith will make you whole, too, if you do this.

Divine grace will meet your wise humility.

His grace will take you onward to become whole.

And, it will open up His purpose to establish His kingdom within you.

For neither then - nor before - will it come by just looking for it as you are doing!’

You see - Jesus gave the highest teaching of all when He said to the Samaritan: ‘Your faith makes you whole.’

The mystery of everything is shrouded in that.

It starts with that humble and wise faith to acknowledge Jesus Christ first.

And, then, His sufficient grace carries onward into faith enlarged to know Him fully.

But - until we recognize that all working involves His divine power and energy by His grace, we choose to sidetrack it.

For way beneath the surface of all things is this One, True Living Being, giving power and life by His grace.

It is gathering everything unto the Person of the Lord Christ Himself.

It can not be otherwise!

God’s end is always, always Christ.

It is His Person Who must become the Object of our heart adoration and worship.

And - as our text states - the Holy Spirit yearns jealousy over the humble to guard that! 

To the lowly, He shows abundant grace!

If we see it and consistently bow before Him in all things,  faith goes onward to unveiling spiritual wholeness!

By the grace Christ pours out, it will do its promised work!

I leave you with these thoughts for tonight.

May the Lord print this truth indelibly into the very depths of our hearts.

And let it bring forth the power of His grace in each of us!

Amen. 

Let us pray.