Instruments of love

S. Sekou Abodunrin

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 2 Corinthians 4:16,17

The apostle Paul brings us into a different league in the verses quoted above. He was describing his response to the things that he was going through in the course of communicating Christ in his everyday life. He implies that when the blows of life come with their ferocity we are faced with an opportunity to faint or not to faint. Usually many people will just pass out under the weight of the trauma, throw their hands up in despair and give in to feelings. We are shown the perspective of a new creation man. The new creation man, the inward man is drawing upon the freshness that abounds in God.

The most tragic thing that happens to us is not the actual blows that we sometimes have to stand up under, but the fact that we loose perspective. Paul did not faint, and the reason why he did not faint was that he discovered that the inner man is never cornered or left bereft of resources in God.

Notice carefully the statement in verse 17. He calls the afflictions of a whole lifetime – light afflictions. He says that the afflictions or “blows of life” are but for a moment! Now, he did not say that they were momentary because he lived a short life. instead he is calling them momentary because he was measuring these things against the weight of eternity and the glory of God. This would mean that your spirit always has an eternal perspective on the things that you face in your outward man. Since this is the case, we can refuse to let the outward man have the last say. Your spirit can cure you of the fainting spells that characterise the average man when he is under pressure.

Since he called these afflictions light, it must mean that it is not the afflictions themselves that drown us, it is something else altogether. You see, afflictions have no power within them to sweep you down the river. What sweeps us down-river is the fact that we faint. You see, dead people do not faint, it is living people, folks who have life within them that are capable of fainting. You see, even if you have fainted thus far, you are not dead, you can rise up from inside and live in the fulness of God.

If you were to go through 2 Corinthians 11 and 12 you have a clearer idea of what Paul considered as “light and momentary” afflictions. I want you to look at these experiences more closely. You see, none of these afflictions came to Paul directly through demons or evil spirits – they all had a commonality in that they involved people.

How did Paul school himself to consider betrayal from his countrymen as “light affliction”? What was it that empowered this man to live in such largeness in spite of all that the devil threw at him using other men? How could he stand up under the things that men did to him?

Paul could minister salvation to his captor in Philipi because he counted whatever he had gone through as “light”. You see, for many people in Paul's shoes, when that prison was dismantled by an earthquake, the only recourse left is to flee for dear life – but Paul had enough presence of mind to minister Christ to his jailer. He knew that whoever would inflict pain on another human must be full of pain himself. He released this captain from captivity!

I assure you that until you develop this inner-man awareness you will find it near impossible to see the bad treatments that people deal out to you as “light” and “momentary”. It takes inner strength to ascend into this way of living. The trouble is that if you choose to estimate the things people do to you any other way you will often pay them back in kind and worse still find it superbly impossible to forgive.

21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
Mt 18: 21 - 33

Peter felt that if he forgives a given brother 7 times in one day he had fulfilled the law of love. Jesus responds by correcting his false estimation of how far love would go, he shows him that love would go far higher than 7 times in one day.

There is a tendency to read this to mean that Jesus is saying to forgive one who hurts you 490 times in one day. I assure you that is also a false sense of security. If one goes to the Lord Jesus with such proposition, in the spirit of the answer that he gave Peter, he will say 70 times 490. You see, it destroys the core idea of forgiveness if you are planing to keep record of the number of times! What he was teaching was that however number of times that forgiveness is required we have a love-capacity to extend it from our heart where the substance of God's love is.

You see, if the Lord Jesus says that forgiveness is available 70 times 7 in one day and that this was a love standard, you can be certain that God who is love himself will extend to you forgiveness as often as you need it. He does not hold record against you. This empowers you to walk free of condemnation and ultimately to walk in the purity of God.

He illustrates this concept by starting with the king's mercy towards his servant. The servant owed 10000 talents. Again, the Idea behind 10000 is that he is giving a number that conveys great indebtedness to his hearers. He might as well have said £100 trillion. The idea is that the servant could not pay back. The king walks in compassion and releases the servant from this heavy burden. A king has the clout and means to carry out his wishes for the kingdom was his.

The freed servant finds someone who is indebted to him and holds the man by the throat! He wants the man dead. Think about it, how does a man who is in prison pay back what he owes you? This servant that was freed from so great a burden was little in his thinking.

The king expressed the heart of the matter in verse 33. The king expected the freed servant to extend compassion and mercy to his fellow-servant in just the same manner that he had been shown mercy by the king. The truth that he is teaching is that we are able to forgive anyone who hurts us because we are mindful of the great forgiveness that we have obtained from God. This would mean that the real reason why a christian would find it hard to forgive is because he has a low estimation of the benevolence of he king in cancelling his debt.

You see, the truth is that what we owed God, we could never pay back and yet he freed us of this burden. His intent is to showcase his mercy to us so that he is able to extend mercy through us unto others. We are able to show to others the mercy that we have obtained from God. When we fail to forgive then we unconsciously demonstrate the fact that we think that God still holds against us all that he has released us from. This misrepresents God and damages us. When men act in unkind ways towards us we must realise that they are giving out that which they are full of. When we act in mercy we provide them a door out of that lifestyle.

And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. Mt 18:34

Some facts stand out to us, it was not the king that tormented his servant. The king extended compassion to the servant, but the servant chose not to function in mercy towards one who needed forgiveness. The servant therefore brings himself into a situation where he is delivered to the tormentors. What was due him was extending forgiveness to his fellow!

The king did not have any torment, neither did he torment his servant.

You see the fact is that when a man holds men bound by refusing to forgive them, he is walking out of love and in unforgiveness. He is demanding justice and preferring justice to mercy. According to Romans 6 whoever you obey becomes your master therefore this man makes himself the servant of unforgiveness and condemnation. He effectively takes himself out from the protection of God's mercy and comes into the hold of the tormentor. His refusal to walk in mercy has empowered the enemy to wreck havoc in his life.

The truth is that he has brought his family into danger by his actions. In other words by his choice to walk in unforgiveness he is destroying all that he holds dear. It is strange that when we do not forgive people, we think that we are giving them what they deserve and that we are punishing them, whereas what we are really doing is that we are bringing ourselves into torment! It is not the party that we refuse to forgive who walks in torment, it is us! When a man chooses to faint and not walk in forgiveness he is doing untold damage to himself.

Because we have been forgiven of so much, we find that we have all the reason that we need to extend mercy to others by forgiving them. The secret of walking in forgiveness then is to esteem others worthy of receiving the same mercy that we have obtained from God.

He shall hide me in his pavilion

S SEKOU ABODUNRIN

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. Ps 27:5

I want you to read and re-read the following until the truth of it sinks. In this short article we hope to touch some things that usually remain unsaid when covering the subject matter.

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. Mk 6:3

The above describes the response that the Lord Jesus got when he took his crusade team to his home town. I want you to take note of that fact – they were offended at Jesus. The issue of offense is of prime importance to you and to the Lord Jesus. As a result of their offense, the Lord was greatly hindered in blessing that crowd even though he had the anointing upon him there.

And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. Mk 3:5

I want you to watch that closely. We are told that Jesus looked at the Pharisees with anger. When it says that he looked at them with anger, it means that you could feel the anger in his stare. He did not stop there though he was also grieved because they were hard hearted. Grief by itself is a strong emotion, but when coupled with anger we are dealing with highly volatile emotions. In this passage the Lord combined anger with grief towards the Pharisees.

Jesus, in that same situation, turned to the man in need of a divine touch and gives a word of command that released the man's hand from whatever had held it bound up until that time. This was actually a creative miracle. The degree of healing power available was tremendous. Jesus was grieved and angry at the Pharisees but released compassion towards the oppressed man the anger did not diminish the flow of power. Listen closely.

But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Mt 16:23

The rebuke recorded above was spoken to Peter, and just like with the Pharisees, Peter was an offense unto Jesus. Peter was an occasional offense unto Jesus, while the Pharisees were perennial offenses unto Jesus.

I want you to notice that Jesus did say that people were an offense unto him, under certain circumstances, and he responded sometimes with grief and anger.

In Peter's case, it was because Peter wasn't sensitive to spiritual things. He could not savour the things of God, he was flesh ruled and this opened the door for him to be a good instrument that Satan could use to try upset Jesus. In the case of the Pharisees Jesus was grieved and angry because of their hard hearts. They were preventing the sick and oppressed from receiving the mercy of God. In either case Jesus was not neutral, he responded and took a stand. He took a stern stance at the Pharisees.

One of the signs of a healthy emotion is that it is expressed in a controlled and measured manner. Jesus was capable of getting angry and grieving as the cases above proved. We are even told that when he went to the temple and drove out the money changers the money changers deserted their tables and fled. That means that they left their money. Do you know what money means to a money-changer? Clearly there was something about Jesus that convinced the guys he wasn't to be messed with that day.

According to many people though, Jesus was wrong to have become angry, grieved or offended at Peter, the money changers or the Pharisees. It is widely accepted that if you have any of grief, offense or anger in your life God will turn his face away from you and block or suspend every answer to prayer.

If this were true, God should not have allowed Jesus perform a miracle while he was angry at the Pharisees and grieved at their hardness of heart. According to God's word Jesus went right ahead in that same atmosphere and worked a miracle.

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Mt 18:6,7

The warning above is not spoken to the little ones, but to those that cause them to get offended.

Now, I don't know if you have noticed it, it seems that the Lord Jesus takes it for granted that the little ones would get offended. He admits the fact that the children are offended and then goes ahead to give an unpopular verdict when he decides to give his judgement. He is silent on the offended children, but supremely clear on the responsibility of the one who caused the offense. In our day, we would come down heavy upon the one who is offended and say "You shouldn't be offended"– not so?

Usually the offended party would be told that he has put himself in a place where he cannot receive help from God until he clears away the offense that he feels. In other words we take the stand that the offended one, rather than the one that caused the offense, has hanged a millstone about his own neck and has effectively drowned himself!

Jesus takes a different stand. He comes down hard on the one causing offense. It is amazing how we concentrate all our judgement and “correction” on the one who is offended and then leave the initiator of the offense to stroll around calmly! Jesus says “woe unto the man by whom the offence cometh”, we say “woe unto him that is offended” - do you catch that?

The strange thing is that in our day many will assure Jesus that his approach with the money-changers was faulty, and that since he is angry and grieved he should calm down as the establishment was there before him and will be there long after he has gone. They will sort out his “anger” issues and leave the money-changers in tact.

The fact is that offences will come. People are bound to cause us to get offended and you have to realise that humans have a capacity to respond in such circumstances. There are situations in this messed up world that cause people much grief. We have multiplied instances of hearts that feel betrayed, hurt and violated. It does take time for the human soul to climb out of these dark holes.

In the spirit realm things happen instantaneously, but not so in the soul realm or in the physical. Climbing out from the hold of grief and offenses will take time.

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me Mt 11:6

There is a blessedness that flows from not being offended at Jesus. You have to realise that there is a difference between being offended at others and being offended at Jesus. You do understand that I am neither an advocate nor a sponsor of getting offended at others, but the truth is that when the bible speaks about not getting offended it is in the majority of the cases talking about not getting offended at the Lord.

Satan's ultimate strategy is to get you offended at the Lord.

And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. Mk 4:17

When you take a word-stand it seems that all hell breaks loose around you. Satan tries to whip up affliction or persecution against you. His real aim is to get you to abandon your word-stand. When this happens Satan aims to steal away the revelation of the word. He uses two tools : afflictions and persecutions.

It is strange that when a Christian is going through emotionally draining relationships, that take them to the gates of hell so to speak, that fellow Christians say that if the troubled Christian has any offense God will not respond to him at all. There is an offense that a Christian must avoid at all cost and by all means, it is offense at Christ. This is the offense that the New Testament majors on.

As we increase our interactions with others we will face multiplied opportunities to get offended or angry at one another. There are situations in which the Lord Jesus got angry at people and even looked at them with anger. He was not violating the word when he did that!

If you find yourself getting angry over the same type of things that the Lord Jesus got angry and grieved over, you are in good company so I encourage you not to accept any condemnation. God did not forsake Jesus under those circumstances, neither will he forsake you. There is an image that man carries within his being that grieves and gets angry at the hardness of the religious hearts of the Pharisees of this world. God designed man that way.

Some people will tell you that if you get angry and grieved under any circumstance you are in offense and this blocks the flow of faith as a result of which they affirm that God will not hear you. That is tradition and not the word. In reality I would suppose that when you cannot respond in agreement with the emotions of Jesus in certain issues you are in need of help, very fast.

There are many people though, Christians, tongue talking and bible quoting folks who pass through emotional dark holes in life. These expose them to opportunities to get angry, grieving and a whole lot of other emotions. Often they will respond to these opportunities as they are already deflated, disappointed and consumed with a sense of loss. God does not forsake them.

If you have been friends with someone for 40 years and he betrays you, you will feel it hard. You might grieve a little or a lot, you might get offended but it is not the end of the world. God restores your soul as you submit it to him. It will take time, but you can rest in the fact that asides bearing our sin and sicknesses he bore the betrayals too.

The way we come down heavy on the one who is offended reminds of what the psalmist said - Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God.[Ps 3:2]

It wasn't a few people that said the above to David, there were many. Just imagine what they said to his soul. Now, our theology might cause us to forsake certain people when they need us the most, and it might even allow us tell them that there is no help in God. In truth there is always help in God.

... to be continued