A Procedure in its Season

(Message by Bro. Amolik on January 31, 2010 at NLF Vashi. Here’s hoping I haven’t missed much. Happy reading!)
I’m so glad for this opportunity of sharing God’s word. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword…” The word of God is two-edged… and applies equally to the Preacher as well as the preached. Let me share an interesting story about a Preacher.

There was a Preacher, who was giving a sermon on ‘repentance’. Towards the end of his sermon, he suddenly noticed that one of the elderly ladies sitting in the front was sobbing in her kerchief. The preacher finished his sermon, glad that at least one soul was turned away from the pathway to hell and found light. At the end of the service, he decided to talk to the lady. He found her sitting in the same place; with a quick nod he went up to her. As he bent down to ask if she would like to say or ask something, the lady started weeping again and wouldn’t stop. The preacher, finding no words to console her at that moment, whispered to her that maybe it would be best if he could meet her again in the evening and left her alone. Now the lady was about 85 years old and the preacher thought to himself, that the message of repentance has reached her just in time.

That evening, he had a quick meal and went to visit her. She opened the door, and on seeing him she started to cry again. The Preacher stayed some time for her to regain composure, and started, “I see you are touched by the call to repentance; I am here to help you”. She replied, “What? Repentance! I’m not sure I even heard what you were preaching, Sir”. The man, a little taken aback, asked her, “Then would you please tell me the reason for your grief. What ails you?”
The lady replied, “Oh! Your face so reminds me of the ‘old’ one. And especially when you nod your head like that”. The preacher, concerned, replied “Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t know your husband passed away”.
Indignant, the lady replied, “No sir! My husband is doing quite well. He is in the other room, resting”.
She continued, “The ‘old’ one I referred to was my pet goat; that had a beard just like yours. He died a year ago. And when I saw you nodding your head like that in the church, it so reminded me of my pet goat that I couldn’t stop crying”

I am sure, you can hear me now. Open your ear; open the eyes; be attentive. For the word of God is powerful. The word of God is also simple to understand. All we need to exercise is faith.

There was a Hindu priest, who wanted to know what the Christians say about the path to Salvation. When he was told, that all he had to do was to ‘repent of his sins, confess Jesus is Lord, be baptized in His name’; then he will be saved, he was surprised. He quipped, “Is this ALL? The Hindus go North and South over hills and rivers; the Muslims go to the Haj. And you say these few things that I need to do. It’s so SIMPLE that I cannot accept it”

Isn’t that a tragedy? To forsake the simplicity that is in Christ. If there are any portions of the Scripture, hard to understand, all we need to do is kneel and pray. God has promised us His Holy Spirit, who reveals to us of the things concerning Jesus (John 16:14). We can see with eyes of faith, and know the certainty of the things recorded in the Bible. For instance, you find Jesus in the midst of a storm one day; He did not call up the weather department to inquire when the storm would pass. Neither did He fret and worry. Jesus simply stood up among the disciples in the boat, turned towards the stormy gale and said “Peace! Be still”. And it became still. And once to the leper He would say, “Go and show yourself to the priest” and the leper was made well on the way. And then, He would stand before the grave and say, “Lazarus! Come forth!” and the dead man, bound up, would walk and come out!

We are in the time of the next dispensation! This is a season with a reason. We cannot look back and expect the same ‘old’ things from God; that we received a few years ago. Pastor Joseph, when he founded the New Life Fellowship, had a vision. When we look at the promises of God for us, in 2007-it was the year of God’s favor; 2008- the year of fulfillment; 2009 – of fruitfulness and 2010-of increase in numbers. It does not mean that we do not have God’s favor now in 2010! It just means that God is calling us into a new level of maturity in our walk with Him. God wants us to change our attitude, our thinking and behavior in line with His present plan for us.

Moses was a man who learnt the wisdom of Egypt and had physical training for 40 yrs. Then it was time for him to learn in the wilderness – a lesson of the heart. And at the end of another 40 yrs he would be the most humble person on earth; just the candidate to be chosen by God to lead. And for another 40 yrs, Moses would patiently lead the Israelites amidst great trials. Even when God confronted Moses and told him that he will die and not see the Promised Land, he would only rise up to bless the children of Israel (Deut. 34), choose another leader-Joshua, and go up the mountain to die. (I am not sure how I would respond, if God told me I would die today!).

With God, there is a plan and a procedure. You may have a desire to serve God, a plan to do His will; but there is also a procedure with God by which you should do what you do.

Moses had the rod with which he struck the Red Sea and divided it; he struck the rock with the rod and water gushed out! The Israelites were led by the cloud and by the pillar of fire in the wilderness. God Himself would go before them! The Israelites just had to follow. But now, imagine Joshua; no cloud, no fire, no rod but only the word of God. And Joshua must hear His word and obey by faith! The Ark of the Covenant signified the presence of God; now there was a change! A new procedure was given to Joshua; for Jordan must be crossed, and the walls of Jericho must fall.

A New Year has come! Another Joshua generation must rise! They must walk by faith, in the new procedure given by God. Let us turn to Matthew 21: 1-6. Read these verses as we ponder on its significance. (My name is written there somewhere; maybe yours too!)

“Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them”

The portion is titled “The Triumphal Entry”; the incident described is Jesus entering Jerusalem. Was this the first time Jesus entered Jerusalem? NO. He had gone to Jerusalem when He was 12, when His mother thought He was lost. There were other times too when He was in the temple in Jerusalem and did miracles. But this time, it was different. Jesus knew his destination and His destiny. This season has a reason. And He simply could not enter Jerusalem apart from a set procedure. He stopped and did not proceed into Jerusalem by foot. There was a huge crowd behind Him, all waiting to enter Jerusalem for the Passover. But Jesus stopped! Maybe His disciples were surprised! But Jesus knew the procedure that had been written some 450 years earlier in Zechariah 9:9; “…Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey”: Yes, this is how it must be done. If the donkey had not been there, Jesus could not have entered Jerusalem.

There is a right procedure and a wrong procedure. You may know the plan of God; but it is essential to know the procedure of God too! Remember Abraham-God told him to see the stars and sand and promised him that his descendants will be such in number. His wife, Sarah heard it too! And they were without a child and quite ‘old’. Now Sarah thought she would help God by bringing in Hagar; and we see the result even today. But that was NOT the procedure of God. Remember David, bringing up the Ark of the Covenant from Balle Judah into Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 6). Was his desire wrong? NO. But he simply missed God’s procedure! He thought a brand new cart will do! And it resulted in the death of Uzzah! Later, David found that the Ark of the Covenant had to be carried by Levites and followed the procedure with sacrifices and great rejoicing.

In the procedure, there is a time, our sanctification, our responsibility, our availability and our obedience. Joshua followed the procedure (Joshua 1: 2,3) of sanctification before responsibility. Jesus says “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Your availability too is important in the plan and procedure of God. Remember the time when there were 100 prophets who hid in caves, and 1 prophet to perform the will of God. And do not be surprised, when God says “No” to your plans in fulfilling God’s will. Remember Gideon, who prepared and started off with 3000 men to fight a battle; but in the ‘scanning procedure’ of God was left with only 300 men to proceed. Now if you were in Gideon’s place, would you proceed to fulfill God’s plan?

I can imagine Jesus saying, I will not proceed, until the donkey comes. So there they were waiting - for the donkey to come! I can see myself in that ‘donkey’! (Remember, I told you my name was written in the chapter). Therefore, I am not offended if anyone calls me a ‘donkey for Christ’. I can see Jesus waiting for me, and saying, I will go if you will go. I was like that donkey, left outside, and ‘tied’; before coming to God. I was bound in sin. I can see Jesus sending his ‘two disciples’ to set the ‘donkey’ free. Yes! Somebody told me about Jesus; they told me, He needs me - before I found out I needed Him! They set me free! There is also an illustration that the donkey was standing at the cross-roads. I too did not know which way to go, when someone brought me to Jesus!

The Bible says, no one had ridden on that donkey. It was an untamed, unpredictable donkey! I too was like that – rebellious and having my own way. But when the donkey came under Jesus, it behaved just as the tamed one. I too have come under Jesus. Now we-Jesus and I, are ready to move together, according to the procedure, into Jerusalem.

Donkeys, in those days, were also a symbol of wealth. I too am a treasure to Jesus. Kings in those days, rode on donkeys to signify peace with other kings; while horses signified war. Jesus, our King, too rode on the lowly donkey to signify our ‘peace’ and with God (Eph. 2:14).

I can imagine, if there was a media in Jesus’ times, and they conduct an interview with the donkey, the donkey would have said, “I am so glad I came here. You see, people spread their clothes before me to walk; people wave and dance all around me; I know I’m carrying a VIP for I can hear loud praises; and you know what, I am happy!”

Jesus was interested in the colt too! He brought the donkey and the colt. Jesus is interested in our children too! This is the season with a reason. And we can be joyful, too. Knowing all glory belongs to Jesus, when we hear our praises!

Jesus is coming soon! Jesus was called the King of the Jews then-He will come as the King of Kings! He wore a crown of thorns then-He will wear the glorious crown again! Jesus rode on a donkey then-He will ride on a white horse again! Jesus brought peace and salvation then-He will come again to judge and avenge!

Have you accepted the salvation offer of Jesus? Would you like to come to Him while He is still waiting for you? You see, He loves you and is in need of you. When you repent of your sins, and confess Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. Does it look too simple? You can come to Jesus, just as that untamed donkey. His yoke is easy and His burden light.

Look to Jesus! Speak to Him! God grant you to know this season and its reason. Amen