SERIES
Acts: Empowered to Extend
2018-02-18T08:00:00-06:00
51:1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
When you think of opposition, who comes to mind? Try to imagine how your enemies respond to you. When you speak, they twist your words. When you act, they misinterpret your actions. When you love, they question your motives. When they sin, they refuse to admit it. When the relationship is fractured, they resist reconciliation. When you do good, they repay you with evil. They malign your character. They stir up conflict. They grieve your heart. And in everything, they care only about themselves.
As you read these statements, where does your heart run? As you think of those who oppose you, do you become bitter, angry, and vengeful? Or does a heart of love and compassion begin to grow for those who are so lost and confused?
Let's try this again. Try to imagine how God relates to us as we oppose Him. When He speaks, we twist His words. When He acts, we misinterpret His actions. When He loves, we question His motives. When we sin, we refuse to admit it. When the relationship is fractured, we resist reconciliation. When He does good, we repay Him with evil. We malign His character. We stir up conflict. We grieve His heart. And in everything, we care only about ourselves.
If God responded to opposition the way we do, would we have any hope? If He chose to ignore, confront, or destroy us, where would we be? Thanks be to God! In His sovereign grace, the Lord chooses to move toward His enemies and convert them. We see it in the conversion of Saul in Acts 9. A man who was violently opposed to Jesus Christ and His church. The last man we would imagine being changed. This man is God's chosen instrument to carry His name (Acts 9:15). No one but God would write this story. No one but God could write this story!
When we think of opposition, who comes to mind? Do we think of others, or do we think of ourselves? Can we see the ways that we still resist and replace the Lord in our lives? Whether we are self-indulgent "younger brothers" or self-righteous "older brothers" (Luke 15:11-32), we have set ourselves against our loving Father. Have we owned our opposition to God? Paul never forgot how he had opposed Jesus Christ. He could write, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost" (1 Timothy 1:15). Paul was generous in sharing the Gospel because he knew how much he needed it himself. We should ask ourselves, "Am I the worst sinner I know? Do I embrace Jesus Christ as my Savior? Am I the most unlikely convert?" If we answer "Yes," we should buckle up because the Lord wants to give us His heart for the people around us. He wants to use us as His instruments as He continues converting His opposition.