“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”
In A Tale of Two Cities There are two men,
A virtuous man, Charles Darnay & a repugnant man, Sydney Carton.
They have only these two things in common: they both possess a profound love for the same woman, Lucie & they share an uncanny physical resemblance to one another.
Throughout the novel Darnay plays the hero while Carton does nothing to endear himself to the reader.
He is a vulgar, insolent, irresponsible, indifferent, alcoholic lawyer. But, in the third to last chapter Carton’s actions completely reverse our feelings for the man.
Darnay is sentenced to death in the French Revolution. With Darnay’s death Carton would be able to marry Lucie. Carton visits Darnay in prison the day before the execution & drugs Darnay, who falls asleep. Carton then changes clothes with Darnay & calls the guards to remove him.
By exploiting his physical resemblance to the prisoner, Carton enables the unconscious Darnay to be carried out to freed. Carton bravely takes the place of his rival at the guillotine & dies in his stead, thus securing for Darnay not only life, but happiness in marriage to Lucie.
It is the idea of exchanging one person’s life & penalty for another’s is amazing
Jesus committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When he was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to Him who judges justly. 1 Peter 2: 22-23
Who deserves heaven?
You must be perfect, as Your heavenly Father is perfect. Matt 5:48
But, Everyone has sinned & fallen short of the glory of God Romans 3: 23
We miss the mark on a target & God’s will is the bulls-eye. Every time we think a thought we are taking a shot at the bulls-eye. Every time we say or write a word we are taking a shot at the bulls-eye. And every time we make a decision we are taking a shot at it.
Now let me ask you, honestly: Have you ever missed the mark? Have you ever sinned?
But, that’s the bad news.
The good news is found in verse 22 “Jesus committed no sin…”
Jesus did it. He achieved the perfect standard. He hit the bulls-eye. This is why we worship him.
Every thought Jesus had, every word Jesus said every deed Jesus did fit snugly in the center of Gods’ will.
If Jesus took a thousand shots at God’s target, they would all be in the dead center.
Jesus achieved perfection. Because Jesus is beautifully perfect.
Jesus bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin & live to righteousness. By Jesus wounds You have been healed.
1 Peter 2: 24
So what did Jesus do with his perfection?
He did not give it away –
Jesus exchanged it for something else.
Christ earned what no man could ever earn, Then He promptly exchanged it for our package of sin & guilt Jesus took our loathsome wickedness. He was crushed under its weight. And why?
Because this was the only way for us to be saved:
Jesus arranged a swap.
Our sin was transferred to Christs body, Jesus righteousness is transferred into our record at the moment we trusted him to save us.
“Our Lord assumed our sins as one takes our weight upon His shoulders— and when the sins were there, He was carrying our burdens” Spurgeon
We can believe in Jesus as a good man,
We can believe in Jesus as a wise teacher,
We can believe in Jesus as an example of love & compassion.
But if we don’t accept Jesus role as our sin-bearer, We have missed the point of Jesus Christ.
He came to die. He came to take our place of judgement
This was predicted thousands of years before Jesus birth:
Surely he has borne our griefs & carried our sorrows;
We esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God & afflicted.
But Jesus was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities;
On Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
It’s through Jesus stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53: 4-6
This is the sweet exchange, Jesus’ righteousness for our sin.
It’s hard to pray because we have to humble ourselves,
It’s hard to pray because we have to get over ourselves,
It’s hard to pray because coming to the end of our stubborn & sinful selves is hard.
When we pray, we die to self & death hurts. That’s why our flesh fights so hard against prayer.
When we pray, we are entering into real warfare against our flesh
When we pray we ask God to send His Angels against the flaming arrows of all our accusers.
When we pray we ask God to defeat the demonic influences that are motivating lying attackers.
Although accusers are not afraid of us, they are terrified of the One within us
They fear the one who is for us & they despise that we are praying to the One who has crushed them & will destroy them.
It is hard to pray because our focus is too often on praying itself & not on God.
We learn about prayer not so that we might know a lot of facts about prayer, but so that we might pray with our focus on God.
By His sovereign grace, we know Him & we know He is there & that He not only hears but listens
We know He is not silent but that He always answers our prayers & always acts in accord with His perfect will for our ultimate good & for His glory.
When we recognize God’s sovereignty in prayer, we are also reminded of His love.
We see Our Lords grace, holiness & righteousness,
We are confronted with the harsh reality of our own wretched sin in the light of His glory & grace.
We will always to some degree in our lives find it difficult to pray, but, we must always pray.
We don’t actually believe in the power of prayer— We believe in the power of God, and that is why we pray.
So, when we pray, we are reminded of who we’re not—
We’re reminded that we’re not God & that we’re not in control.
We’re reminded that God is sovereign & in control & so we must recognize that prayer is our daily & continual surrender of our perceived control over our lives to the One who has control of our lives & circumstances & cares about them more than we do.
If we think for a second that our feeble prayers changed God’s mind & His perfect will, We would stop praying altogether.
We’re sinful.
We don’t know everything,
We can’t control anything.
But God is omniscient & omnipotent
He has our ultimate good & His glory in mind & we can trust Him.
Sometimes, God’s answer to our prayer is “no,”
Sometimes “wait,”
Sometimes “yes,”
Sometimes “yes & it’s way beyond what we could even imagine.”
We will always to some degree in our lives find it difficult to pray, but, we must always pray.
We must also pray for God to help us pray,
Treating prayer not like a grocery list but more like a letter of love,
We don’t simply talk to God but we commune with our closest & most loving companion.
There’s those with beautiful feet that spread peace, joy & good news
There’s those with ugly diseased feet that spread fake news, hoaxes, lies & depressing sorrow.
In the book of Esther we read of a guy with ugly feet named Haman. He wanted to destroy a man named Mordecai who had beautiful feet.
Mordecai has a interesting etymological meaning. It can mean a little man. It can also mean a man under nasty oppression & bitterness
Haman went to work constructing a super gallows. A skyscraper scaffold that was to be 50 cubits tall. (75 feet)
50 was a play against these Jewish people & their Passover celebration.
After the Passover there was the feast of weeks lasting 7 sabbaths (50 days) A time of joyous feasting & wave offering. A wave offering is lifting up our hands by waving before the Lord our gratitude & praise for all He’s done & all He’s given to us.
Haman wanted to bring 50 days of murder & massacre. He wanted disgrace for Mordecai.
50 days after the crucifixion of Christ, Jesus sent His Spirit to live in His people.
God’s Spirit came to fill us with His power, His love & His joy
The Spirit keeps reminding us of our acceptance, forgiveness & peace in Jesus.
These are what beautiful feet bring. They carry Beautiful truth.
There are always demonic minions with their ugly diseased feet. They’re busy constructing a scaffold for us. They want to assassinate our character. They build their gallows with bellowing bloviating words. They use the materials of slanderous remarks. They employ defamations & scurrilous denigrations as their building materials
Hamans feet ended up dangling from his own gallows.
Weirdos, who go about with ugly feet, are always attempting to gouge others with negative junk
They’re actually throwing a boomerang. They end up whacking themselves in the back of their own noggin.
The Greek warriors trained in the endurance discipline of marathons
When they were victorious in battle they didn’t have instant messaging. They didn’t have mass media. They had the beautiful feet of marathon runners. They went through the country saying we don’t have to bow to the ugly feet of the Persian hordes.
Our captain has been victorious in battle.
God is in complete control.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger bringing good news,
Breaking the news that all’s well, proclaiming good times, announcing salvation, telling God’s people that, “our God reigns!”
Listen to these positive Voices! Listen! Your scouts are shouting, thunderclap shouts, shouting in joyful unison. They see with their own eyes GOD coming back to us. Break into song! Boom it out, the ruins are repaired:“ GOD has comforted his people! He’s redeemed His people!” GOD has rolled up his sleeves. All the nations can see His holy, muscled arm. Isaiah 52:7-10
~William Butler Yeats, from The Land of Heart’s Desire
The poet William Butler Yeats referred to himself as “the last romantic”, He meant that in the broader sense of his company with Keats, He must have winked as he said it.
Romance is a popular topic, but it’s a cheap drink these days. The beating heart of romance is beauty, Yeats wrote elsewhere in his poem Adam’s Curse,
we “must labor to be beautiful.”
When God made the world it was “very good” but sin’s scar runs deep. We scratch & claw at the earth to make it yield fruit & our every effort to reclaim paradise is an imperfect, losing battle.
We all share the poet’s agony of at once answering the call of God’s image wherein we were created, yet struggle to see glory through the darkened glass behind which we are imprisoned.
Yes, we were born for beauty & though we can only dream of the day when we are finally, ultimately saved from the presence of sin, our souls rejoice that we are already saved from its penalty.
To such love we can only aspire & surrender our grateful hearts to the great lover of our soul.
Rick Wilcox
JOB 38:1–7
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
“Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you & you shall answer Me.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
I’ve noticed in growing lettuce indoors that the leaves of the lettuce are thin & weak.
After a little research I’ve read that placing a fan on them will strengthen the leaves.
We need the winds of adversity to stretched & strengthen the fabric of our lives.
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS AND BEAUTY
Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland, on June 13, 1865, the eldest son of an artist. Although the family soon moved to London, the children spent much time with their grandparents in County Sligo in northwestern Ireland. The scenery & folklore of this region greatly influenced Yeats’s work.
One of Ireland’s finest writers, William Butler Yeats served a long apprenticeship in the arts before his genius was fully developed. He did some of his greatest work after he was 50 years old.
Yeats understood the paradox of beauty’s relationship to innocence yet likewise the struggle necessitated by time to apprehend it in a fallen world.
As he wrote in his poem “Adam’s Curse,” “we must labor to be beautiful.”
“Take My yoke upon you & learn from Me, for I am gentle & humble in heart.”
Matthew 11:29
“By the meekness & gentleness of Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:1
“The fruit of the Spirit is . . . gentleness.”
Galatians 5:22
“Let your gentleness be evident to all.”
Philippians 4:5
“Be completely humble & gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
Ephesians 4:2
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy & dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness & patience.”
Colossians 3:12
“We were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.”
1 Thessalonians 2:7
“But you, man of God, flee from all this & pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance & gentleness.”
1 Timothy 6:11
“The Lord’s servant must be gentle towards all.”
2 Timothy 2:24
“The unfading beauty of a gentle & quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
1 Peter 3:4
Gentleness is a beautiful quality. It is essential to all true character. Nobody admires ungentleness
When we’re harsh, cold, unfeeling, unkind, When we’re crude & rough in any manner—
When we’re loud-voiced, dictatorial, petulant, given to speaking bitter words & doing unkind things—
No one can say
What a lovely disposition What excellent qualities, but ungentleness mars the beauty of our character.
No man is truly great, who is not gentle.
Your gentleness has made us great.
Psalm 18:35.
Courage & strength & truth & justness & righteousness are essential elements in our character;
but if all these be in a man & gentleness be lacking— the life is sadly flawed.
We might put the word gentleness in
If we speak with the tongues of men & of angels, but have not gentleness,
We are become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy & know all mysteries & all knowledge; And if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains,
but have not gentleness, I am nothing.
And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not gentleness, it profits me nothing.
We need a new adornment, We need an added grace of character—
We need gentleness.
This is the crown of all loveliness, This are Christ’s qualities.
Our greatest need is gentleness. All human hearts hunger for tenderness.
We are made for love—not only to love, but to be loved.
Harshness pains us. Lacks in gentleness touches our sensitive spirits as frost touches the flowers. It stunts the growth of all lovely things.
We naturally crave gentleness. It is like a genial summer to our life. Beneath its warm, nourishing influence beautiful things in us grow.
Then there always are many people who have special need of tenderness.
We cannot know what secret burdens many of those about us are carrying,
what hidden griefs burn like fires in the hearts of those with whom we mingle in our common life.
Not all grief wears the outward garb of mourning;
sunny faces often times veil heavy hearts.
Many people who make no audible appeal for sympathy yet crave tenderness—
they certainly need it, though they ask it not—as they bow beneath their burden.
There is no weakness in such a yearning.
We remember how our Master himself longed for expressions of love when he was passing through his deepest experiences of suffering, and how bitterly he was disappointed when his friends failed him.
Many a life goes down in the fierce, hard struggle— for lack of the blessing of strength which human tenderness would have brought.
Many owes there victoriousness in sorrow or in temptation— to the gentleness which came to him in some helpful form from a thoughtful friend.
We know not who of those we meet any day, need the help which our gentleness could give.
Life is not easy to most people. It duties are hard. Its burdens are heavy.
Life’s strain never relaxes. There is no truce in life’s battle.
This world is not friendly to noble living. There are countless antagonisms.
Heaven can be reached by any of us, only by passing through serried lines of strong enmity.
Human help is not always ready, when it would be welcomed.
Too often men find indifference or opposition— where they ought to find love.
Life’s rivalries and competitions are sharp, and often times deadly.
We can never do amiss in showering gentleness.
There is no day when it will be untimely; there is no place where it will not find welcome.
It will harm no one—and it may save someone from despair.
The touch of a child on a woman’s hand, may save a life from self destruction.
It is interesting to think of the new era of love which Jesus opened.
The world at large was full of cruelty. The rich oppressed the poor. The strong crushed the weak.
Women were slaves and men were tyrants.
There was no hand of love reached out to help the sick,
There was no hand of gentleness to help the lame, the blind, the old, the deformed, the insane, nor any to care for the widow, the orphan & the homeless.
Then Jesus came!
And for thirty-three years he went about among men— doing kind things.
He had a gentle heart & gentleness flowed out in his speech.
He spoke words which throbbed with tenderness.
There was never any uncertainty about the heart-beat in the words which fell from the lips of Jesus.
They throbbed with sympathy & tenderness.
The people knew always, that Jesus was their friend.
His life was full of rich helpfulness.
No wrong or cruelty ever made him ungentle.
He scattered kindness wherever he moved.
One day they nailed those gentle hands to a cross! After that the people missed Him, for he came no more to their homes.
It was a sore loss to the poor & the sad & there was grief in many
Jesus brought a new example of love. He taught lessons of patience & meekness which no other had ever given.
He imparted new meaning to human affection. He made love the law of his kingdom.
As one might drop a handful of spices into a pot of brackish water, He sweeten the waters—
Jesus brings to our unloving, unkindly life, The changes of gentleness.
His blessings are the blessings of gentleness.
It was love that died on the cross! A heart broke that day on Calvary. His great sorrow always, softens hearts.
A noble sacrifice, His life is given in the effort to help or to save others, makes our hearts truer, braver & nobler in impulses.
The influence of the death of Jesus on us is immeasurable. The cross is like a great heart of love beating at our center sending its pulsings of tenderness into all
The life of Christ beats in our hearts and all who love Him have something of His gentleness.
The love of Jesus, kindles love in every believing heart.
We are taught that we should love as Jesus loved, that we should be kind as he was kind,
that His meekness, patience, thoughtfulness, selflessness, should be reproduced in us.
There is need for the lesson of gentleness in homes. There love’s sweetest flowers should bloom. There we should always carry our purest & best affections. No matter how heavy the burdens have been, when we gather to our own we bring gentleness.
No one has any right to be ungentle in their home. If we finds ourselves in such a mood we should go to our room— until it has vanished.
Our life is not easy, Our hours are long, Our load of care is never laid down. When our tasks are finished, we seeks our pillow for rest,
But our little ones continually tugging climbing up on us, bringing their little hurts, their quarrels, their broken toys, their complaints, their thousand questions— and then with all the cares & toils and with all the interruptions & annoyances of the busy days— it is no wonder if sometimes the strain is almost more than we can endure in quiet patience.
We may learn the finest arts—music, painting, sculpture, poetry; or may master the noblest sciences; or by means of reading, study, travel & converse with refined people, may attain the best culture.
But if in all this, we do not learn love, If we don’t become more gentle in spirit & act— we have missed the prize of living.
There is a legend of a great artist. One day he had labored long on his picture, but was discouraged, for he could not produce on his canvas the beauty of his soul’s vision. He was weary too; and sinking down on a stool by his easel, he fell asleep.
While he slept an angel came, taking the brushes which had dropped from the tired hands, he finished the picture in marvelous way.
Just so, when we toil and strive in the name of Christ to learn our lesson of gentleness, yet we grow disheartened & wary because we learn it so slowly—
Christ comes & puts on our canvas the touches of beauty which our own unskilled hands cannot produce!
The spirit shrieked, it rent him sore, and came out
Mark 9:26
Jesus gave the filthy vile spirit its marching orders:
He ordered the “Dumb and deaf spirit,
Come Out of him & stay out!”
The demonic spirit Screamed, It thrashed about, as it left.
The one who had been possessed was pale as a corpse, People thought the persons life was wrecked But Jesus, taking his hand, raised him up.
EVIL never surrenders its hold without an aggressive fight. We never appropriate our spiritual inheritance through a walk in the park,
There are grim contentions on the battle field of life.
In the secret realm of the soul there are multiple things warring against us. We win our spiritual freedom at the price of blood.
We fight with locusts the size of war horses.
They have gold crowns, human faces, long hair,
They have the teeth of lions & iron breastplates.
The sound of their wings is the sound of charging horse-drawn chariots charging into battle.
Their tails are equipped with stings, like scorpion tails.
With their tails they torture all of humanity.
Their king that is over them, is the Angel of the Abyss.
His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, in Greek, Apollyon—
“the Destroyer.”
Revelation 9:7-11 paraphrased
J.H.Jowett. writes:
“Apollyon is not put to flight by a courteous request;
he obstructs every path
he straddles across the full breadth of our way,
and our progress requires blood & tears.
This we must remember or we shall add to all our other burdens of life the gall of misinterpretation.
We are not “born again” into soft & protected nurseries, but in the open country where we suck strength from the very terror of the tempest.
We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God
“Faith of our Fathers! living still,
In spite of dungeon, fire & sword:
O how our hearts beat high with joy
Where’re we hear that glorious word.
Faith of our Fathers! Holy Faith! We will be true to Thee till death!
“Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,
Were still in heart and conscience free;
How sweet would be their children’s fate,
If they, like them, could die for Thee!”
Faber
It’s always strange when our blessings come to us through the savagery of unexpected sources It’s as though a wailing gnashing lower spirit has taken possession of them as they turn to rend & gash in vicious barbaric rage
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