The Way of the Cross - Interceding
for Our Enemies - Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 39– Purity 1011
Purity 1011 04/06/2023 Purity 1011 Podcast
Purity 1011 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the sun blazing over palm trees
reflected in the waters of a swimming pool somewhere in Cancun comes to us from
an old college friend who shared this scene from their Spring Break vacation with
their graduating offspring and their friends on social media yesterday
demonstrating how the seasons of life can seem to change so quickly as our fond
remembrances of our exuberant youthful adulthood are shown to be the “ancient
of days” as our children grow into young adults themselves!
Well, It’s Friday, thank God, and while I won’t be
heading anywhere for “Spring Break”, because I won’t have one, this week, I have
no regrets, probably because I travelled south in February, and no longings to
return to the wild times of my late teens and early 20’s because I am not only
older, but also much wiser. And while I have amassed quite a number of degrees
through the years, I’m not wise because of the things I learned in college, I’m
wiser only because I know Jesus and I understand that the word of God is true.
Thankfully, God has forgiven me for all the sins of
my past because even though I could try to claim ignorance, if I am honest, I
would have to admit that I knew at the time I wasn’t “living right” when I was looking
for fun in whatever barrooms or bedrooms, I could find them in. But that’s the appeal of sin, its part
pleasure and part rebellion and it can be difficult to discern whether we do
the wrong things we do because they feel good doing them in and of themselves or
because it merely feels good to do something we are told not to.
Anyway, those days of rebelliousness are over and
because of Christ’s work on the cross and because I put my faith in Him as my
Lord and Savior, the penalty of my sin has been paid for, I have been forgiven,
and given a new life where the Holy Spirit indwells me and empowers me to turn
from and forsake the sins that held me in bondage.
As the bridge in North Point Worship’s “Death was
Arrested” joyously proclaims:
“Oh
we're free, free
Forever
we're free!
Come
join the song
Of
all the redeemed!
Yes
we're free, free
Forever
amen!
When
death was arrested and my life began!”
That’s a “Bridge” that we in Christ have crossed
over and we can repeat every day of our lives now. If you like sing a long to it I am sharing a
link to a lyric video of it on the blog today (https://youtu.be/uMsMiluCUUI).
But that’s not all I’m sharing for those who are
curious I am also sharing a link to gotquestions.org’s biblical answer to the
question of “What is Good Friday / Holy Friday?” (https://www.gotquestions.org/Good-Friday.html)
because sometimes we don’t “know” what we think we know and sometimes it’s a good
idea to remind ourselves of what we know even when we know it. And we should know what Good Friday is and
just how great was the cost that was paid for our freedom in Christ.
Also if you can believe it, we are on day 39 of the
40 days of Lent as Resurrection Sunday, Easter, is less than 48 hours away.
So let’s keep walking and talking with God through
our current series, the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, with Day 39.
As a reminder, and as we will say each day of this
journey, we take this path to mark the season of Lent and to draw closer to God
in anticipation of the celebration of Easter, knowing that if we take this
journey of repentance seriously, we will not only see the days and seasons
change, the Lord will use it to change us too.
You can sign up to get this devotional yourself by
going to the Biblegateway link on the blog ((https://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/40-Day-Journey-Dietrich-Bonhoeffer/today)) .
Day 39
Bonhoeffer writes:
“In prayer we go to our enemies, to stand at their side.
We are with them, near them, for them before God.
Jesus does not promise us that the enemy we love, we
bless, to whom we do good, will not abuse and persecute us. They will do so.
But even in doing so, they cannot harm and conquer us if
we take this last step to them in intercessory prayer.
Now we are taking up their neediness and poverty, their
being guilty and lost, and interceding for them before God.
We are doing for them in vicarious representative action
what they cannot do for themselves.
Every insult from our enemy will only bind us closer to
God and to our enemy. Every persecution can only serve to bring the enemy
closer to reconciliation with God, to make love more unconquerable.
How does love become unconquerable?
By never asking what the enemy is doing to it, and only
asking what Jesus has done.
Loving one’s enemies leads disciples to the way of the
cross and into communion with the crucified one.”
Biblical Wisdom
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44
Questions to Ponder
- Why should we, in
intercessory prayer,
do for our enemies what they cannot do for
themselves? What can’t they do for themselves?
M.T.
Clark: As the Jesus said, apart from Him we can do nothing. So our enemies can’t
do anything of lasting value for themselves, and neither can we. We are equals
at the foot of the cross. We both need Jesus and because we know Him and love
Him we obey His command to love our enemies and to do good for them. The greatest good we can do for our enemies
is to pray for them that God would reveal Himself to them and save them through
Jesus. Because we know of the tremendous gift of our salvation, we should
intercede for the ones who need it the most, our enemies.
- Where does one get the strength to love,
bless, and do good to their enemies knowing that they will most likely be abused
and persecuted in response?
M.T.
Clark: The only way we can receive the strength
to love, bless, and do good for our enemies, knowing we are most likely going
to be abused or persecuted in response, is from God. The Apostle Paul, who was facing tribulations,
reveals this in His prayer in:
Ephesians 3:14-21 (NKJV)
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His
glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being
rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with
all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- 19
to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be
filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to
Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever
and ever. Amen.
The power to do good for our enemies, that works in us, comes from
God and we must ask Him to renew it within us continually to walk by faith and to
obey the command to love our enemies.
- Why would Bonhoeffer say that: “Loving
one’s enemies leads disciples to the way of the cross and into communion
with the crucified one”?
M.T.
Clark: Bonhoeffer says that: “Loving
one’s enemies leads disciples to the way of the cross and into communion with
the crucified one”?” because when we do that we are walking in the footsteps of
Jesus who loved His enemies all the way to His death, as He prayed to God the
Father for the ones who crucified him: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know
what they do.” (Luke 23:34, NKJV). That
is the way of the cross and when we follow Christ’s example we not only follow
it, we share communion with Jesus in our sufferings.
Psalm Fragment
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid.
What can a mere mortal do to me?
My vows to you I must perform, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
and my feet from falling,
so that I may walk before God
in the light of life. Psalm 56:10-13
Journal Reflections
- What emotions surface within
you when you think of interceding on behalf of your enemies?
M.T. Clark: If I am to be honest, the feelings of resistance
rise up in me when I think of interceding on behalf of my enemies.They hate me
and they think ill of me and don’t care if I live or die. They are selfish and
unloving. They seem to enjoy the idea of
me suffering and some are active in campaigns to frustrate me and limit my
peace and joy in life. This is why we
must view them through God’s eyes because then we will see just how lost and
hurting they really are and the Lord will move our hearts to pray for them.
- Does your community of faith
actively seek to love, bless, and do good for enemies? If so, how? If not,
how could you encourage the practice?
M.T. Clark: OOF, okay
guys, let’s face it there aren’t many, if any, communities of faith that
actively seek to love, bless, or do good for enemies? Campaigns to bless
atheists or members are false religions specifically is something I have never
heard of. However, with that said, the community service ministries, jail
ministries, recovery ministries, and missionary works done by Christians in
faith communities do seek to love, bless, and do good for others regardless of
their faith. So, sure while we may not
be mowing the lawns at the local mosque of sending them care packages on the
regular, when we put the idea of “enemy” and apply it to those who don’t know
the Lord, I would say that Christians actively encourage and do the work of
loving, blessing, and doing good for the enemy. We just don’t usually emphasize
the enemy status of the non-believers that we minister to.
Intercessions
Name your enemies,
picture them in your mind, “stand at their side” before God, pray for them.
M.T. Clark:
Lord,
You know who I am thinking of as I am picturing them in my mind
and as we draw into the weekend that we remember and celebrate Jesus’s death
and resurrection, I pray that you would make yourself known to my enemies and
that you would bless them and help them.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
Prayer for Today
Lord of peace and
justice, let me not so much want victory over my enemies as true and mutual
reconciliation with them.
In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
(40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Copyright © 2007
Augsburg Books, imprint of Augsburg Fortress.)
***As we are being
provided with Bible verses from the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we
will are taking a break from sharing a verse of the day from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”. We plan on
resuming that normal installment of the blog following Easter.***
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The
Sovereignty of God.”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By
ARTHUR W. PINK
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE VALUE OF THIS DOCTRINE continues
We shall now consider
the Value of the doctrine in detail.
7. It begets a spirit of sweet resignation
To bow before the sovereign will of God is
one of the great secrets of peace and happiness. There can be no real
submission with contentment until we are broken in spirit, that is, until we
are willing and glad for the Lord to have
His way with us. Not that we are
insisting upon a spirit of fatalistic
acquiescence; far from it. The saints are exhorted to “prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
We touched upon this
subject of resignation to God’s will in the chapter upon our Attitude toward
God’s Sovereignty, and there, in addition to the supreme Pattern, we cited the
examples of Eli and Job: we would now supplement their cases with further examples.
What a word is that in Lev. 10:3 “And Aaron held his peace.” Look at the
circumstances: “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his
censer, and put fire therein, and put incense theron, and offered strange fire
before the Lord, which He commanded them not. And there went out fire from the
Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.… And Aaron held his peace.” Two of the high priests’ sons were
slain, slain by a visitation of Divine
judgment, and they were probably intoxicated
at the time; moreover, this trial came upon Aaron suddenly, without anything to prepare
him for it; yet he “held his peace.” Precious exemplification of the power of
God’s all-sufficient grace!
Consider now an
utterance which fell from the lips of David: “And the king said unto Zadok,
Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favor in the eyes of
the Lord, He will bring me again, and shew me both it, and His habitation. But
if He thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him”
(2 Sam. 15:25, 26). Here, to, the circumstances which confronted the speaker
were exceedingly trying to the human heart. David was sore pressed with sorrow.
His own son was driving him from the throne and seeking his very life. Whether
he would ever see Jerusalem and the Tabernacle again he knew not. But he was so
yielded up to God, he was so fully assured that His will was best, that even though it meant the loss of the throne
and the loss of his life he was content for Him to have His way—“let Him do to
me as seemeth Him good.”
There is no need to
multiply examples, but a reflection upon the last case will be in place. If
amid the shadows of the Old Testament dispensation David was content for the
Lord to have His way, now that the heart of God has been fully revealed at
the Cross how much more ought we to
delight in the execution of His will! Surely we shall have no hesitation in
saying—
“Ill that He blesses is our good,
And unblest
good is ill,
And all is right that seems most wrong,
If it be His sweet will.”[1]
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tomorrow------------------------
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