Alexander Whyte writes beautifully of Moses' life and ours:
Some of you will know what forty years in the wilderness, and at the back of the Mount of God, have done for yourselves. You know how those years have reduced and subdued your too-high temper, and weaned you off from the shams and the sweetnesses of this world, and given you some eyes and some heart to suffer the loss of all things. . . . And if forty years have wrought such a change in such a slow-hearted scholar of God as you are, you will not wonder at the man Moses as he came back from the land of Midian. Any use you are, or are ever likely to be, or have now any hope or any ambition to be—it all has its roots in the great grace of God to you. . . . 5
Grace: It's Really Accepting
I hope you will never forget the following: Any person being greatly used of God is a recipient of God's great grace. Not one deserves it. Not one is adequate for the blessings that he or she is receiving. But God in His sovereign mercy has chosen to give great grace to an imperfect, ill-deserving individual . . . in spite of and in greater measure than his or her guilt and shame.
Judges 16 is our next stop. We have considered Moses. Let's look next at Samson. Those who have been raised in the church know the story of Samson fairly well. I remember as a little boy having a Bible that included colorful pictures. I remember often looking at the picture of how some artist thought Samson looked and trying to imagine what it was like to be that strong. And I didn't understand as a little boy that he was not strong because of something external . . . not because he looked fit or kept himself in shape. He was strong because of the grace of God.
Before the man was even born, his parents asked the Lord to guide them in the rearing of this little boy they would soon have in their arms. He had a godly set of parents who prayed for God's grace to be upon their son. And sure enough, before he was born, God promised, "He will be a Nazarite from birth. He will be set apart unto Me. He will begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines."
So when the boy was born, Samson's parents set him apart to God as a Nazarite. That means he was never to drink strong drink, he was never to touch a dead animal carcass or a human corpse, and he was never to cut his hair. His hair became long and flowing, representing a secret symbol of his strength. And sure enough, exactly as God predicted, he began to deliver Israel from the Philistines. The problem with Samson, as you may already know, is that he refused to control his lust, resulting in the collapse of his world.
We read in Judges 15:20: "He judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines."
Grace: It's Really Accepting
For two continuous decades Samson was in the process of delivering Israel from the hand of the enemy. For twenty years, he did his work. For twenty years he carried out his divine calling. And yet, immediately on the heels of that verse we read that he went in to a harlot (16:1) and shortly thereafter we find him in the valley of Sorek, which is Philistine country, playfully lusting in the lap of Delilah. And the rest is a study in tragedy. The man toys with his relationship with God as he tells Delilah the secret of his strength. And after he falls asleep on her lap, she calls for help from her conspirators-in-hiding, who come and shave his head. When Samson awakens he doesn't even realize both the Lord and his strength have departed from him. Bald, vulnerable, insensitive, he doesn't know how helpless he is. Soon, however, he is at their mercy. One verse tells it all: "Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with chains, and he was a grinder in the prison" (Judg. 16:21).
What a tragic set of affairs! A victim of his lust, Samson became a prisoner of hated enemies. After being brutally blinded, he was led away to live in the excrement and filth of a Philistine dungeon and to labor as a grinder. Here is the once-strong judge of Israel in a place he deserved, humanly speaking. He played with fire and couldn't escape getting burned. In the words of Proverbs 5:22, he was "held with the cords of his sin." And if you and I were to vote as judges on the bench, we would say, "Guilty! Let him live there the rest of his life." Justice had her due. The man got what he deserved, no question.
But God? He never runs out of grace. Read the next verse in case you doubt that. "However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off" (Judg. 16:22).
To borrow from the apostle John's words, "Where sin abounded, grace superabounded." If men and women had had their way in that day, they would have said, "May he be bald the rest of his life." But God doesn't operate like that. You think Samson wasn't thrilled the morning he awoke and felt a little
Grace: It's Really Accepting
fuzz? Talk about grace awakening! You think he didn't check his head every morning from then on? With more hair came additional strength. And as his strength returned, so did his determination to fulfill the mandate given by God at his birth: to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Here's the rest of the story.
Now the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice, for they said, "Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands." When the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said, "Our god has given our enemy into our hands. Even the destroyer of our country. Who has slain many of us." It so happened when they were in high spirits, that they said, "Call for Samson, that he may amuse us. . . ." (Judg. 16:23-25)
In other words, they're saying, "We need that Israelite clown in here. Bring him in to make us laugh!"
... So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars. Then Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, "Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them." Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. And about 3,000 men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them. (Judg. 16:25-27)
I love what follows! "Then Samson called to the Lord and said, 'O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, . . . '" (Judg. 16:28). Here is a man who certainly does not deserve the attention of God ... a man who should have forfeited all rights to prayer, but he humbly calls on the name of his God. How could he? GRACE.
Maybe you have read this story dozens of times, but you may have never focused on what was happening in the last part
Grace: It's Really Accepting
of verse 28: ". . . just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."
Here is a second principle about receiving grace: We accept grace when we release all our expectations. When we no longer feel we deserve special favors, grace awakens deep within us. It flows to and through those who have no expectations.
Every Christmas season I have the pleasure of speaking to the single parents' fellowship in our church in Fullerton. Great folks. The room is always packed. Hundreds of teachable, open, and, yes, broken, humble folks. The thing I love the most about speaking to our single parents is that they have no expectations of me. Do you realize how seldom that happens to me? Can you imagine how wonderful and freeing it is to stand in front of a group and know that you can blow it, and have hundreds of people who understand and even enjoy it! Those folks know what it means to be rejected, shoved aside, forgotten. The remainder of their adult life is being spent, they feel, recovering from failure. Therefore, they have no great expectations of life, in general, or of me, in particular. When I step up to the plate, I don't have to knock a homer. They appreciate it if I just bunt. No big expectations. Actually, they appreciate it just because I suit up and show up.
That word picture gives me an idea. Let's say we're at the World Series and it is the bottom of the ninth. The Los Angeles Dodgers are playing the Oakland A's. It is a game the Dodgers really need to win, and the score is tied. Slugger Kirk Gibson steps up to the plate and he prays for a homer. The next thing we know . . . BOOM! He smashes one over the wall. We all scream, jump up and down, and shout, "There's nobody like Gibson; he's ou
r man!" When it is time to pull out a win in the last inning, Kirk Gibson's the guy.
But let's go further for the sake of illustration. Let's just imagine Tommy Lasorda, manager of the Dodgers, ran out of players (everybody was hurt or something), and he had to use the bat boy in the bottom of the ninth. (I know, I know. You
Grace: It's Really Accepting
realists won't like this, but go along with me, okay?) Here's this inexperienced bat boy, stepping up to the plate at Dodger Stadium and he prays for a homer. Nobody has any expectations . . . least of all the bat boy. Then, BOOM! He smashes one into the second deck. Now if Butch the bat boy knocks one out, that is grace. If the bat boy saves the game, that is super-abounding grace. Our problem is that most of us see ourselves as Gibson the slugger, not as Butch the bat boy. Sluggers expect a homer. Bat boys live their lives surprised.
Samson did not deserve new strength! But without expectations, he prayed, "Just this once, Lord, I claim Your grace." He was a washout, a failure, a man with a bad record. No expectations. And God, in grace, granted him his request. There are few grace killers more effective than expectations. Only when we release them are we ready to accept the grace God offers.
Two New Testament Examples: Peter and Paul
John 13 records a third story. The scene portrayed in this chapter took place at the Last Supper, an intimate setting. Jesus is with His men for the last time before His arrest and trial. Actually, it is just a few hours before the crucifixion. Do you know what the disciples were doing before Jesus washed their feet? I am sure that many would think they were praying. On the contrary, according to Luke 22:24-26, they began arguing over who was the greatest. Can you imagine?
"I'm going to sit on Jesus' right."
"No, that's my position. I am confident He will have me sit there."
"Well, I'm at least going to sit on the left."
"You don't deserve the left hand. . . . You don't deserve the end of the table!"
They were arguing back and forth over who would be at the top of the heap in the kingdom.
What most folks don't realize is that all twelve had come into the room for the meal and nobody had washed anybody's
Grace: It's Really Accepting
feet. If you've ever lived in or visited a home in the Orient, you understand how inappropriate their negligence was. To enter with dirty feet was as improper as coming into the room with your shoes on. In those days, a house servant was normally stationed at the door. And if there was not an appointed servant, it was a self-appointed servant-heart who waited at the door with a towel and a basin and washed feet as people arrived. Not these twelve! They were so busy worrying and arguing over who would be considered top dog they forgot about taking care of their dirty feet. But Jesus remembered:
[He] rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. And so He came to Simon Peter. He [Peter] said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" (John 13:4-6)
The Amplified Bible renders John's account of Peter's emphatic resistance this way: "Lord, are my feet to be washed by You?" I mean, the audacity! As Peter said that, I would imagine he also pulled his feet up under him. Can't you feel the resistance?
Anyone who has made a study of Peter can understand his reluctance. He was the spokesman for the group, clearly the leader among The Twelve. He normally operated in a rather confident and proud manner. But let's not be too critical. The man was passionately loyal, fervently committed to the mission of Christ. However, being strong and capable, he could not tolerate the thought of admitting need or weakness.
Even when Jesus had told him earlier, "Peter, Satan would sift you as wheat!" the disciple had responded by saying, in effect, "Lord, all the other disciples may turn away, but I will never turn my back on You." And yet within a matter of a few hours he lied three times straight: "I don't even know Him. I SWEAR, I don't know Him!"
Grace: It's Really Accepting
We should not be surprised at Peter's strong reluctance: "Never shall You wash my feet!" (v. 8). Our Lord had stooped and reached out in grace, but Peter dogmatically refuses. In rather emphatic Greek, John records Peter's statement of independence, "By no means will You wash my feet unto the age." Today we'd say, "No way, Lord . . . never!"
Here we find a third principle about receiving grace: We resist grace when our pride is still paramount. Of all the internal killers ready to pounce on grace, none is more assaulting than pride. Each time grace reaches, pride resists. Each time grace offers, pride refuses. Yes, each and every time, pride leaves no room for grace. Awakening grace and a proud heart cannot coexist.
Are you still impressed with your title, your public image, what people think of you? Is your position more important to you than your salvation? Are you still overly impressed with what you're doing? Do you look for subtle ways to pay back when someone gives to you? Or can you simply and graciously say, "Thank you"? If your pride is under proper restraint, you could even be vulnerable enough to say, "You know, I really needed what you gave me. Thank you."
That is hard to do when you are proud, like our friend Peter. Pride holds us back and conveys a false image that says, "I am without need." Haven't you ever looked at someone you really respected and wondered, Does that person ever have a need? Can that individual imagine what it is like to live the kind of world I live in? The truth is that all of us are needy people, it's just that some of us hide it better than others.
If you really want to be a model of grace, get hold of that killer within you named Pride. Force it to the mat. Make it surrender. If your feet are dirty and grace offers to wash them, don't listen to pride for two seconds. Be grateful for cleansing grace.
So far we have looked at three lives. First, Moses resisted grace because his guilt was not sufficiently dealt with. Second, Samson accepted grace because his expectations had been
Grace: It's Really Accepting
done away with. Third, Peter resisted grace because his pride was still paramount. We're ready now for a fourth and final example—Paul. What a magnificent model! He accepted grace because he no longer put confidence in the flesh.
What was his flesh like? What was it like to be in the skin of Saul of Tarsus, a.k.a. the apostle Paul? Read and try to imagine ... He was "circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee" (Phil. 3:5). The consummate Pharisee, to the letter of the Law! You could not find a flaw, not even in his zeal. Continuing his pedigree—"as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless" (v. 6).
Paul says, "That's my record." But God cut him down to size. In the eyes of the world, he was impressive. But before the eyes of God, he was lost and in great need. Look at how he states that fact: "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ" (v. 7). A few lines later, he admits:
Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I have laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, (vv. 12-14)
Paul says, in effect, "For too many years I went full-speed-ahead in the wrong direction. Now I realize how off-target I really was. Christ alone is worth my zeal and passion! There is no other course worthy of pursuing. There I was on the wrong road earlier in life, but no longer."
You know what I read here? I read the testimony of a humble man who had lost all confidence in his own track record. He has gotten beyond his pedigree and his press clippings. He is
Grace: It's Really Accepting
now a man who has decided to "put no confidence in the flesh, alth
ough I myself might have confidence even in the flesh" (vv. 3-4). Finally, he got his priorities straight. When that happened, everything fell into place.
I repeat, we accept grace when we no longer put confidence in the flesh. By "flesh" I mean what we can achieve in our own strength or what we have done or might do for our own glory. The flesh, as I have mentioned several times in this book, is an all-powerful destructive force.
Those who master that inner struggle are wonderful recipients of grace. Do you know what God has for people like that? A future that is magnificent beyond belief, relaxed, full of contentment and relief.
WHAT IT TAKES TO LET GRACE IN
What I have been writing about is letting grace into our lives—being open to it, allowing it to occur, permitting it to permeate us so completely that we awaken others to its glorious freedoms. Rather than resisting it like Moses and Peter did, my plea is that we accept it, like Samson (the undeserving) and Paul (the supercapable).
But how? First, it takes an admission of humanity. In other words, an attitude that says in authentic honesty, "I am only human—I'm no prima donna, I can't walk on water, and I won't try to impress you." Grace awakens within folks like that.
Second, it takes an attitude of humility. Nothing is so welcomed by grace as true humility, which is nothing more than a realization of one's standing before God (He is tops, number one, preeminent) and a willingness to be cut down to size in order for Him to be exalted and glorified. Humility has learned the hard way that no person can operate in the flesh and produce any good thing, so it prevents us from trying.
Grace: It's Really Accepting
What a wonderful future God has for people who accept grace. It is almost too good to be true. When George MacDonald, the great Scottish preacher, was talking with his son about the glories of the future, his little boy interrupted and said, "It seems too good to be true, Daddy." A smile spread across MacDonald's whiskered face as he answered back, "Nay, laddy, it is just so good it must be true!" 6
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