“Preparation must precede God’s presence.” That is a quote from a book by Henry and Richard Blackaby that caught my attention and led me on a search through God’s Word. I couldn’t help but wonder what prepares us for the presence of God? Psalm 24:3-5 asks that same question and then answers it. “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
When the
Israelites were to meet God Who would speak to them from Mount Sinai, there
were specific instructions given them to follow before that meeting. They were
to wash their clothes and keep themselves from anything that would cause them
to be defiled according to the Law. They were to set themselves apart from
sin and to God, because sin cannot exist in God’s presence. That is why
we can have no fellowship with God without righteousness.
Because none of
us were righteous, God made a way for us to come into His presence through the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But first, the world needed to be prepared. The very
presence of God Himself was about to come into this world, and the people
needed to be prepared to receive Him. So John the Baptist was sent by God to prepare
the way for Jesus’ entrance into the world. And yet many still rejected Him.
I
find it very interesting that Luke 3:1-4 lists all the leaders of the day, both
political and religious. “Now in the
fifteenth year of [Emperor] Tiberius Caesar’s reign—when Pontius Pilate
was governor of Judea, and Herod [Antipas] was tetrarch of Galilee, and his
brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and
Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene - in the high priesthood of Annas
and Caiaphas [his son-in-law], the
word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And
he went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sin; as it is written and forever
remains written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of
one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.”
It’s
astonishing that God by-passed all the great rulers of that day and spoke to
John. But it isn’t unusual that he by-passed them, because John was prepared
for the presence of God and these leaders – both political and religious – were
not prepared for His presence. God Himself had chosen John before he was even
born and prepared him to do the work of paving the way for the Messiah.
Luke 1:15-17
tells us this about John. “For he
shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his
mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord
their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn
the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
John was only
six months older than Jesus, so he was probably barely past 30 years old when
he started his ministry. He was young and not formally trained in the law, so
he was an unlikely candidate in the eyes of all the “important” men of his day
to be the bearer of such wonderful news. But he was the only one prepared by
God for the honor.
“In those
days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea
[along the western side of the Dead Sea] and saying, “Repent [change your inner
self - your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that
proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life], for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.” (Matthew 3:1-2 AMPLIFIED)
While John
faithfully preached repentance from sin and turning to God to prepare the
people for the kingdom of heaven, the religious leaders continued teaching
their rituals and rules. And the political leaders were busy touting the “party
line” so they could be promoted. They were oblivious to the greatness that was
coming among them.
John
had no grand illusions of his place in pointing the way to Jesus. He knew he
was not the Messiah everyone was looking for, and he told them so. John’s
disciples got offended when people stopped coming to John’s meetings and were
following Jesus instead. But John told them, “He must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease. “He
who comes from [heaven] above is above all others;” (John 3:30-31 AMPLIFIED) John pointed his disciples to Jesus.
Many religious
leaders today have a tendency to promote themselves, pointing people to them
instead of to Jesus. They are the ones who have lost sight of the One Who came
from above. They forget that He is above all others. They continue on with
their traditions and plans with few results because they have not allowed God
to prepare them for His presence.
Many political
leaders think they can bring in a utopia or at least set up their own kingdom,
but God is still above all. They only do what He allows for His own purposes
and only as long as He allows it.
That’s why God
often by-passes those considered to be in high positions. They are busy with
their own plans and purposes and reject His. He knows that those who make a
real difference are the ones who have allowed Him to prepare them and use them
as He desires because they have learned that He is all that matters. They have
given up their rights, and they don’t try to take them back later.
I was reminded
recently of the Biblical meaning of taking off one’s shoes. If someone had a
right to buy someone’s property as the kinsman redeemer and he did not want to
do so, he would take off his shoe as a sign that he was relinquishing his
rights to that property. Remember how God told Moses and later Joshua to remove
their shoes in His presence? He was asking them to relinquish their rights to
themselves. Then God could use them as He chose. And He did so in a mighty way.
God doesn’t
always use the ‘likely’. He uses the prepared, those who know how to enter His
presence and hear from Him. He uses those who have “clean hands and pure
hearts”. He prepares and uses those who give up their rights to themselves and
relinquish them to Him.
Jesus came to
prepare us to be able to stand in the presence of God. Ephesians 5:25-27 says, “Husbands, love your wives [seek the
highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as
Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might
sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word
[of God], so that [in turn] He might present the church to Himself in
glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she
would be holy [set apart for God] and blameless.”
Have we allowed Jesus
to cleanse us? Have we set ourselves apart for His purposes? Have we given up
our rights to do what He calls us to do regardless of the cost? Are our hands
clean and our hearts pure? The provision for our preparation is there for the
asking. But we must take that next step of submitting to Him and asking to be
prepared for His presence.
God doesn’t use
the mighty. He uses the meek (those who are submitted to Him) and He makes them
mighty through His strength. God doesn’t choose the wise according to this
world’s wisdom, but He chooses those who seem inadequate and makes them more
than adequate through His wisdom.
“But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the
power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser
than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your
calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world
to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to
confound the things which are mighty;” (1 Corinthians 1:24-27)
Ephesians 2:10
tells us who we really are when we have given our rights over to Christ. “For we are His workmanship [His own master
work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above - spiritually
transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for
us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them
[living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].” (AMPLIFIED)
Has someone labeled
you as inadequate to accomplish much in the kingdom of God? Have you been told
you have to follow the pattern laid out by the prevailing religious realm? Have
you left the work of Christ in the hands of those who are considered “full-time
ministers”? If so, please read Ephesians again and again until you realize you were
created to be useful in God’s kingdom. You can do miracles if you relinquish
your rights to Him and enter His presence in a life-changing way that will
guide you into everything He has created you to be. The power of the Holy
Spirit in us will enable us to do what is impossible for us to do!
“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says
the Lord of hosts.”
