Baptism and the Heart

Jesus didn't fool around with the nonsense that people use to hide their hearts from those around them. He went straight to the heart with everyone, even as his forerunner John the Baptist said he would: "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire" (Mat. 3:10). He was so free from the spirits that people are manipulated by in order to hide their true needs, that he just bypassed every line of defense and cut right to the deepest need of every heart he encountered. He lifted up the hearts of the downtrodden and needy who wanted his help, and leveled the hearts of the arrogant and proud who refused that help; even as it was written and said of him: "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low" (Isa. 40:4). And again; "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel" (Lk. 2:34). The love, and truth, and power he possessed was not offset by any spirit of oppression or deceit that bound the people that he came to free. And those who recognized what he brought to the table, and truly wanted to be free, were set at liberty by that same love, and truth, and power (Isa. 61:1). On the other hand, those who wanted to keep their hearts and their needs hidden were hardened by his presence, his words, and his deeds, more than they were before. And by what means? The same love, and truth, and power that exposed their every line of defense, ended up being a snare and a cause of offence to them, simply because they refused to be set free by it.

The following passage speaks perfectly to the tragic reality that many would rather be lost than to humble themselves to the love of God: "And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken" (Isa. 8:14,15). Jesus said it this way: "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin" (Jn. 15:22). The bottom line is that those who are longing for the liberty of spirit that can only come through the love, the power, and the truth of God; will draw to those things when they are manifested to them. And those who are determined to hide their hearts from God, men, and themselves; will resist the love, and power, and truth of God when it comes their way; even as their predecessors have always done. And in so doing they will also persecute and even kill those whom God sends to set them free: "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers... And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:51,52,59). And so all that is left is the decision on our part as to whether we will choose to be in fellowship with Stephen, or with those who resisted and killed him. One thing is certain; it will not be long before it is clearly manifested that there truly is no neutrality in that war. Amen.