Come Just As You Are—To Be Transformed
Cesar Malan, Charlotte Elliott, Blaise Pascal, Hezekiah and You.

The name Isaiah brings to mind one of the most famous prophets, a spiritual giant.  But all was not well in Judah during the life of Isaiah.  In Jerusalem, after Kings Uzziah and his son Jotham, the light among the Hebrews seemed but a flicker.  King Jotham’s son, Ahaz did not follow his father.  Ahaz was taken by pleasure and materialism.  Prince Ahaz started as an adolescent of 11 years old by fathering a child named Hezekiah.  Although her name was Abijah, which translated means, “my father is Yahweh,” it appears Prince Ahaz treated her as he viewed the world – to be grasped, conquered and possessed.  Prince Ahaz name is certainly fitting – “he has grasped.”  One can only speculate who named the child “Hezekiah” “Yahweh is my strength”, because farthest from his mind, was the thought of pursuing the one and only true God, who had revealed himself to the Jews calling them to be a special and holy people, a blessing to the world.  Instead, Prince Ahaz pursued and grasped for pleasure and materialism.  Prince Ahaz became King at the age of 20.

The first thing said of King Ahaz is that he did not do right in the sight of Yahweh as David his father had done.  Instead-- “but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, he also made molten images for the Baals.”

We were first introduced to Baal, in Numbers 25:3.  As the people of God, journeyed toward the promised land, the King of Moab fearing the Israelites, attempted to have them cursed by Balaam only to have them blessed.  Failing to bring a curse upon the people, the Moabites under the advice of Balaam seduced Israel with carnal pleasures.  We read from Number 25, “And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.  And Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor and the anger of the Yahweh was kindled against Israel.” 

Later in Numbers we find out that Balaam unable to curse Israel, was nevertheless willing to cause Israel to stumble.  We piece together from other scriptures that he advised the King of Moab – the way to destroy Israel is by introducing them to pleasure, to the women who worship foreign gods.  Later, Moses asked why the people had spared the foreign women. Numbers 31:16 – “Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam , to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of Yahweh.”  In Revelation 2:14, we read, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.”

Baal was the false male deity worshipped by the peoples of the region, by the Moabites, the Medianites, Phoenicians and Canaanites, closely associated with the worship of Ashtoreth, the female fertility goddess.  The agrarian society worshipped gods they thought provided rain, fertility and ultimately harvest.   (You may remember in the time of King Ahab of Israel to the north, Elijah’s taunted the prophets of Baal because he was powerless to cause either fire or rain to pour down at Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18.)  Fire seemed to be part of the worship of Baal, and even sacrifice of children in that fire. The molten images were heated and children were placed upon the burning arms as sacrifices.

King Ahaz walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, he also made molten images for the Baals.

As King Ahaz grasped for wealth and power, he lost both.  In his distress he did not turn to Yahweh. He looted the temple of Yahweh and eventually closed its doors.  2 Chronicles 28:24.

Against this back drop we meet Hezekiah.

Beginning at 2 Chronicles 29:3-- “He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, and repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street.

And said unto them, Hear me, you Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of Yahweh God of your fathers, and carry out the filthiness out of the holy [place].

For our fathers have trespassed, and done evil in the eyes of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of Yahweh, and turned [their] backs.

Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy [place] unto the God of Israel.

Verse 8-- Therefore, the wrath of Yahweh was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as you see with your eyes.
For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives [are] in captivity for this. Now [it is] in my heart to make a covenant with Yahweh God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. My sons, now do not be negligent: for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that you should minister unto him, and burn incense.

Moving down to verse 31-- Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now you have consecrated yourselves to Yahweh, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of Yahweh. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.

And verse 36--And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was [done] suddenly.

Jumping to 2 Chronicles 31:1-- Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

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What happened to Israel, what has happened to the church, what has happened to me and to you? Are we experiencing the power of God that transforms lives and the world around us?   

According to George Barna and the Barna Group with a random sample of 3614 adults, age 18 or older, between January and August 2004, born again Christians have the same likelihood of divorce as do non-Christians. Among married born again Christians, 35% have experienced a divorce. That figure is identical to the outcome among married adults who are not born again: 35%.  The survey showed that divorce varied somewhat by a person’s denominational affiliation. Catholics were substantially less likely than Protestants to get divorced (25% versus 39%, respectively). Among the largest Protestant groups, those most likely to get divorced were Pentecostals (44%) while Presbyterians had the fewest divorces (28%).

Are Christians in debt up to their eyeballs like the rest of the country?  Do we chase materialism, fill our houses with objects that we hope will make us happy or bring us fulfillment?  Do we drift from one relationship to another hoping to find fulfillment? Are we compromising our lives so that the transforming power of God’s grace is hidden?

In life, I see so many people who have followed or accepted counterfeits rather than the real deal.  People who accept less than the good that God has planned for them.  People who take instant gratification that comes with an awful after taste in place of the lasting blessings attendant with following God’s righteous plan for their lives.

Many years ago, a brilliant scientist made the same observation but with understanding and eloquence I shall never attain.  In what he considered to be his greatest discovery, scientist and renown mathematician Blaise Pascal, researching the nature of the vacuum, wrote in Pensées, "All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever means they employ, they all tend to this end.... This is the motive of every action of every man.... And yet after such a great number of years, no one without faith has reached the point to which all continually look." Although Pascal is better known for his theory of probabilities, the invention of the first calculating machine and the binomial theorem, his insight into the human condition has a further reach than his breakthrough physical scientific discoveries.  People spend their whole lives attempting to fill this God-shaped void. Only heartache, tragedy and emptiness results from attempts to fill it with substitutes for God and his gifts.  Similarly, when we try to fill voids intended for God’s blessings, like peace, love or even marriage with compromises and counterfeits, we come up short.

Henri Abraham Cesar Malan, born in 1787 grew up in Geneva, Switzerland.  He was ordained as a minister at the age of twenty-three.  Six years into his ministry, in 1816, after one of Cesar Malan’s sermons, an elderly clergyman introduced this preacher to the good news of the Gospel, expounding to the preacher from Ephesians 2:8 and Romans 6.  Ephesians reads, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  And Romans 6, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?  Don’t you know, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  Grasping and holding to the gift of God through Jesus death, Cesar Malan shouted "I am saved! I am saved!"  He went on to become a leader in the Swiss Reformed Church and was responsible for many French Hymns.

So moved by his own experience of moving from a form of religion to actually being transformed by the power of the Gospel, by finding forgiveness and life through Jesus the Messiah, he could not help but share his love with others.  On one occasion, while visiting the West End of London, during supper he told one of the other guests, a Ms. Charlotte Elliott that he hoped that she were a Christian.  Quite offended the young lady replied that she did not want to discuss the question.  Cesar Malan told her that he meant no offense, but that he liked to speak a word for his Master and hoped that she would also become a worker for Christ.   Several  weeks later they met again, and she informed Cesar Malan that ever since he had spoken to her she had been searching and asked “How does a person come to Christ?”—Cesar Malan answered “Just come to him as you are.”   Years later, Charlotte Elliott wrote the words to a well known hymn.

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

In Romans 5:8, we read, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus died for us, just as we are.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16.

But there’s more to the good news.  It’s the nature of that eternal life.  The rest of the story is that God calls us to a holy relationship with him. It is by His righteousness and through the power of the Holy Spirit into a sanctifying relationship with him.   He calls us in our sin, he doesn’t leave us in our sin.  He calls us from our sins.

Jesus said, (John 15:4,) “I am the vine, you [are] the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: continue you in my love. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that you love one another.”

Many in the Church today are being lured away by Balaam’s advice packaged into a modern package wrapped in thin spiritual tissue – they say “God is a loving God, his love is unconditional.”  So far so good.  “You can not earn his love.”  Again still good.  “God is not concerned with our obedience.  He simply wants your heart.”  Here the hair on your spiritual back should be raised.  Just like every good father whose love is unconditional, our father wants the best for us—and obedience is best.  Is it unloving for a father to demand of his child that he not play in the street, or even to discipline the child when the child disobeys?  Of course not. 

As Christians just like the Hebrews we can live in blessings that naturally flow from obedience or in the misery of God’s loving hand of discipline.  If we abide in him, we will know his blessings.  If we are lured away like the Hebrews by the Baals in our lives, by pleasure and materialism, we cannot worship, the doors to communion with him are shut.  The same grace that brought us salvation will also be the grace of God’s discipline.

Hezekiah opened the doors to the house of Yahweh and cleaned out all that was unclean.

Hear the words of Paul, in 1 Cor 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [who is] in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.”

And in Romans 12, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

This is the power of the Gospel, the power to transform our lives. 

Today accept the invitation that God extends to you, come just as you are, to become a child of God, forgiven of your sins through the death of Jesus the Messiah, in your place.  Now abide in him, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Make him your Lord and Master, follow his directions and live in His love.

So after we come to God, just as we are, let us pray the words penned as a hymn by Cesar Malan:

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

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