THE BOTTOM LINE By Jeannette Haley

If you’ve read the last two articles I’ve written concerning “impact” and “contrast,” then you know that they culminate in “the bottom line.” I remember taking note of these three words when my co-laborer and friend Rayola, (of nearly forty years now) would mention their importance when dealing with people.

If an unsaved slumbering soul is to be awakened to the reality of a holy God, and their own lost, or lukewarm state, then there must be a deep, lasting, powerful impact brought to bear upon them to awaken them to the stark contrasts between good and evil, light and darkness, holy and profane, truth and error, and life and death. Such a contrast is expressed in the most popular hymn, Amazing Grace, “I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.”

When the bottom line is the Word of God, know that it is an eternal dwelling place for the spirit and soul because it is of God, and He cannot lie. It is established in the heavens forever. Therefore, what do you see, oh broken sinner, child of darkness? Do you see the Light of heaven, the Light that consumes the chains that have held you a prisoner for so long? Is the Light penetrating your agonizing and weary soul with the promise of a new life: a life that is cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb? A new life, a life filled with the glory of God through His Son, Jesus Christ? Have you fallen at His feet in total abandonment of yourself to the One who became the sacrifice for your sins so that He could make you holy, clean and pure in the eyes of God? Has the Light drawn you to the heavenly realms of a glory so great no man can begin to imagine it? Has the Light filled your soul with worship that flows in waves of unspeakable ecstasy that only a consecrated heart can experience and understand in the spirit? Has your joy and rejoicing remained pure and untouched, locked away in the secret places of your heart to be protected from the carnal and fleshly noise that is considered to be “worship” by multitudes today but is unknown by the host of heaven that bows before the throne of the LORD God Almighty, crying “Holy, Holy, Holy”?

Is the bottom line of your life so filled with the Holy Spirit that the world has truly grown dim as you turn your eyes upon Jesus? Does your heart hunger and thirst for the Spirit-breathed Word of God while shunning every altered and false presentation of His Living Word that dims the glorious Light and life that He has miraculously preserved through the ages? Do His precepts thrill your soul and stir your heart to “gird up the loins of your mind” so that you are able to follow closer, climb higher, reach the summit of all that’s possible for a true child of God while still humbly walking on the narrow path God has chosen for your short journey through this world of woe? Are you thirsty for the Living Water that Jesus offers so abundantly, water that never runs dry, but always revives the weary soul, and refreshes the longing spirit? Is the LORD the well-spring of your life?

Yes, the bottom line is that in this earthly journey, besides the onslaught of physical challenges, suffering and pain, there is another type of pain and that is the pain of great loss, horrible, agonizing heart-crushing regrets, sorrows, shame, and brokenness. Oh! but remember and take to heart that Jesus stood up in the synagogue and read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” Luke 4:18, 19.

How can we even begin to imagine what an impact Jesus had on all those in the synagogue that day! Here was the Word, in the flesh, standing before them reading from Isaiah 61 with such anointing and power that every eye was “fastened on him.” They were stunned at the “impact” and “contrast” between the traditional, casual recitation of Scripture that reaches the mind, but not the heart, as the deep, rich, golden Voice of heaven flowed like honey from the lips of the Living Word. “And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son” Luke 4:21-22?

The bottom line at this poignant moment was the sudden realization of Who He was proclaiming to be and what He had come to do, for they were familiar with this portion of Scripture in Isaiah. Psalm 45:2 reveals, “Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.” Truly, as Jesus said, this Scripture was only fulfilled in their ears that day as they hastily retreated to the safety of familiarity, conformity, comfort and control behind the closed door of their hearts. As He prophesied and confronted them with truth, their anger exploded into a blaze of murderous fury as recorded in verses 22-32. Why all this rage, you might ask. Perhaps the answer to that may partly lie in the fact that He came to bring “good tidings to the meek” (Isaiah 61:1.) “Meek” in Hebrew is Anav meaning “depressed in mind, gentle, or in depressed circumstances, especially needy or poor (saintly); humble, or lowly. The word for poor as used in Luke 4 is the Greek word ptochus which means cringing pauper.

Perhaps as every eye of all those in the synagogue was fastened on Him, their minds began to be troubled in a strange way. After all, they knew the Scriptures well, but at this poignant moment in time the familiar words began to glow and strangely burn in their souls with new life and meaning as the Truth penetrated their hard hearts like trickles of water seep through minute cracks in a rock. It had to be more than a bit disturbing as the Holy Spirit began to impact their consciences with the stark contrast between the rich, well-established, and positionally secure place of importance they enjoyed as synagogue leaders in comparison to the poorest of the poor who were without an honorable past, daily supply, or future hope. Why would such unworthy poorest of the poor be given glad tidings, or good news from heaven when, after all, the religious were on the “top rung” of the social ladder?

Then, besides preaching the gospel to the most helpless, downtrodden “undeserving” poor and humble, the glorious promise continued, “he hath sent me to heal (or bind) the brokenhearted.” Heal in the Greek is iaomai which means “heal, cure, make whole.” Volumes could be written about broken heartedness. A person doesn’t have to look any further than themselves to experience, remember or understand through experience the pain and heaviness of such brokenness. Only God can heal a broken heart and the religious leaders in the synagogue that day realized that. Therefore, their indignation grew hotter as it began to dawn on them what “Joseph’s son” was telling them.

Next comes the promise, “preach deliverance to the captives.” In the Greek deliverance is “aphesis” which means “pardon, deliverance, forgiveness, liberty, remission.” Is not all mankind held captive by sin which makes us poor, cringing brokenhearted paupers who need all these things—pardon, deliverance, forgiveness, liberty, remission, that only God can give? How wondrous, how beautiful, how powerful! Who but the Son of God could stand among the religious leaders in the synagogue and in the power of the Spirit announce that He was the Great Liberator, Healer, and Preacher of glad tidings to those who were poor, brokenhearted, and captive? Perhaps they all felt as if they were suspended somewhere between time and eternity at this point.

But the Scripture goes on to say, “…and recovering of sight to the blind.” Who is more blind than the self-righteous? This is well-illustrated in Luke 18:10-14, “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Verse 18 of Luke 4 concludes with,“to set at liberty them that are bruised.” The word bruised in Greek is “thrauo” which means crushed. Not merely cracked so as to enable you to ignore the flaw and go your way, nor only broken in pieces big enough to glue together yourself. Crushed. Ground to powder. Useless and destroyed. Bruised, crushed beyond a person’s ability to restore to its original state. But The Way, The Truth and The Life, God Incarnate stood before them and proclaimed that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him “to set at liberty them that are bruised.” The Greek word for liberty is “aphesis” and it means, “freedom, pardon, deliverance, forgiveness, and remission.”

All of this good news preached to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind and the bruised in the “acceptable year of the Lord.” But as Jesus proceeded to reveal the truth about their own hearts, (Luke 4:23-27) they were filled with wrath and sought to kill Him.

The bottom line is, we can be drawn to Him by the Spirit, we can be awed by His gracious words, we can even receive the “benefits” He offers, but when He calls us to “pick up our cross” and follow Him up a hill called Calvary to die to self, abandoning all in total obedience to bring glory to God and God alone, will we willingly “count the cost and pay the price? Or instead, join the modern, popular, worldly, religious crowd that still tries to subtlety throw Him off a cliff?