Faith And Witnessing

“Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mr 16:14-15 AV)

By coupling the great commission to lack of faith in the eleven, it is suggested that if they did have faith that Christ arose, then they would have naturally published the news everywhere they went.  We don’t blame the eleven for their lack of faith.  We would probably react the same way.  Although the LORD sufficiently taught them of His pending death and resurrection, they simply did not have the faith that Jesus could raise Himself from the dead.  Sure, they saw Jesus raise three people from the dead.  But that is a far cry from raising one’s self.  It was the resurrection that was the power behind their preaching.  The more that they believe that Jesus was risen from the dead, the more zeal they have to proclaim it.  Jesus is saying to the eleven that His promise prior to His death and resurrection with the testimony of those who saw Him should have been sufficient to start the great commission!  The great commission is usually disconnected from any other context.  It is a context all its own.  They may be true in Matthew.  There could have been more than one time that Jesus commissioned the eleven.  In fact, He did so in Acts as well.  That was a different time and place.  What we do know is the above event was immediately following His resurrection.  The above event was meant to solidify the fact of His resurrection and the proper response the eleven should have to it.

When Jesus ascended into heaven, the eleven did the same thing.  Jesus told them to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.  They watched Him ascend and then stood there for a great while looking heavenward.  An angel rebuked them and asked them why they were gazing up.  He then reminded them of the promise that Jesus would return in the same manner in which he ascended.  This time, they understood.  Following the rebuke, they returned to Jerusalem and began their public ministry.  In short, the resurrected and ascended Christ should have naturally led to preaching the gospel.  Lack of faith is what hindered it.  The eleven were stunned at the miracles they had witnessed.  He rose from the dead and then 40 days later ascended alive into heaven.  Never before had anyone ever seen such things.

The application is obvious.  We will share the gospel with others to the extent we feel the miracle of salvation affected our lives.  The closer we become and the more faith we have in God, the more we will share Him with others.  The more our interaction with our Creator and the more work He does on our behalf, the more we are apt to tell others about Him.  We are silent because we have not yielded to His hand.  We do not share Him with others because He doesn’t mean all that much to us.  We do not think He can make a difference in the life of others because we haven’t allowed Him to make that much of a difference in our lives.  Is short, Jesus ties the great commission to faith in His resurrection because the more faith they had that their Savior rose from the dead, the more they would share that good news with those who need Him.  The more they realized that the resurrection made their salvation secure, the more they were not afraid to share the good news of Jesus with others.  The same is true for us.  The more faith and security we have in Christ, the more we are likely to share Him with others.

Compassionate Yet Uncomfortable Truth

“And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.” (Mr 14:27 AV)

The truth of what we are is sometimes uncomfortable.  Jesus is speaking to the eleven regarding his near betrayal and crucifixion.  Of course, they all objected.  They did not think themselves capable of cowardice.  Yet, Jesus’ words were true, nonetheless.  The only one who was faithful through the whole ordeal was John.  Everyone else fled, or in the case of Peter, denied the LORD.  However, we see in the words of Jesus Christ a kindness.  It is better they be forewarned of their pending failure from a heart of compassion and understanding rather than a statement of rebuke afterward.  In this statement, Jesus was forgiving them before the transgression occurred.  Facing what we are before we act on what we are is humbling and gracious all at the same time.  Knowing what we are beforehand is not always easy.  But is does soften the blow when we do fail.  I think this was our Savior’s motive.  He didn’t condemn them for an action yet taken.  Rather, He was softening the conscience once the failure occurred. What a Savior!

Those in leadership experience this from time to time.  The LORD surrounds us with good people.  They rarely let us down.  However, the leader does know the limits of his people.  He knows what they can and cannot do.  Many years ago, I had an incident regarding a fella who wanted to do me great harm.  He had a wide influence among the greater population of our county.  He had a loyal following.  We fell out of graces because I would not support a decision he wanted me to make.  For him, the decision was a very personal one.  It was a very emotional one.  My issue with it was his wishes was not in the best interests of those closest to him and would also bring reproach on the name of the LORD.  He took great offense at my counsel and refusal to accommodate his wishes.  This led to a smear campaign that involved thousands of people.  The leadership of our church would not stand with me and confront this individual.  They could not.  Some were related to him.  Others were very emotionally close to him.  But as the leader, I already knew they would not stand with me.  I left it with the LORD and went on serving with and loving on them.

Jesus does not expect us to change overnight.  He knows our weaknesses.  He knows our frame.  As the sweet psalmist says, “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we [are] dust.” (Ps 103:14 AV) What I see in the words of Jesus is a very compassionate way of informing His disciples that He knows what they are and what they will do, yet deeply loves them anyway.  What I see is a God who knows us better than we know ourselves and will soften the blow of guilt and disappointment we feel when we fail Him.  What I see is a Savior who died for souls who can never live up to His standard, and did so with an everlasting love.  I don’t see condemnation.  I don’t see judgment.  I don’t see disappointment.  What the Spirit wants us to know is that God understands.  God knows what we will do or fail to do from eternity.  He came and died for us, anyway.  What I see in His words is eternal love.  What I see in His words is paternal patience.  What I see in His words is someone who loves us more than we can ever comprehend.  What love!

Loving the Lost

“Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.” (Mr 10:21 AV)

The first six words of this verse are very sweet.  The rich man claimed blamelessness before the law.  He fully expected Jesus to exonerate him from additional requirements before the law.  Knowing the heart of this young man, Jesus did not choose rebuke.  He did not castigate this young man for his presumption.  Rather, he saw a man who was trying the hardest he knew yet coming up short.  What this young man did not learn was self-denial.  He did not learn sacrifice.  If he were to be a disciple of Christ, it wasn’t enough to simply profess a saving knowledge of Him.  To be a disciple, he had to learn Christlikeness.  This came at a cost.  But it is the first six words that really touch my heart.  Rather than seeing a young man failing in his pursuit of discipleship because of selfishness in his heart, the LORD loved him.  He loved him enough to tell him the truth in a way that got to the heart of the matter in an indirect but obvious way.  He did not condemn the man.  Rather, the LORD put a condition before him where the young man condemned himself.

We are not always as loving when instruction or correction is warranted.  One of the worst memories of Bible college was my Problem Text class.  This class was organized to teach the students that there are no mistakes in the word of God and that if there seemed to be one, there was a logical and acceptable answer to it.  Most are common sense.  Names are common among several people.  Just because one person existed at one point in time and another with the exact same name appears years later does not mean they are the same person.  Similar events may have different details.  There is no discrepancy.  In one particular problem text, three different numbers are given for the same group of people.  Then answer is the purpose for the recording and from what perspective the number was given.  Still another has the measurements of the same articles as different when the standard from which the items were measured is never mentioned.  Obviously, two different references give two different numbers.  In this class, our instructor thought it was ‘love’ to berate us and abuse us.  We were given a problem text and then paneled before the instructor to defend our position.  He was brutal.  There was no love at all.  Just ego!  There was no interest in instruction.  Only winning a debate.

When Jesus beheld this young man, as wrong as this young man was, Jesus loved him.  When Jesus heard the young man’s charged question, rather than put him in his place, Jesus loved him and instructed him out of the law.  Rather than take advantage of a young man, Jesus responded in love and very subtly accused the young man of his sin of materialism.  What strikes me is the emotional foundation of his interaction with someone who was obviously not what he appeared.  Jesus saw this young man for what he was.  He was a lost soul who was under the delusion that financial success meant God’s affirmation.  This young man was under the misunderstanding that God looks on the heart first.  He did not understand the relationship between Christlikeness and the lack of things.  All he saw was that obeying the law to the letter and enjoying the blessings that come with it are proof there is no need for anything else.  How false!  That is for what the LORD had compassion.  This young man needed to have his bubble burst.  It was going to be a hard truth to swallow.  May we love all who need Christ in the same manner!

Salt

“For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt [is] good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” (Mr 9:49-50 AV)

Salt is an antiseptic.  It cleanses bacteria which we cannot see.  The Old Testament law required that all sacrifices be salted before they were placed upon the brazen altar.  This assured that the sacrifice was pure down to the microscopic level.  Salt was often placed in an open wound before dressing.  Salt was added to meat that was stored.  Salt was more than just a seasoning.  It was a preservative.  Verse 49 has commentators baffled.  The ‘every one’ is said to be those who are lost and refuse to repent.  However, the antiseptic nature of God’s presence works on the lost and on the saved.  We are saved yet so as by fire.  The fire of God’s cleansing or the fire of God’s judgment; either way, every soul will experience one or the other.  The application above can be thought of two ways.  First, it might be a call to salvation.  To have salt in oneself could mean to go through the cleansing of God’s holy fire and be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.  But it could also mean to have the flame of God’s cleansing as a permanent influence on the soul.

Sodium Chloride is the chemical name for salt.  Sodium Chlorine is a stable mineral.  Pure salt will always be salty.  So, how does salt lose its saltiness?  There are several ways in which salt can lose its saltiness, but it all boils down to one cause.  When salt is neglected, it will lose its saltiness.  How is that possible if sodium chloride is a stable compound?  The answer is in how it is harvested, stored, and used.  Rarely does salt appear in its purest form.  Salt is often mixed with other compounds.  It is harvested and stored, then purified, then sold.  Since salt is water soluble, when neglected, the humility or rain will wash the salt away from the other minerals and what is left looks like salt.  But it doesn’t taste like salt.  I have also noticed that heat will do the same.  We keep our rock salt in the front entryway, which is almost completely glass.  It is easily 20 degree hotter than the outside.  The heat mixed with the humidity turns the salt into a shallow puddle.  The salt has to be stored in a cool and dry place.  In other words, the best way to manage salt is to purify the latent minerals from it and then use it.  Salt loses its saltiness when it lays there unused.

When the LORD challenges all people to have salt in themselves, it is a call to salvation and yielding to the effective ministry of the Holy Spirit.  This implies a choice on our part.  Unlike the sacrifice of the Old Testament that didn’t have a choice in the matter, we do.  Whether we choose to be cleansed by the blood of Christ or burn in the eternal fires of damnation, it is our choice.  God will not force anyone to accept Jesus.  If they refuse, then God does force them to suffer eternally for their refusal of His grace.  For the saint, God does not force us unto a life of purity.  We must yield to the work of the Holy Spirit.  We have to allow salt to do its work.  It also appears by the word ‘have’ that this choice is a proactive one.  It is a choice of pursuit as much as it is a choice of yielding.  To have something, one must reach out and grab it.  Jesus knows what we need.  He knows better than anyone.  The salt of God’s cleansing by the word of God and ministry of the Holy Spirit is something we both pursue and allow.  I don’t know about you, but the smell of rotting flesh or food is not something I enjoy.  If we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to do His work, then our testimony will not be something God or others will appreciate.

Faith of the Guilty Conscience

“And king Herod heard [of him]; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.” (Mr 6:14 AV)

Herod spoke this of Jesus Christ.  He believed that John the Baptist had come back from the dead and was now more powerful than he had been in his prior life.  Stop for a moment and consider what it is that a rebel is testifying to.  Remember that Herod had John the Baptist beheaded.  We also know that the disciples of John retrieved his remains and buried them.  Mark, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, calls the body a corpse.  This is the only place where this word is used.  No other verse in the entire word of God calls the body of a deceased a corpse.  The Greek word used for corpse is only used three times.  Each time is refers to a dead body that has been desecrated.  In the other two mentions, the bodies have been lying in the open, rotting under the elements.  This leads the writer to believe that the disciples gathered the headless body of John to bury and did not include his head.  Or, if it did, it was still unattached.  Therefore, for Herod to believe that John had risen from the dead, he had to believe in reanimation following decapitation.  That is a leap for a man who was living in open rebellion towards God.

Fear and anxiety can lead us to believe some rather impossible things.  Herod was fearful because he had beheaded a prophet of God.  And he knew it.  When the daughter of his wife asked for the head of John on a charger, he was distraught.  He knew that John was a prophet, and all the people held him as such.  Herod had married his brother’s wife against Jewish law.  If Philip had died and Herod took his wife as a widow, he would have been okay.  However, history tells us that Herod took his brother’s wife while he lived.  At the preaching of John, Herod was brought under deep conviction.  John was incarcerated but still alive and well-tended to.  His wife, however, was deeply offended.  When her daughter danced before her stepfather, he promised her anything up to half of the kingdom.  That should caution the reader right away.  For a mother to be okay with her daughter dancing before her stepfather and stirring him to reward her should have given her pause.  She should have been offended.  Rather, she was more offended in the truth from the preacher than she was at the lust of her husband toward her daughter.  Now, as Jesus is preaching and healing, Herod exercised more faith in what God is able to do than most of Israel.  He believed Jesus to be the resurrection of someone who was without a head!

Herod had every reason to think irrationally.  He was condemned before God for adultery and murder.  He was unrepentant.  His wife was a piece of work whom he could not control.  But the child of God who is repentant and who desires to walk with Him has no cause for irrational fears.  We are made free from the wrath of God by the blood of Jesus Christ.  The wrath of God does not abide on the child of God.  This does not imply that the child of God is free from divinely sent correction.  This does not imply that the child of God is free from the consequences of sinful choices.  On the contrary.  We face them on a regular basis.  What we need to guard against is the idea that God’s vengeance or vindictiveness will be visited on His people. It never will be.  That was the whole point of Jesus’ suffering.  The wrath of the Father was poured out on the Son.  He took the wrath of His Father for our sakes.  If we are suffering from irrational fears, then our faith must run to God and not away from Him.  I know that fears and anxieties have many causes.  Sometimes they are physical.  A sick endocrine system can cause feelings of fear or anxiety.  Trauma to the body can cause fears and anxieties years after the trauma.  Irrational fears may be caused by external influences.  But the answer is always the same.  It must include a close and intimate relationship with the LORD!

What's In A Name?

“And James the [son] of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:” (Mr 3:17 AV)

It is interesting what some suggest as the reason for the surnaming.  In the word of God, surnaming meant an additional name that signified a particular event or characteristic related to the one receiving it.  Some suggest that because these two wanted to call down fire from heaven as Elijah did that Jesus named them the sons of thunder.  Others suggest that because of some particular physical trait like a booming voice was the cause for the name.  Either way, a surname was added to their names of identity.  Some surnames align with a family's career.  Such is the case with Smith or Shoemaker.  Other surnames identify a place of origin, as some surnames add a Von, Mc, Van, or Mac prior to the place or family of origin.  When Jesus surnamed, or nicknamed James and John, it was associated in a much more personal way.  One wonders if Jesus were to give us a nickname, what it might be.

I come from a state that makes nicknaming a cultural pastime.  In fact, there were several sitcoms set in my home state, and nicknaming was a regular part of the dialogue.  Most of it is derogatory.  However, some of it is complimentary.  William Shakespeare was known as Avon’s swan.  Margaret Thatcher earned the name The Iron Lady.  Thomas Edison was called the Wizard of Menlo Park.  Michelangelo was known as Michael the Angel; an obvious play on words.  And who can forget Honest Abe – Abraham Lincoln?  While I managed a restaurant, we gave people nicknames.  Most of them were endearing.  It was a way of building a personal relationship with someone while still maintaining the proper authority structure.  The names could not be demeaning.  It had to be complimentary.  It had to be something endearing, or it became insulting.  The more use we made of the nickname, the more our employees felt as part of the family.  Nicknames, if done right, can bolster a person’s confidence and affirm their worth to the whole body.

All that being said, I had to wonder what the LORD would nickname me.  I wonder if I have proved myself worthy of one.  Usually, good nicknames take a bit of time.  Our employees did not get one until they had placed their stamp on the business.  Until they exhibited a distinctly different and positive contribution to the business, their given name sufficed.  I wonder if I have done enough to earn a nickname.  I wonder if I have made my mark on the gospel of Christ so that He would give me a name different from all others.  We know that there are two names given to the saint of which no one will know until they are given.  The Revelation of Jesus Christ states that there are two names given.  One of those names is a new name of God written on the saint.  The other is a new name written on a stone and given to the saint.  That second name is unique to the saint.  That new name is new because no one knows us like God knows us.  No one will be able to know that name until the LORD reveals it.  I wonder what mine will be.

Faith In the Absence of Details

“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.” (Mt 28:6-7 AV)

It occurred to me that none of the gospels give a detailed description of the process of the resurrection.  The gospels do not give a scientific or even an observational report of the process of regeneration.  There is no verse that states the steps Jesus took as He exited the tomb.  He is buried.  Then he is reported to have risen.  There is no information between those two events.  For instance, it takes four to six weeks for someone who has donated blood to be back the way he or she was before the donation.  Plasma is the quickest to revive.  Usually 24-48 hours.  But the rest take time.  That is why giving blood is regulated.  It would be dangerous to donate if done too frequently.  The body begins to deteriorate the moment blood is removed.  That is why cryogenics will never work.  The moment a cell is deprived of what it needs, the cell wall begins to break down.  Jesus lost all his blood.  We are not completely clear on the exact makeup of His glorified body.  If still completely human, somehow He would have had to produce enough blood to live in only three days and night when it would take at least a month or more.  If His body did not contain human blood, then of what did it consist?  We don’t know.  And there is the challenge.

We know Jesus died and was buried.  We also know He rose again.  500 or more eye witnesses attested to this very fact.  Even secular historians will give credibility to the resurrection of Christ.  Non-believers of the first century knew the resurrection of Jesus Christ was an established fact of their time.  The challenge is in understanding the ‘how’ of this divine miracle.  No doubt that of all the miracles of God, the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the greatest.  In fact, the resurrection from the dead is that single miracle that proved the divinity of Jesus Christ.  The fact that He could raise Himself from the dead proved He had power over life and death.  He had proven power of creation and generation by calming the seas and feed the thousands.  Now, He walked abroad proving that He had power over death and life.  Especially His own.  Only God had that power.

But again, here is the challenge.  We don’t know the mechanics of this miracle.  But then again, we don’t know how He calmed the sea or fed the thousands, either.  Just because we do not know how God does things does not make them less believable.  I remember my childhood instructors of a false religion.  They tried to rationalize all the miracles of Jesus and explain them in terms we would accept.  It was mass hallucinations, they said.  It was cunning manipulation.  It was an exaggeration to prove a point and not a record of historical fact, they would claim.  Skeptics do the same today.  They will not accept a provable fact from history that was a miracle from God.  They will not accept it because they cannot explain it.  So sad.  Faith begins where reason ends.  Jesus left us in the dark because He requires faith.  Even if we knew the ‘how’, skeptics would refuse it unless they could duplicate it.  In short, refusal to live by faith makes one his own god.  I don’t need the rational explanation of how Jesus regenerated.  I don’t need to know the details of how he exited the tomb.  All I need to know is that He is risen!