Go and Tell – Mark 5:19

“However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he has had compassion on you.’”

Jesus had just healed a man in the country of the Gadarenes who had been possessed by a legion of demons.  This man had been tortured by these demons night and day.  The locals were well aware of his condition and had tried unsuccessfully to bind the man, keep him under control, for their own sake and perhaps for his.  Jesus dispossessed this man of the demons, sent the demons into the herd of about 2,000 swine, and then the swine ran violently into the sea and drowned.  The man was so thankful, so grateful, he wanted to be with Jesus and go where Jesus went.  He just wanted to be with Jesus.  He flat out begged.  But Jesus’ answer to the man was to go tell his friends what happened.

Such a miracle.  Such a relief.  But only the healed man was thankful.  The locals were afraid of Jesus.  They were afraid of how He healed the man possessed of devils.  But there must have been more than fear that prompted them to ask Jesus to leave.  Maybe it was the lost profits on the pigs that motivated them to reject Jesus.  Maybe they were an evil people and did not want Jesus to correct their sins.  Whatever the reason, they asked Jesus to depart from their region. 

If I had been in the boat with Jesus and saw the evilness of the locals and the desperate begging of the healed man, I would have asked Jesus ‘should we not bring him with us, disciple him, get him out of this bad environment?’  “Sometimes we have a hard time understanding the ways of God. The people of the city made an evil request: they began to plead with Him to depart from their region, and Jesus answered their prayer. The man who had been demon possessed made a godly request: that he might be with Him, and Jesus said “no” to that prayer.” (David Guzik)

Jesus is wise beyond our understanding.  Jesus knew the general consensus was to fear him.  But we see the wisdom of Christ, who immediately put this healed man to work.  “Christ would not suffer him to go with him, lest it should savour of ostentation, and to let him know that he could both protect and instruct him at a distance. And besides, he had other work for him to do; he must go home to his friends, and tell them what great things the Lord had done for him, the Lord Jesus had done; that Christ might be honoured, and his neighbours and friends might be edified, and invited to believe in Christ. He must take particular notice rather of Christ’s pity than of his power, for that is it which especially he glories in; he must tell them what compassion the Lord had had on him in his misery. The man, in a transport of joy, proclaimed, all the country over, what great things Jesus had done for him, v. 20. This is a debt we owe both to Christ and to our brethren, that he may be glorified and they edified.”  (Matthew Henry)

“THAT is a striking name for a man, "he that had been possessed with the devil." It would stick to him as long as he lived, and it would be a standing sermon wherever he went. He would be asked to tell the story of what he used to be, and how the change came about. What a story for any man to tell!  There are some people who could tell a story very like this man's, a story of slavery to Satan, and deliverance by the power of Christ. If you can tell such a story, do not keep it to yourself. If Jesus has done great things for thee, be ever ready to speak of it, till all men shall know what Christ can do. I think that great sinners who have been saved are specially called upon to publish the good news, the gospel of the grace of God.”  (Charles Spurgeon)

“The people wanted Christ to go away from them; the man whom he had cured wanted to go wherever he might go. To which class do you belong, my dear friend?”  (Charles Spurgeon) 

There may be some reason you do not want Christ to come your way.  We pray that the Holy Spirit convince you of your need to have Christ near you.  If He does come near you and you feel your conscience pricked, do not ask Him to go away!  If you ask Jesus to leave, He just might, then you are on your own, and He may never come again.

We praise God if you are of the class that longs to be with Jesus, to go wherever he might go.  Time with Jesus is important, it is necessary to spend time in prayer and in Bible study.  Jesus showed us as much during His ministry on earth.  But Jesus also shows us it is important for you to go and tell others.  Tell others of His compassion for you.  Both are important.  Make sure you spend time with God and His Word before you go out in your daily work, school, or wherever you go.  Are you desperate for God to use you for His glory?  Then ask Him and look for it to happen.   Sometimes where you least expect it.

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Sins of Two Kings – 1 Kings 14:16

“And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin.”

Sin is sin.  King David sinned.  He committed adultery and then murder.  Jeroboam is famous for breaking the first and second commandments with his sin of idolatry and bringing all of the northern kingdom (Israel, as opposed to Judah) into the sin of idolatry. 

So what is the difference?  God explains that to us in His Word.  “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes” (1 Kings 14:8b-9).  God says that David kept the commandments – yet we know he broke numbers six and seven.  The difference is at least two-fold:

Repentance - There is a difference in response when these men are called out on their sins.  David confessed when he was told of his sin by Nathan.  “So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’  And Nathan said to David, ‘The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.’” (2 Samuel 12:13)  Conversely, Jeroboam did not confess and repent when he was called out by the man of God.  “After this event, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places, and this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.” (1 Kings 13:32-33) 

A Prepared Heart – After understanding the consequence of his sins, David pleaded with the LORD.  When David saw the outcome was not changed after fasting and praying, he went and worshiped the LORD.  “So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped.  Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate.”  (2 Samuel 12:20) God explains why Jeroboam continued in evil: “And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 12:14)

Yes, sin is sin.  And there will be consequences from that sin.  Even so, God has made a way to “put away your sin and you shall not die.”  It is through His son Jesus, “in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:14).  If the Holy Spirit has shown you sin in your life, confess it, turn from it and prepare your heart to seek the Lord.  God is full of mercy, obviously, if He gave His son to save your soul.  Preparing your heart to seek God daily will give you the faith and strength to bear the consequences of your sin and remain useful to God.

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

God’s Scrapbook – Malachi 3:16

“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name.”

Malachi, which means ‘My Messenger,’ (Strongs 04401) was sent to tell the priests and the people of their sins against God.  He used a question and answer format to reveal their habits of hypocrisy, infidelity, divorce, mixed marriages (Hebrew men were divorcing the wife of their youth and marrying non-Hebrew women who practiced idolatry), false worship and arrogance.  God said to them “Your words have been harsh against Me.” (Malachi 3:13a)  God then reminded the people of such words, including: “It is useless to serve God; what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked as mourners before the LORD of hosts?” (Malachi 3:14) For these people, worship of the LORD and service to Him had become a burden.

In the midst of recounting the people’s complaints and murmuring, God mentions the remnant of people who still feared the LORD and who meditated on His name.  Not only are they mentioned here, but we are also told that God listened and heard them, and that a book of remembrance was written about it.  Did you know that God keeps books?  We are wise to keep aware that God sees all, hears all and knows all.  We are wiser still to keep aware that He records all as well.  As a retired CPA, I can only imagine the pure accuracy of God's bookkeeping.  Let us consider a few things God records.

Book of Tears:  Do you know that it pains God to see you hurt?  He will never forget about your heartache as He stores your tears in a bottle and records them in a book.  “You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?” (Psalm 56:8)  God is ever so aware of the sufferings of His children.  You are not alone.

Book of Plans:  Through the Holy Spirit, King David expresses his awe of God’s knowledge of David before he was born, and knowledge of David’s future.  “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb…Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.  And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.”  (Psalm 139:13 & 16)  We also see an indication of this in God’s letter (via Elasah) to the Hebrew captives in Babylon:  “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

Book of Works:  “Those who do not depend on Christ for their salvation will be judged “according to their works.”  Since all have sinned, and the wages of sin is death, they will all receive the wages they earned: the second death.” (Charles Stanley)  “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened.  And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.  And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.  The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.  And they were judged, each one according to his works.  Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.”  (Revelation 20:12-14)

Book of Life:  Those who surrender to Jesus Christ and place their faith in Him for eternal life are written in the Book of Life.  “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”  (Revelation 20:15)  It is also referred to as the Lamb’s Book of Life:  “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”  (Revelation 21:27)

Book of Remembrance:  This is the book addressed in the opening scripture reference.  Those who fear the LORD and meditate upon His name are people who have God on their mind.  He is the essence of their being and therefore always on the tip of their tongue.  They seize any opportunity to give God praise.  He consumes their thoughts and their thoughts are in awe of His work, of His creation, of His mercy, of His love, of His power, of His provision, of His grace, and much more. 

How did they meditate on His name?  A name meant so much back then, and it was not just one name.  God was given names for how He manifested Himself for them.  ‘Jehovah’ itself means “the existing one” (Strong’s 03068).  “It also suggests "to become" or specifically "to become known" - this denotes a God who reveals Himself unceasingly.” (Blueletterbible.org)  Below is a sample of names of God with the first reference of use in the Old Testament:

El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty, Genesis 17:1)

El Elyon (The Most High God, Genesis 14:18)

Adonai (Lord, Master, Genesis 15:2)

Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah, Genesis 2:4)

Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner, Exodus 17:15)

Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd, Genesis 48:15, of course also Psalm 23:1)

Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals, Exodus 15:26)

Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There, Ezekiel 48:35)

Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness, Jeremiah 23:6)

Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You, Exodus 31:13)

El Olam (The Everlasting God, Genesis 21:33)

Elohim (God, Judge, Creator, Genesis 1:1)

Qanna (Jealous, Exodus 20:5)

Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide, Genesis 22:14)

Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace, Judges 6:24)

Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts, 1 Samuel 1:3)

 

For every circumstance in our lives, there is an appropriate name for God.  That is what makes it so easy to meditate upon His name.  He is present in every situation.

In the book of Esther, we see from a human perspective how the king used a book of chronicles to review the actions of his subjects.  “That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.  Then the king said, ‘What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?’ And the king’s servants who attended him said, ‘Nothing has been done for him.’” (Esther 6:1-3)  And what honor or dignity does God want to bestow upon those who are written in the Book of Remembrance, for those who are in awe of Him, meditate on His name and speak to each other about the great things God has done?  God claims them as His own gems, and He will protect them from the “great and dreadful day of the LORD” (Malachi 4:5).  Of those written in the Book of Remembrance, “’They shall be Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts [Jehovah Sabaoth], ‘on the day that I make them My jewels.  And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.’” (Malachi 3:17)

First and foremost, it is of utmost importance that we all surrender to Jesus Christ and believe on Him for our eternal salvation so that our names would be found in the Book of Life.  But do you not also desire to delight the Lord with your words of praise about Him, such that He takes pleasure in having it recorded in the Book of Remembrance?  I pray that we do not weary our Great God by complaining and murmuring, but rather we delight Him with public words of praise worthy of entry into God’s scrapbook of loving memories.

“Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.” (Psalm 148:13)

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Fear of the Lord – Mark 4:41

“And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!’”

As someone who lives and travels on a sailboat to places to serve God, this passage hits home.  Jesus finished teaching by the sea and then told His disciples ‘let us cross over to the other side.’  The other side was where Jesus was to meet the demon possessed man in the country of the Gadarenes.  Remember, Jesus was combating Satan’s emissaries everywhere He went, and was victorious in every skirmish.  Now Jesus is heading to a place where Satan gained a stronghold on the community by investing several troops into the body of one man.  A legion in the Roman army was a body of soldiers whose number differed at different times, and in the time of Augustus seems to have consisted of 6,826 men (i.e. 6100 foot soldiers, and 726 horsemen).  We do not know the number of devils in this poor man, but by the description they gave of themselves, we know that they are:  military in nature, numerous, unanimous (unlike how the Pharisees tried to argue that Jesus drove out Satan with Satan), powerful, and that there is order among them.  They are Satan’s troops, and they are at risk.  Satan employs the wind to stop the advance of his enemy.

How do you know the wind is working for Satan?  Because Jesus rebukes it.  A rebuke is what anything or anyone in creation can expect from Jesus if they do Satan’s bidding.  But let us back up.

Jesus had given a command to go to the other side.  When Jesus gives a command to do His work, is there any reason to believe that He will not make a way for you to do the work?  At the same time, is there any reason to think that it should all be easy?  We can speak from experience that it will be difficult.  We pray that God will put a desire on our hearts to go where He leads.  When He directs us to a place, we wait until the weather forecast gives us a safe and comfortable passage.  Yet there are times when the very forecast we got two hours earlier turns out to be completely wrong.  What we thought would be favorable turns out to be quite difficult, hard on us and hard on the boat.  Now, when that happens, we often turn to each other and say ‘there is someone at the place we are going that is seeking the truth!’   I have to admit, I have asked Jesus to calm the waters and they have not calmed.  What does calm is my heart, and my resolve is strengthened that we are about to approach a stronghold of Satan’s.  We are at war, and the enemy does not want to give up ground. 

In this storm, the disciples sound angry or at least disappointed in Jesus.  “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”  (Mark 4:38b)  Jesus gets up and calms the wind and sea.  Then two things happen.  First, Jesus asks the disciples why they are fearful and how it is that they have no faith.  Jesus said they would go to the other side.  If they believed him, they would have no fear.  Did they have not faith that Jesus cared?  Did they have no faith in the overall mission?  These are questions we might ask ourselves when we are doing the work of the Lord and fear creeps in.

The Greek word fearful used here, deilos, according to Strong’s (1169), means timid and is similar to the Greek word deilia, according to Strong’s (1167), which means cowardice, timidity.  Deilia is used in the scripture that tells us that sort of cowardice and timidity is not of God.  “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  (2 Timothy 1:7) 

Secondly, and very interesting, we are told that the disciples now ‘feared exceedingly.’  Previously, they were fearful for their lives because of the weather.  Now they no longer feared for their lives, but instead had fear exceedingly.  They had just witnessed the authority of their Teacher to command creation.  They thought they understood who Jesus was, but this was beyond any experience so far. 

The Greek word for feared in verse 41 is phobeo, according to Strong’s (5399), and includes to be struck with fear, to be seized with alarm: (a) of those startled by strange sights or occurrences, (b) of those struck with amazement.  That fear in this verse is modified by the word ‘exceedingly,’ which in the Greek is phobo, according to Strong’s (5401), which means that which strikes terror.  The disciples are getting a new revelation of Jesus Christ, and it is awesomely terrifying.  The disciples’ respect and reverence for Jesus was reaching new heights.  They stand amazed.  You can almost see their faith grow as their knees shake.

Brothers and sisters, if you are serving God, you will encounter the enemy.  We encourage you to keep up your faith.  If timidity or cowardice creeps in, remember Who has the real authority.  We serve an awesome God whose power is terrifying.  Soldier on, and remember, we already know Who wins this war.

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.