New Thoughts (5/31/05-6/5/05)
What a picture we are given of the state of the church when Jesus arrived to preach! Already, when He preached in Nazareth, we were shown the people’s need for proof, for credentials, before they would hear His words. Now, with the description of His reception in Capernaum, we see how it is the people had reached that point. The reason lay in their usual teachers. The Living Bible actually brings this out more plainly than others. What amazed them was that “He spoke as one who knew the truth, instead of merely quoting the opinions of others” (Lk 4:32). He offered no credentials, didn’t play the game of namedropper. He simply stated what Scripture had to say, explained what it meant, and moved on. Wow! This was something new for His listeners!
The reaction of those listeners was to declare that His was a new doctrine. What did they mean by that? Was He changing the message? Was He rewriting the Scriptures to fit His opinions? No way! What made it new was the method of His teaching, the authority of His teaching, the faith displayed in His teaching. He made no appeal to preceding human authorities, but only to the writing, and to the God who authored the writing. His doctrine was new not because He changed the message of God, but because He presented it. He presented it clearly and unequivocally. None of the accretions of tradition were there. None of the endless minutia of which the Pharisees were so fond. Just, the simple exposition of what God had been saying from the beginning.
We can gather what He preached here from what He preached later. He preached the Law of Moses, but restored to its intent. He taught it in a fashion that could not help but remind His listeners of the utter impossibility of perfect obedience. But, rather than present an endless list of other ways that Law could be fulfilled, rather than offer up ways to feel better about one’s failings, He left it at that. He didn’t offer the Codex of the Achievable, He offered the mercy of God. He offered what His ancestor David understood: if God were to repay a man according to his deeds alone, no man would survive. It is upon God’s mercy we must depend, and here was His Mercy come down.
There are so many things in this that we need to recall to mind today. First and foremost, let us remember that it is not our rules and points of order that matter in the end. No, it is the word of God alone that will determine the outcome of a man. We have our lists, every one of us, of things that surely must count as sins in God’s eyes, though He has said nothing against those things. They are the questionable matters of which Paul wrote, but clothed for our age. We can find denominations that preach vehemently against dancing, against music, against wine, against tobacco, against any number of things. But, in all these things, we can as easily find churches where the very same issues are considered utterly benign, and perhaps even border on being treated as sacred. For every church that abhors the dance, there is another that celebrates it as part of service. For every church that feels that holy music must be dusty with age, there is another that is breaking forth in fresh songs and psalms of the heart. The list is endless. Each region, each denomination, has its own list of elective sins. But, these have nothing to do with righteousness. They are, to a one, external matters, not matters of the heart that God wants to change.
God help us! Help us to discern the difference between Your laws and our opinions! Help us to speak plainly of that which is plainly sin, and to hold our peace when we are but seeing what offends ourselves. Lord! Teach us to accept those whose weaknesses, while unwise and unhealthy, are not sins in themselves. Oh! That we would not drive from Your presence one whom You desire to draw close! Let us not fall into that old trap, my Father.
A second lesson I draw from this applies to my role as a teacher. See what is said of those who taught in Israel. They were called upon to examine the difficulties and subtleties of the Law, of God’s Word, and to explain the meaning. But, rather than examine it for themselves, rather than seek the Lord in prayerful consideration that they might understand, they settled for studying what other men had said. They would not approach the Source on the matter, but would gladly consult those wise men of earlier years.
This creates problems for the teacher. First, he is not intimate with the God whose ways he is teaching. How then shall he teach? Secondly, he is in danger of exalting the man of God above the God of man. These are problems not just for those of us who teach others in some capacity, it is a problem for every member of the church body. Each one simply must take up the responsibility of studying the Word for himself. We have lost sight of what an awesome privilege it is to even have the Word in a form we can read. So many died to bring about this transformation. The Bible used to be the property of the priests, and one must trust their words on the matter without recourse to the source material. That changed, but it changed at great sacrifice. Men risked life and health to ensure that we could read the Scriptures for ourselves in our own language. They provided us with a great boon, but as with any great boon, there comes with it a great responsibility.
We were delivered the Word of God in our own native tongue that we might be freed from the doctrines of man that were foisted upon us by the power brokers in a corrupted priesthood. Yet, in our age we have set aside that book that was bought so dearly, and settled for the easy listening. Unwilling to put in the effort for ourselves, we have been satisfied to listen to those who have put in the effort. Indeed, we’ve been satisfied to listen to men who haven’t really put in the effort, but merely claim to have done so! We fail to even heed the warnings that we must be diligent to check the words of our teachers. Not even this much will we do for our own survival, and therefore we find a church that is largely blown off course by every slightest breeze of doctrine. We have become a body that no longer cares whither the truth, so long as the message is entertaining, and doesn’t ask too much of us.
The church was never intended to be thus. It was and is to be a training ground, that we might be fully equipped to eat from the Word for ourselves, and that we might be capable trainers for those who come after us. “Go and make disciples.” It’s not enough to know the Word. It must be acted upon. But, we cannot take action on what we do not know to do. We must prepare ourselves with time spent in the Word, getting intimate with the ways of the one we call Lord. How shall we serve a Master we barely know?
Likewise, it is not enough to make converts. It may thrill us to see these lost souls coming to the altar and making their claim upon the mercy of God, but if we leave them to themselves thereafter, the majority will be found to have returned to their old ways. The command is not to make converts, but to make disciples. Disciples must be trained even as we were trained. That’s the divine plan for the Church. But if we fail to discipline ourselves, we surely cannot hope to discipline those we are bringing into the house of God!
The second issue I raised is also prevalent in our culture. One need go no further than the local Christian book store to see it in action. There are those authors today who have achieved such notoriety that they can simply reissue the same message over and over again, and the people keep on buying it up. We have volume after volume written on the simple prayer of Jabez. Frankly, if the readers wanted to understand the prayer, they could have stopped at the title of the first of these books, and gone to the Scriptures themselves to learn what was to be learned from it. Instead, we lap up book after book on the subject of those few earnest sentences. We have the prayer explained for men, for women, for children, for husbands, for wives, for every possible distinction we could possibly make. Whatever happened to “in Christ there is no distinction”? Whatever happened to study? How many could tell you who wrote the books, but can’t tell you where you might find those verses in the Bible? How many of these students of the prayer can tell you who Jabez was, or why he was praying?
This is but one example of many. Now, some of these authors are quite deserving of their reputation. They offer us great insights into the Scriptures, gained by their own deep intimacy with the Lord of the Scriptures. Neither are they at fault for the idolatrous worship of their readers. It is a blessing upon Christendom to have the records and the understanding of those great minds that have considered God’s word and His ways. While not carrying the force of Scripture, they are yet a powerful assistance to the earnest heart after God. But, if these alone constitute our reading in matters of faith, we have blown it utterly. They are there to be a support, a reinforcement of our own study in the Word, not the replacement for that study. “Study to show yourselves approved”, says the Word. By all means, avail yourself of every tool so graciously provided for that study, but don’t mistake the tool for the subject!
Last night I saw yet another case of this, speaking with an acquaintance of mine. In trying to display her faith, she listed off this evangelist that she watched twice daily, and the little booklets from that ministry that she read day and night. Where was the Bible? Only when I specifically asked about studying the Bible itself did it come up. I don’t hold this out for ridicule, but for prayer, because I know that I am equally capable of pursuing the servant instead of the Master. It’s actually much easier to get caught up in one particular ministry than it is to be wholly caught up in Christ. But, we dare not make that mistake.
In this age, just as we are all called to be priests unto the Lord, I believe we are also unanimously called to be the scribes of the Lord. Who were the scribes? They were the ones to whom the people looked for answers. When the lessons of Scripture were particularly difficult, when there were subtleties to be unraveled in applying the whole counsel of God to a particular situation, these were the ones who were supposed to have the answers. The issue was not with the office, but with their performance of that office. They did not teach from wisdom. They did not answer from a depth of understanding of the Law. They answered from what they considered to be safety: the opinions of others who had a name for themselves. If one could quote Hillel on the matter then one could count on a good reception, however harsh the decision might be. And, if it turned out to be wrong, it wasn’t the scribe’s fault, it was Hillel’s!
Now, I can understand the comfort of knowing that other teachers whom I respect have reached the same things in studying the Scriptures as I have. There is great security in orthodoxy, to be sure. But, if I allow my study of the greats in Christian history to eclipse my study of the Bible, if I allow everything I know of Scripture to come second hand, I have disqualified myself for teaching. When we disciple another, it is not to produce a copy of ourselves, but to produce a copy of the One who has molded us after His own image. When we teach, it is not to impress with our fancy words or our clever phrases, but to make clear and vivid the meaning God clearly intended. We are called to be the true scribes in God’s service, to properly explain the import, the intricacy, the purity of God’s Word. We are called to pour forth from what He has poured in as we spend time with Him as our own tutor.
This is the beauty of Scripture. It speaks truth, and it speaks truth in a fashion that stands on its own. It does not require the support of other disciplines to make its truth understood. It doesn’t require the confirmation of scientific observation for its merits to be established. The simplest of men can hear its precepts and know with utmost certainty that what he has heard is wise and true. He needs no other to tell him that. His own heart tells him that. At one and the same time, the most educated of men could spend a lifetime delving into the intricacies of this message and never reach the end of his explorations. There is such a wealth of wisdom to be had, so many wonderful threads woven through the pages! Brilliant or simple, whatever be the state of the man who comes to those pages this one thing remains unchanged: The truths of Scripture are to be understood on their own merit.
It was this view of the Holy Writings that made Jesus’ teaching so fresh and new in the opinion of those who heard Him. It was not that He was preaching a strange doctrine, it was that He was preaching the clear doctrine of the Scriptures. If He made any appeal at all for the veracity of His words, it was an appeal to the Scriptures. Never mind the commentaries. Never mind the rabbinical tradition. What did God say? That is what He preached, no more and no less! This was something utterly new to the experience of His hearers. When they declared His message new, they declared that it was something freshly made. It was not the stale repetition of somebody else’s opinions, it was the fresh wind of God’s word being spoken out! Not only was it declared fresh, it was declared superior. This was teaching with power! The scribes taught with all the weight of tradition, and their teaching was as dry as a stale Matzo wafer. Jesus came with the bread of the Word, with the message of God fresh from the pages He had caused to be written. Here was the difference. No opinions intervened. No appeal was made to the authority of man, but all appeal was to the unimpeachable authority of God. No least shred of glory was allowed to attach to any other source.
If we would know God’s power in our day, in our teaching, we must recover this approach. Enough of name dropping, enough of exalting this author or that book! Let the message be founded firmly on God’s Word and it is enough. Let every appeal be to the pages of Scripture. Let the teacher and the preacher prove his points from the Bible. Let him prove them first to himself before he brings the message to another. Let him test and see if this thing he has learned is true in God’s eyes. Let him consider the whole counsel of God, not just the verse that may have first caught his attention. Let him be most careful to ensure that it is God’s wisdom and not his own fancy that he would teach. Then, let him come with the message and the Word and let his students hear him. Show those students that the message is backed by the Word and the Word made clear by the message, and what power there shall be in that teaching! Before God will cause His power to be manifest in the message, though, it is the teacher’s duty to God and man to make it clear that the message he delivers reflects God’s will.
I would look now at another aspect of what is relayed in this passage. We see Jesus manifest His power in this passage and our attention is naturally drawn to Him. We are quite properly impressed by what He does for the man possessed. But, being so quick to look upon our Lord and His actions here, we may tend to miss the import of the setting for this miracle, and the message in that setting.
I find it important to recognize that the miracle we are seeing here takes place in a synagogue, in the place were the people of God came to learn of God. Now, granted, we’re not talking about the Temple here. This is not the holy place, but it is the place in which the chosen people gathered, and here, in this place, is where we are told there was a man possessed. I dare say there wasn’t a man or woman in that place that had the least suspicion of what stood with them. The sinful nature is masterful in its ability to disguise itself.
Why is this important? It is a reminder to us, as is all Scripture. We have a tendency to look upon our fellow church members has already pure and holy. True, we who are called by God are sanctified at the calling, but one would have to be delusional to think himself walking perfectly in that sanctification in this life! Further, we are not given to know with certainty who among us is truly called and who is simply here for the sake of appearance. In all honesty, we don’t know each other all that well, and what we do know is exactly as much as that other has been willing to reveal. Whether that which was revealed is truth or fiction, we cannot know, for we do not see the heart, only the appearance.
The point is this: it is entirely possible that the one sitting next to us in the pew, the one standing next to us at the altar is possessed by an evil spirit. They may be there week after week, seemingly absorbed in the service, seemingly intent on the message, seemingly blessed by the presence of God, and all the time, that possessing spirit has but one thing in mind – how to insinuate himself into the happenings of that church body, how to pervert the worship, how to draw the attention away from God.
What Mark tells us is that “man possessed by an evil spirit was in the synagogue” (NLT). He doesn’t say the man was visiting in that place. He doesn’t say that the man was passing by and just popped his head in to see what was happening. No. He was in the synagogue. He was quite probably familiar to many in that place, unlike Jesus who as a guest was given the privilege of teaching. What caused this spirit to manifest now, at this time, when Jesus was present? I’d say it was the simple fact that He was teaching Truth with authority. He wasn’t preaching distractions and misleading opinions, He was preaching power. This enemy combatant planted in the camp was there for just such a time as this. He must cause some distraction, lest the people realize the power God had put in their hands. He must draw their sight away from this Son of God, lest He succeed in taking off the blinders of sin.
Don’t you think that this is some tale of events that are barely believable, and couldn’t possibly happen today. Indeed, let me suggest to you that if your thinking is that these ideas of demonic possession are just not possible in our day and age, you are quite as fitted with blinders as were those in that synagogue. You have lost all conception of the spiritual reality in which you walk. Those demons that Jesus rebuked, the Devil over whom He has triumphed, they are every bit as real as He is, and every bit as active – even in the life of the church.
Why do you think so many churches are in crisis in this day and age? It is precisely because the membership at every level has let down its guard. They don’t really believe the truth of Scripture, so they are totally unprepared for the attack of deception. Untrained and uninterested in the Word of God, they are become willing to believe just about anything the leadership wishes to promulgate as holy. Gay sex? Why not! Why not even in the pulpit? Who cares what people say? Who cares what God thinks? See, it is a church that no longer really believes there is a God, so it has become free to do as it pleases, and nothing pleases the sinful flesh like sin.
This, I believe, is the fundamental problem in the church today. We don’t really believe. We don’t believe in demons, and we don’t believe in angels. We don’t believe in the devil, and we don’t really believe in God – at least not the God that we find revealing Himself in the Bible. Why, He’s offensive! He’s judgmental, wrathful, even genocidal! We enlightened moderns know better than that! Why, He even considers Himself above the laws of science, and we’ll certainly have none of that! For those who do believe the God who Is, though, there must be vigilance. We must be spiritually aware of what is going on around us, lest we allow the attack of distraction to catch us out. We must be vocal and authoritative in declaring what is happening, not the sugar coated version that will make the rest of the people comfortable, but the reality. Shut down the distraction! Shut down the deception, and let the Light of God shine clearly, that every eye might be made clear.
In charismatic circles, we need to be particularly aware that not every manifestation is of the Spirit, not every excitement is the product of righteousness. If we have one in our midst who is shouting hideously, writhing before our eyes, is this really the work of God? Perhaps. Perhaps He is in the process of eliminating another demon from that one’s life. But, what is our reaction? We either shy away, do our utmost to ignore it, or get all excited, and none of these is the right answer. We ought instead to be praying to our God in heaven that He would complete the work of destroying the demonic hold upon that life. Because we fail to do this we find that we have amongst us those who come week after week with all manner of manifestations, and think themselves greatly advanced in the ways of holiness.
What delusion! What a shame upon us that we allow such delusion! Think about what you see, and think about what Scriptures describe. Look at the events of this very passage. The demons threw this man into convulsion in the presence of God. The demons caused him to shriek in a loud voice. Can anybody find me a case where these same activities are attributed to the Holy Spirit? I think not!
The closest one can approach it is the ecstatic actions of the prophets in the Old Testament, yet I would note one thing even there. I find no writings attributed to these ecstatic ones. I find no record of any prophecy that they uttered. All that is noted about them is that they danced and sang with abandon. What should we make of this? I would suggest that these were not prophets like unto those we find in Scripture. These were not the stock from which Amos, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the others came from. They were of a different sort. Further, I still don’t see that the activities we read of in their case resembles what is shown here in Mark.
Yet, I can find examples today of those whose antics more resemble the torments of this demon but would happily tell you it’s the Holy Spirit, and this is an expression of the prophetic. Lies and deception! It is a distraction of the enemy, and the longer we allow it to continue, the more will be deluded by that nonsense. It is time we stopped celebrating the vile as though it were holy. It is time that we cast out these demons rather than being entertained by them. Jesus did not tolerate their recognition of Him because He recognized that they sought not to honor Him, but to disrupt His work. Paul, likewise cast out those demons who recognized his labors for the God of heaven, and for the same reasons.
Why, then, do we continue to accept such disruptions in His house? “He who believes in Me, the works I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father” (Jn 14:12). That’s the declaration of our Lord, in whom we profess to believe. Well, then, I have to ask: is our faith strong enough to believe we can do what the God we believe tells us we can do? Do we believe Him? If we do, we cannot sit idly by allowing this distraction in the house. If there are demons in the house, we must cease to be entertained by them, cease from accepting their acknowledgments and accolades, and do as we see our Lord Jesus doing. It is time for men of faith – men of real faith – to stand up in the place the Lord has put them. It is time for men of real faith to stop role-playing and take up the role God has assigned to them. It is time we accept the authority God has delegated to us and cast out these interlopers once for all. If we believe in deliverance, it is time we delivered these tormented ones in the name of our Lord and Savior. If we believe in God, believe also in Christ, we must really begin to believe in ourselves. Belief demands obedience, and He has shown us what it is that needs doing.
Here is a test for us. When Jesus’ followers were abandoning Him because His message had become too much for them, He asked His twelve if they also wanted to leave. Peter answered for them, and we’re all familiar with the beginning of that answer. “Who else could we possibly go to? You have words of eternal life!” What a wonderful confession that is. It’s so honest. No false pretensions, none of the bravado that we hear later from Peter, just a simple recognition of the truth. However hard His words are to accept, they are life. We must struggle to accept what He has said, because of who He is.
What I want to pay attention to today, though, is the last portion of Peter’s reply in John 6:69. “We have believed,” he says, “and have come to know that You are the Messiah of God.” If I may, I would like to rephrase that just a bit. “We have believed that You are the Messiah of God, and we have come to know You.” See, the problem we’re having is that we’ve only dealt with that first bit. We believe that He is Messiah. But we still haven’t come to know Him. This is what the greater works depend on. By faith we know He is the Son of God, the Christ of God, but faith must grow. Faith must develop muscle, and that muscle is found in truly coming to know Him. Intimacy. Over and over I hear it not only from the pulpit of our local church, but from all manner of ministries. It’s not like this is a new doctrine or anything. It’s not like it’s some new fad in the church. It’s the age-old heartbeat of God!
“Come get to know Me,” He calls out. He invites, He cajoles, He draws us to Him as He has ever drawn His creation to Him. From the moment that Adam was created, God was inviting mankind to be His boon companion. We were created to know Him; not just know of Him or about Him, but to truly know Him as we likely only know one or two people in this life. It’s the message of the wedding of the Lamb, that He wants the intimacy of marriage between Himself and those He has called. I ask, then, have we come to know Him? Have we come to know Him well enough that we can trust Him even when the word is difficult? Have we come to know Him well enough to trust Him even when His commands seem to threaten our livelihood, even our earthly existence? Have we come to know Him well enough that when He says, “do as I do,” we will do it?
Lord God, I must admit that my actions answer for me. I have not yet come to know You as I ought, as You desire. How shall I make such a claim while my actions still fail to align with what I know of You? Oh, I can comfort myself that progress has been made, but not to the degree that You desire, that I desire. God! Where is the belief in me that knows You mean what You say? Where is the faith that knows that obedience is to the good? Where is the trust that if You have called me to do something – even something frightening – it remains true that You are working for my good in it? I know, You have already answered this. I need to draw closer to You. I need that time when I am not just looking at what there is to learn of You, but simply getting to know You, being with You, listening to Your heart. Show me, Holy Father, how to spend that time. Bring me to that place, Lord. I refuse to see our relationship wither for lack of that time.
I have heard the call You are shouting out from this study, and I know You have been shouting at me. Oh God! Do what it takes! Holy Spirit, overcome this weak flesh, overwhelm my doubts and fears. Make of me the man You desire. I am become desperate for You! I cry out for a new freedom even today, Lord, to worship in fullness, to pray in earnest, to trust in You completely, as I have never done before. Bring the change, Holy One! Revive this dry land!
