New Thoughts (01/06/09-01/10/09)
Once more, my initial thoughts are not directly related to the passage at hand, but with another. In this case, I want to briefly address a question that came to mind as I looked at Mark 16:17-18. Here, Jesus is listing a number of signs or evidences that will be found where believers are active. There is a repeated motif of ‘they will’. They will do this, they will do that. But, as we move into verse 18, there is a slight shift as Jesus notes that if they drink some sort of poison, they will not be hurt by that event. Of course, this is not to be taken as some sort of suggestion that we are all supposed to go out and down some cleaning solution or other just to prove our faith, any more than the mention of picking up serpents is intended to establish some sort of rite in the Church.
What struck me, though, is that Jesus segues from this more ‘if / then’ relationship to the matter of laying hands on the sick and recovery. Now, I am no linguist, particularly in the source languages of the text, but it occurs to me that the ‘they’ who will recover is not specified, and there is no differing antecedent to identify that ‘they’ than there is for identifying the ‘they’ who will lay hands upon the sick. Taken together, one could suppose that the intended message was that when the believer involves himself with the sick, he need not fear the sickness, any more than he need fear the poison that he has accidentally ingested. I say accidental for the very simple reason that we must still abide by the ruling that to tempt God by our stupidity or bullheadedness is disallowed us. It’s not about us proving Him. It’s about us trusting Him. He will gladly prove Himself quite apart from such nonsense.
The thought entered in, then, that maybe all this business that has become such a standard practice in some churches, this matter of making physical healing central to business of ministry, may be a tad off the mark. Maybe we have wandered a bit in our understanding of the point. While I have little doubt that this is quite true, I have to conclude in the end that this is not a passage that speaks particularly to that matter. If our model is Jesus, and of course it is, then healing is certainly within the realm of our expected practices. To lift it above more eternal matters is certainly beyond the pale, but it surely is not to be rejected as a portion of our inheritance. So, I shall have to conclude, that no, we have not misunderstood this particular piece of the message. Unlike the matter of oil, where we have taken a mention of what was at the time the best known practice and made of it a ritual, here we are returned to statements of certainty. That all important ‘if’ that sets apart the matter of poisons is missing from the equation. There is only the ‘they will’. They will lay on hands.
Before I return to the verses I am supposed to be studying here, let me just make this statement, which admittedly repeats a resounding theme of mine. Such signs accompany the believer, but they are not in and of themselves the proof of belief. They are the outflow, the overflow. However, because we are so inclined to take the overflow and make of it a proof of the unseen, the enemy of our souls has a habit of counterfeiting the same sorts of signs. He, too, will use healing, but to mask his true intent. He, too, may put up a fine show of casting out his own minions, but only to build up in us a false sense of security as he wheedles his way into our midst.
My point is quite simply this: All of these signs are quite easily forged, and we are none the wiser. We know not whether the thing our eye believes it has seen is true, false or indifferent. Did the demon go out, or did it merely go into hiding to convince us of it? Is that tongues, or just some cheap imitation? Did they really drink that poison, or was it sleight of hand? Was that one healed, or was he never truly sick in the first place? The signs are not enough. Their absence may well speak volumes, but their presence proves very little. With our limited vision, that can only see the outermost, the purely physical, we are easily deceived, easily swayed by what is really foolishness and lies. Even when we are the fools lying to ourselves, we are duped by it. How can we think ourselves more discerning when it comes to others, particularly total strangers?
There is One we can trust, One who has shown Himself steadfastly, faithfully, unchangingly righteous, true and good. Indeed, He is the very essence of all these qualities as they are essential components of Who He Is. In Him we shall trust, and in no other. Him shall we follow and no other. As for any man, however fine a servant of this One Lord and King, let us abide with the wisdom of the pilgrims, and be determined to follow no man farther than he himself follows God.
With that, consider the words by which we hear John referring to the One he is following: Teacher, Master. There is no reason for us to get worked up over the difference in title between these two accounts. It is no evidence of error or contradiction. It is just two recollections of the event that differ slightly. It would come as no shock to me to learn that John had actually used both of these titles, and thus, as so often turns out to be the case, we actually have a more complete picture by the combined accounts than we had in either one alone.
The terms themselves are to a point and purpose, though. What we don’t hear in this case is Jesus being called Rabbi. He is called instead Teacher. As a teacher, He is in some measure being counted amongst the scribes by this student of His. This is, after all, the title generally reserved for these experts on Scripture. It would be akin to us calling Him Professor. It is an acknowledgement of His expertise in the area He is teaching. That is, of course, too general a sense for the case in hand, but it gives us somewhat of the idea. The nature of His area of expertise makes things more significant, yet still not different from the generally understood application to the scribes. He is being hailed as not only an expert on the Scriptures, but particularly as one able to comprehend and interpret to those of lesser lights the message of salvation contained within its pages.
That He is a most able Teacher in this regard is clearly attested by the examples we have of His teaching. He is absolutely masterful in His ability to draw from the pool of common experience, from that which is there before the eyes of His students, and to fashion from this a clear message expressing the nature of heavenly matters, the order of the kingdom, and the magnitude of what is now transpiring. This is the One, after all, Who took the time afforded by a walk along the road to explain from first to last how Himself and all He had accomplished were spoken of all throughout those Scriptures.
The other way we hear John speak of Jesus is as Master. Oh, but we have trouble with that one! With all our guilt over past practices in this country, and all that is still made of those practices though they have long been done away with, the very concept of ‘master’, with its requisite companion ‘slave’ really offends us. It is almost unconscionable that our Good and Loving God should use these terms in relation to faith! Servant we can just barely handle. Slave? It’s unfathomable that this word should have anything to do with faith.
Indeed, we are far worse off than that. We abide in the age of, “You’re not the boss of me!” and, “I’m not your slave.” And, here is the King of all kings saying we must become servants of all, enslaved to every man. Here are those we count great, the foundations of the Church, proudly declaring themselves bound slaves to this Jesus the Christ of God. Oh! How our translations endeavor to soften the words to suit our tender palates! But, whatever words are chosen, the concept remains. Paul, appointed to be apostle to the Gentiles… Appointed by Whom? Appointed by his Master. How his master? Was he not a free man, a citizen of Rome? Yes! But, he had bound himself to the house of God. He had declared himself willingly enslaved to this One Whom God appointed King. He had, to his thinking, performed the rites required by Law to declare himself a slave for life to this One, by his own choosing. He had, in a spiritual fashion, nailed his ear to the doorpost of the house of Jesus, just as the Law demanded, and made this One Master for perpetuity over his life, his actions.
We should recognize, then, that between these terms, we are being shown Jesus as both the Interpreter of Salvation, and the Appointed Overseer. He not only explains the Truth of the Gospel to us, but He orders our days. As Overseer, He coaches us in our learning experiences, and He appoints us our tasks. He is the One Who possesses both the Ability and the Authority for this. As Teacher, He has the ability to explain the mysteries of heaven to us in terms we can understand, to make the plan of salvation sufficiently plain to us that we lay hold of it and bind ourselves to Him. As Master, He has the Authority to make that salvation certain in us, and to go about the work of the Kingdom unchallenged. He also has the Authority to appoint us to our positions and our labors. He also has the Authority to delegate from His own authority to us, that we, too, may walk with the Authority of heaven, work in the Authority of heaven.
We must further recognize that when we hear of, or call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, in considering His Name, we are touching upon all of what has just been said of Him. We are touching upon His incomparable Ability. We are availing ourselves of, and aligning ourselves with His Authority. That is the power of His Name! It is the power of office, the highest office. It is the power of the throne, answerable to no higher authority in heaven or on earth. It is in the power of this Name, this Office, this Authority that Paul declares His Apostleship. He does so for one very simple reason: those he needs to convince of his genuineness understand that Authority, and also know that what that Authority has proclaimed is set beyond the realm of question. If He has said it, it is so. Those who have willingly bowed the knee to Him, willingly joined the ranks of His household staff for life, even though He be their brother, abide in this Truth.
It is in light of this understanding that Jesus says that those who perform a miracle in His name could not speak evil of Him thereafter. Why they used His name might be suspect. They may truly be charlatans, having a bit of fun with what they see as just another fable. But, when He answers, when they witness for themselves the actuality of miracle, then they cannot help but recognize that there is authority behind the name they used. There is power behind the name they have used, as well, and these are connected. It is upon His authority that His power is applied, manifested. Thus, to see that power displayed on one’s own behalf, or at one’s own behest – however falsely one has called – must lead one to acknowledge the power and authority of that Name thereafter.
Consider, as well, the situation spoken of. If this Name, this Jesus, has proven willing to answer the cry of one who really doesn’t believe, who really doesn’t consider Him to be Lord, why has He done so? He has done so solely for the need of the other. It is not on behalf of something in the caller that He has answered, but due to the reason the caller called. His goodness is so much greater that even the falseness of the call shall not prevent Him from performing the Good.
I know this is something I have touched on many times, but it bears repeating: the response of God, the very miracle of God, does not, in the end, prove anything about the rightness of the man through whom it comes. The record of Scripture has far too many cases of God using truly despicable vessels to accomplish His own Good end. Nebuchadnezzar was hardly a good man, but he was used to promote what was, in the end, a good purpose. So, too, Cyrus. So, too, the brothers of Joseph. Indeed, search the Scriptures and apart from Jesus you will not find a truly good man. You will find those that trend more towards goodness than not, and you will find those who trend the opposite. You will find dumb animals used mightily, miraculously, to promote God’s plan. Does that prove some innate goodness in the animal? Does that fit the animal to become leading lights of God’s family? I think not.
But, let me recognize in this passage the other side of this coin, for there is another side. Jesus is saying that one cannot experience the power of heaven come in answer to his call without recognizing that heaven’s power has indeed come down. One cannot serve as a conduit for that power and not recognize the nature of that power when it comes. One may be however great a skeptic, however virulent an opponent to God’s purpose prior to that event, but the event will change you. The event will register in you. Will it bring permanent change? That is for God to say. I do notice that Jesus qualifies the impact slightly. “He will not be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.” He may revert to type, but it’s going to take awhile.
So, then, does this argue against the permanence of salvation? If he might revert, mightn’t we also? I do not think the argument holds. I think that Jesus is, at least in this specific case, acknowledging the accuracy of John’s assessment. No, this exorcist is not one of us. He is not of My fold. But, in as much as his present activities are of a piece with the kingdom, I allow his use of My authority. So long as he is not actively opposing the work of the kingdom, he is promoting it, willingly or no. It may not last with him, but so long as it does, leave him be.
But, the case is made different by the reality that he is not truly of our number. For us, there is certainty. For us, there is no reason to fear that we might be allowed to depart. We are of the fold, and He has told us of His concern for those of His fold. Were one to depart, He would expend all effort to see that one returned. He has not lost a one that was truly His, nor shall He. That is our promise. We may wander, but we shall not be lost. There will be those who come and go, but these are not the sheep of His pasture. They are curious sheep, perhaps straying in from another field, but they eventually return to their own. Or, we might follow the example of Jesus’ own illustration and count them goats. They look sort of like sheep. They act sort of like sheep. But, at the end of the day they are not sheep. They may serve for awhile, help for awhile, but eventually they revert to form. But, even reverted to form, they will retain the knowledge that God’s authority, the authority vested in Christ Jesus and imparted to His representatives, is very, very real.
That said, it must be made clear that simply claiming the authority of Christ Jesus is not the same as actually having it. If we look at the record of those seven sons Sceva had, we see that this is the case. They called upon that authority, but it did not answer for them. If we look further, to the parable of the sheep and the goats, we must acknowledge that even where there has been an answer, that is no proof of authority. “Many will come to Me in the end, claiming…” (Mt 7:22-23). They will claim the acts they have done and claimed as authorized by Him as proof that He actually did the authorizing. To such as these, the fact of the accomplished works is thought enough to prove not only His participation in the act, but His approval of the actor.
We have that same tendency. Yes, where God is truly ministering, we must certainly see the fruit of that ministration. But, our eyes are not so clear as all that. We cannot readily distinguish between good, healthy fruit and that which looks good but is actually rotten. I need look no further than my wife’s frustration with the local grocer. Each week, she comes home with what looked like and felt like good fruits and vegetables. Each week, she discovers that a portion are not ripe for eating, and a portion is well past the point where any would eat. They are still fruits, but they are not good fruits. We are sadly in the same boat when it comes to measuring the quality of ministerial fruits. They look good to us, but the Judge of the whole earth, being able to see to the heart of things, disagrees.
Of course, in that particular message, we hear the reason for disagreement clearly: “I never knew you.” We could as easily read that the other way round. “You never knew Me.” You called upon the Lord, but you did not really know Him. Here, we have the same problem the seven sons had. They had heard about this Jesus, but they didn’t know Him. They had heard of Paul’s exploits, but they had never come to know him. Thus, they were left calling upon a power and authority they had no understanding of. The demons over whom they attempted to wield this power could see that clearly enough. It’s like the scene where the unarmed cop faces an armed youngster just barely capable of being saved from totally destroying himself. Yeah, you’ve got the gun, but you won’t pull the trigger. Might as well give it to me, son. Of course, for those seven sons, the consequences of their failure was much more severe.
What might lead to confusion is trying to balance the clear problem that is present in those cases with what we are reading of here. At first blush, we are once more dealing with somebody claiming power without knowing the Authorizer of that power. At first blush, it is a stranger playing at what Jesus and His disciples do for real. It seems there is that same lack of relationship, if you will. It seems that this man should be counted amongst those Jesus doesn’t know. Yet, Jesus says, “no. Let him work.” He is basically putting His seal on the work. Yes, it’s My power working through Him. No, you haven’t seen him around our camp, but when he called, I still answered. Don’t bother him.
That might be overstating the case, though. This could as easily be another case akin to Balaam’s ass. I am tempted to bring in the usual examples of the kings of Egypt and Babylon and such who worked to forward God’s plans and purposes in spite of themselves, but this is at least a different thing than those. It is not as though this one John confronted was seeking to oppose the ministry of Jesus by his actions, or somehow bring it down. It’s more like that donkey, although even there, the differences are clear. This man is obviously trying to do something. He is not, like the donkey, an involuntary channel of heaven’s power.
In essence, this case seems to be a case unique from all the others. It is a case of somebody trying to do the right thing at least in part for the right reasons. Let me suppose, then, that this falls more into the category of those sheep in other fields that Jesus later speaks of. In other words, His power and His fellowship are not restricted to the bounds of this traveling school. He is not, in reality, restricted to the place of His physical presence. We have seen that before. “Go, your child is healed.” Jesus didn’t go. He didn’t see the child. He didn’t touch the child. He commanded healing, and healing happened. Isn’t it equally probably that this one John had come across was as much in fellowship with Jesus as the disciples were, even though he was not in such physical proximity?
In our day, we might see this one as being akin to those who, while holding firmly to faith in Christ, yet belong to no church. There may be any number of reasons for this. It is likely that some reasons are valid and others not. It is likely that many of these claimants to faith are in fact false. But, it need not necessarily be so. God is perfectly capable of working outside the walls of the Church, outside the programs and efforts of the Church. These are most assuredly the standard means of Grace, particularly as Church combines with active proclamation of the Word, as it should. But, the fact of this being the standard does not in any way preclude God from acting in another fashion to reach a particular individual.
We cannot, then, reject the claim of faith just because the experience that led to such faith doesn’t fit the model we have, doesn’t fit our experience. There are clearly claims that are false. There are clearly claims that are clearly false! The one whose actions and lifestyle are in flagrant conflict with the standards that Scripture and Christ proclaim and yet says he is God’s and right with God, is very clearly incorrect in his claims. He may think this is the case, but if so, he is fooling himself. But there are those others, who may not be following the standard course of faith, as we understand it, yet are not insisting on a course that is blatantly sinful, blatantly counter to the demands of faith. Such as these are indeed promoting the work of the kingdom in their own way, and it is of such as these that Jesus says, “Do not hinder.”
Now, the NKJV looks at this passage and sees in it a command against sectarianism. I cannot see that this is what Jesus is driving at. For one thing, if there’s any sectarianism to be seen at the time, then His little band of followers is the prime example! They’re right up there with the Essenes, and the Zealots, and those others who were breaking slightly from the dominant form of Judaism. Indeed, Saul’s stated purpose was to wipe out this ‘sect’. But as yet, as of this encounter John had, no such sectarianism had been marked out for the disciples, so there was no real sectarianism to combat in them. It’s not as though this band had come in conflict with the Essenes or the Zealots. They weren’t even competing for John the Baptist’s followers. They weren’t competing period. They were simply disciples, learning to live as Jesus taught, doing what needed doing, and preaching the Truth that needed hearing.
We have to return the passage to its context. Then, it ought to be sufficiently clear that what Jesus is combating here is not sectarianism, but pride. It is pride that He was assaulting in His disciples just prior, and it is pride that He continues to chip away at thereafter. “You are not some sort of elites, boys! You are here to serve. If this man is serving Me as well, what is that to you? Just so the work of the kingdom progresses, don’t you go taking offense at whose hands I am working through.”
Bring it forward to today! If God truly is at work through some of these televangelists and through some of these mega-commercialized-ministries, what is that to us? If it’s truly God’s program accomplished, who are we to be offended and off-put by the means He has chosen? On the other side of the coin, I suppose we ought to ask the same of the more traditional bodies. If God is working through the old, mainline denominations, reaching some for the kingdom, how dare we look down on those denominations as dead and useless? I tell you, it is a rare thing that a denomination is a corpse in total. It is entirely probable that certain congregations are largely deceased, but even there, I feel certain God has preserved His remnant. The seed may look ever so dead and still maintain the germ of life within. It just awaits the proper conditions to take root and grow once more.
But, where there is pride, the conditions cannot be found. Where followers are prideful, full to overflow with their own accomplishments and the wonderful sense that they have arrived – they are it, man! – no seed can flourish. Things may grow, but it will be all weeds and briars, and what remnant of real faith may remain within will bide its time, waiting for the Gardener’s ministrations to clear the soil. Then, true faith, true belief will once more take root, once more bear fruit, once more burst forth in infinite glory to permeate the region. But never was it the seed that made it possible, and the seed that thinks otherwise is become a progenitor of weeds, unless the Gardener through whom all good things transpire moves to heal that seed before it can take root.
Recall that the discussion prior to this has been about who gets to be top dog in the new regime. It’s been the twelve listing their deeds, exuding their machismo, and laying their claim to chief rank. All John has done, in light of that, is lower the level a bit. OK, Jesus, we’re not supposed to clamor for top position like that, but this guy: he’s not even in the top twelve, not even in the hundreds that have been following a bit less closely. Surely, we’ve at least got some sort of edge over him! Surely we can exercise some sort of authority over the likes of him?
The problem is that he is still viewing his place so close to Jesus as some sort of reward. However deeply he loves Jesus at this point, however devoted he is to being a true disciple, it remains in his nature just as it remains in our own. We are pretty sure that what we have we have earned. If we have success, we have earned it by our efforts. If we have respect and honor, it is because our diligence has deserved it. So, when it comes to God, particularly when it comes to this business of salvation, we’re are still convinced that we must have done something to deserve it. It’s a reward after all, and (apart from the government) one doesn’t reward failure.
This is why folks get their dander up when one tries to explain the nature of salvation by grace alone. And, I’m talking about believers, here. The battle for free will rises up in them. However much they understand that salvation is by grace alone, in Christ alone, they still feel there must be some work of their own upon which the whole thing depends. Yes, yes, it’s all Him. But, I still had to accept what He offered. Yes, it’s a gift of grace, but I had to put out my hand to receive it. Nonsense! The minute we allow our flesh into the process in any least fashion, we have lost sight of the reality. It’s all God. By His own right arm, He has brought it about. We have had, in the end, no more say in this second birth than we had in our first. How we respond, having been born, this we may perhaps influence. But the fact of birth, and the physical reality of our parents? Nothing we can do will change that. Not even a legal change of name, not even a disavowal of you on your parents’ part will change the physical Truth. Not even if you are legally adopted by another family. You can call another man Dad, or another woman Mom, but the Truth will not have been changed.
Here, however, we are not so much looking at the moment of salvation, the crisis point of redemption, but simply at being numbered among the elect, the chosen. John, what you have here is no reward for some worth in yourself. It is a privilege. What you have done since may indeed speak well of your progress, but it in no way sets you above others in this family of God. After all, whatever you have done that was of worth in the sight of God has been by My power, not yours. It’s a privilege I have bestowed upon you. Do you remember the day of your calling? Were you in pursuit of Me? Looking for Me? Begging to be with Me? No. You were about your daily routine. You were wholly absorbed in making a living. But, I called you. I saw you, and I said, “Come.”
Now, I could look at any one of you here, and bring to mind a similar point in time, and if you were to look honestly at yourself in that moment, you would not find yourself having made a choice. Indeed, in the immediate aftermath, you may well have wondered at your response; noticed how in some way you had acted upon the choice before you had even thought about there being a choice. So instant was your response to that call that it seemed as if somebody else was responding for you, in you. It seemed so because in its way it was so. It was the Spirit of the Living God at work in you to will and to work (Php 2:13), and it is because He – I – have begun that work in you, that you have this assurance – My assurance – that My work in you will be completed, perfected in the end (Php 1:6).
John, all of you, Church, believer; have no confidence in yourself, for to have confidence in yourself is to have confidence in the flesh, which will fail you every time. Give yourself no room to boast, not even of having accepted My offer. It was not an offer. It was a command, just as it was a command when I told Lazarus to arise. I never said, “if you feel like it.” I was no gentleman about waking him from the sleep of death, nor am I a gentleman about waking you from the sleep of death, nor any other! Don’t you yet realize that your life up to the point I called you to life was nothing but the sleepwalking of the living dead? What reward could you think to earn as a dead person? What great deeds has a dead man ever done, that I should pour out a wealth of riches on his head in appreciation? Dead men can no more accomplish mighty deeds than they can respond to the temptations of sin! They are dead! But, I command life. I AM Life. When I speak, people listen. When I command, the soul obeys. End of story. I have called you, and therefore (and only therefore) you are Mine. Yes, and know this, believer: I have never lost a one. No, nor shall I ever.
Be blessed to know the privilege, then, of being My brothers, My sisters. Be blessed by that privilege, but never, ever, hold it to be something that makes you more than your fellow. Dust you were born, and dust you remain. Were it not for My Spirit upholding you, guiding you, guarding you, you would be just as quick as those you have been deriding to rush for the gutters in your sins. You would be just as blind, and following your blind lusts just as blindly. You have not arrived, child. You have only begun to grow. Rejoice in the life that is in you, yes! Rejoice in the release from bondage, absolutely! But, remember: Always remember! You did not break your chains, I did. And, if you have chosen anything at all, it is, like Paul, to be willingly bound into My service. The truth remains: Apart from Me, you can do nothing.
So, my friends, let us be resolved to stop seeking place, stop seeking position, stop seeking recognition. These things ought to be alien to our renewed nature. It is not that we ought to find the doing of good a matter of disinterest. Not at all! It’s motivation, motivation, motivation. We do not perform to earn our place in heaven. Our place is secured! We do not work to prove our faith. Our faith needs no further proof! Yet, we do not cease working. No! Like those before us, we shall be resolved to labor tirelessly for the Good King of the kingdom. Why? Because as no other possibly could, He has shown Himself worthy of all our love, all our reverence, all of anything we could ever possibly do for Him; and even that could never begin to be enough. He has made Himself the object of our highest love and devotion, not as one demanding this from us, but as One so utterly and obviously worthy of it that our hearts can hardly even fathom the thought of refusing Him His due. We labor, then, for love of Him. We persevere because He does not let us down.
It is true, as James said, that faith with no works to show is a dead and worthless faith. But, those works done to make sure everybody knows our faith is healthy? Those are dead works, and utterly worthless. They prove nothing. Works done to be seen are no works. Works done to assuage a guilty conscience are no works. It is the nature of faith to work. That is all. Works will not save you, but the saved will be found working. Works do not create faith, never can, but the faithful are ever working, just as the living are always breathing. What is breath without life? It is wind. Vanity upon vanity. What is life without breath? Non-existent. It is dead. So it is in this matter of faith and works. Works are the breath of faith. Apart from them, faith is a dead thing. But, works apart from faith? Vanity upon vanity; nothing but empty wind puffing up our balloon of pride.
I, for one, am somewhat heartened to see this flaw in the early John. He is no more perfect a hero than any that the Bible has to offer. He is a man such as myself. He has his issues, his misconceptions, his fleshly habits. But, just think about how he turned out! Just think about the impact he had upon the fledgling Church. Just think about the zeal he developed for preserving the pure Truth of the Gospel against all would-be modifiers thereof. Think of the resolve of this man in the face of great trial of his faith. Abandoned in his banishment to Patmos, and where is his heart? Seeking his Savior, his Brother, his King.
Look at the letters this man wrote in later years! See the concern for God’s Truth that is exposed over and over again. See his concern for presenting that Truth fearlessly and completely. You say you never sin? Liar! You say it’s ok that you sin? Liar! No man attains to perfection in this life. Were it not so, what call was there for the Son of God – God Himself! – to come die on our behalf? If it had been possible for so much as one man among all who ever lived or shall live to attain to God’s standard on His own, then this sacrifice He has made of Himself is no more than foolishness, nay: stupidity! And, who could follow a stupid god? Yet, this does not leave you with an excuse. This does not leave you free to do as your flesh pleases. It is not good enough to exclaim about your love for God, if that love does not take action. The actions are of no value in themselves, yet they are the breath of that love you claim for Him. That claimed love for Him, if it does not breath the active love of your brothers which is its natural sign of true life, is just one more stinking corpse.
John: the apostle of love, as some have had it. John: the beloved disciple. John who gave us the declaration, “God is Love”. How we need to see from whence he came! How gracious of God to so display this hero of the faith that we are no longer able to set him upon some pedestal and declare how he was unlike other men, beyond our ken, beyond our capacity to match! No, he was a mess just like ourselves. He had his pride issues just like we do. He had the influence of the world upon him just as we do. But, God so worked upon that man that he became a flaming torch of righteous faith to the world around him! What He did for John, He is most assuredly able to do for me! What He made of such men as these He gathered as His Twelve, He can do for those who love Him in our own day and age. What He accomplished with those Twelve faulty men, He can assuredly accomplish again in our own time!
Oh, Lord, that You would do just that! That You would once again turn this tired old world on its head. That You would once again raise up Your chosen heroes from our midst, to change the hearts of men and the hearts of nations, that You would find in every nation those who are devoutly set upon following You with every fiber of their strength, with every thought of their mind, with every beat of their heart. Yes, Lord, and may I indeed be counted in that number, a man wholly devoted to You, in spite of the weakness of this flesh.
Jesus, let me not be caught up in who I have been, not caught up with who I am. Neither, let me be impressed with who I am, who I have become. But, let me keep my hope in You – You alone! Let my confidence be not founded on what has happened thus far, but in knowing beyond all doubt that You are indeed faithful to complete it! Oh, Lord and King! May it be that I come to the end of my days as a good and faithful servant, having used the tools You gave me to further Your purposes. May it be that in Your strength I am found to have been growing day by day, not retreating, not holding back or falling back.
As a final thought on this passage, I cannot look at that statement Jesus makes, “He who is not against you is for you,” without hearing Him also saying the exact opposite: “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Mt 12:30). It is not that Matthew misheard the message, or that these two witnesses have borrowed Jesus’ defensive offense against His accusers on that occasion and shaped it to fit this scene with John. No, these are both equally true statements. If not against, then for. If not for, then against. They must be taken together. What they reveal when joined together is that there is quite plainly no middle ground. There is no fence upon which to sit. There is no line for us to straddle. There is no one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world. We like to think there is, because then we can feel like we’re not so bad as we might otherwise suppose. But, such thinking is fooling yourself!
You are either with Jesus, aligned with His efforts, working for His glory, devoted to His ways, or you are just as thoroughly and utterly opposed to Him. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot be aligned with Him ‘most of the time’. You cannot have Him Lord of ‘the greater part of me’. It doesn’t work. He has told you already: You cannot serve two masters, and if you feel that there is a second master, be very clear on this: He is not one of them. Wholly His or not at all. That is the crisis of faith. That is the decision we are required to make.
I am not saying that any least slip-up on our part is proof that we are condemned to hell beyond all hope of saving. No. With John and with Paul I must concur that we shall all find ourselves imperfect from the moment of conversion right on to the moment of this life’s end. It is the particular agony of the believer to find that it is ever so. I see, with Paul, that I do the very things I do not want to do. I see the bursts of anger in me. I also see the deadly warning of Scripture that such as feed those bursts of anger shall in no wise enter into heaven, and I weep inwardly. I know I am powerless in myself to do ought about this condition. I could no sooner heal some physical malady within myself by shear force of will, though I were ever so aware of that sickness. I know that I am yet utterly hopeless apart from Him. But, I know with equally absolute clarity and certainty that I am not apart from Him, for Lo! He is with me, even to the end of the age. I have a confident and abiding hope, in spite of my self, in spite of my fleshly failures, not because of who I am, or even because of who I shall become, but solely because I know it’s really and truly all about Jesus. And HE is faithful. This, my only hope, my only glory; that He has called me and I am irrevocably His! And all praise be to His name that it is so! There is no middle ground.
