In this short study, I would like us to consider the biblical warning to “watch out” and “beware.”  The word “watch out” is used three times in Mark’s Gospel (1:44; 8:15, 24).  It is only here where it is used with the force of an imperative.  Mark uses the word for “beware” fourteen times.  It is used with force in Mark 4:24; 12:38; 13:5, 9, 23, and 33.

The words “watch out” or “beware” call for a quick response.  They warn us of immediate or impending danger.  In the passage before us we are warned of three potential adversaries: hypocrisy in fake questions, hostility in false teachers, and hardness in fat hearts.

All three areas can cause the unaware to be positioned against God.  The first danger of hypocrisy is seen in the question asked by the religious establishment.  Their questioning attempted to cloak the deception of their hearts.  They did not ask to investigate, but to ensnare.  Their sole intent was to trap and destroy.  They had no desire to hear, examine, and grow through change.  Their minds were already made-up and their resolution was already against Him.

Honest dialogue and genuine interaction through asking and answering is always difficult to create, but a real delight to be a part of.  In the arena of inquiry, attitude is everything.  It is always easy for those who are in the power position to ask those who disagree with them to be open minded and to reconsider, but it is highly unlikely that those who are in the power position will be equally open and willing to change their position if the evidence shows them to be wrong.  The religious establishment was too entrenched for any real change to take place.  Unless and until the new birth takes place, they would resist Him to the cross.

As followers of Christ His people must be marked by sincere examination.  They must be perpetual students who are open and willing to grow through change.

The second danger of hostility is perhaps more abrupt and bare.  Jesus warns His disciples to “beware the leaven of the Pharisees.”  They were incapable of hiding their hostility.  Their hypocrisy was glaring and their true self was laid bare.  The Pharisees disregarded the Word of God and rejected the God of the Word.  Their hatred of Jesus was already declared in Mark 3:6.  Now Jesus warns His disciples against this public warfare.  What made their position so frightening?  They believed they were doing the work of God in their resistance of Jesus.  They believed their handling of the Word was honorable and necessary.  Yet their initial motives slowly choked out the Word and placed them in a position of hostility to God.

The third danger is that of hardness.  The disciples failed to see the necessary connection between the person and work of Jesus Christ.  What is of interest is to see the scope of our Lord’s audience.  There are the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Herodians.  In addition, there are the larger, fickle masses and finally the twelve.  It is only the disciples who are slapped with “hardness of heart.”  They had witnessed His miracles.  They were present.  They handled, heard, and saw His work that verified His person.  Yet they failed to make the obvious links.  Why did they fail in this?  Our Lord says it was because of their hardness of heart.  How many times do His present day disciples fail to make the necessary connections between His person and His work?  Could the root cause of this problem simply be a problem of the heart?

As we live life, it is possible to simply fail in seeing how our lives are a part of His story.  Although unintended, it is possible that our sincerity will fail and in its place will grow hypocrisy, hostility, and hardness.

Oh God our Father who governs and guides our universe, our galaxy, our world, our nation, our community, and our hearts, we look to you through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  He has made our position and our petition possible.  Holy Spirit, we look to you to keep us alert from such soul destroying adversities as hypocrisy, hostility, and hardness.

Most Holy God, place around us a hedge of protection.  Armor our hearts to resist the subtle stabs of our adversary the devil.  May we not bend nor bow to the world’s ideology, the devil’s enticement, and our fleshly appetites whose appeasement pulls us away and hardens our hearts against you.

We claim and opt to live in the victory secured for us by Christ.  He is our life and our sole hope and help.  We make no boast but what is revealed to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  May you awaken us from the sleep that kills.  We beseech you in the name of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

I believe it is important to keep our Lord’s movements in mind when reading the various stories.  Jesus is in the Decapolis and is speaking to a predominately Gentile audience.  It is important to remember the continued conflict with the religious leaders and political authorities.  He has come to His own people first and then begins reaching out to the Gentile world.  In the world in which Jesus lived, everyone who is non-Jewish is Gentile.  Mark shows how Gentiles are included in the story of God.  Mark opens this idea with Jesus addressing the Pharisees on the topic of “clean versus unclean.”  He then heals a Canaanite woman’s daughter of a demon.  He continues His handling of the unclean Gentiles by healing a deaf and mute man.  To show equality among the Jews and Gentiles, He repeats His feeding miracles among a predominately Gentile audience. His actions do not negate Jewish primacy.  Jesus did not forget that it was to the Jew and through the Jew that God’s revelation and divine incarnation would take place.  Such action on His part reflects an impartial worldview.    In fact, His actions always reflect a Christian worldview.  Often I think as Christians we need to be reminded that a Christian worldview is a Christ worldview.  His worldview is to be reflected by and represented in our worldview.  It is not the other way around.  Sometimes I, we, confuse our nationalism, our patriotism, our tribal instinct, our religious experience for a biblical worldview.  What is His worldview?  What is a Christian worldview?

• First, it is marked by racial and geographical impartiality (v. 1).
• Second, it is marked by compassion for those who suffer (v. 2).
• Third, it is marked by the naturally impossible (vv. 3-7).
• Fourth, it is marked by lavish graciousness (vv. 8-9).

For just a moment let us consider these four ideas as they are present in our passage.  First, a Christ worldview is marked by racial and geographical impartiality (v. 1).  In the historical context in which this story unfolds, I do not believe we can overstate the bitter hatred between the Jewish community and everything non-Jewish.  This can be seen by noting several passages in the New Testament.  The original commission of the twelve disciples by Jesus marks a distinction between the lost sheep of the house of Israel and the Gentile people (Matt. 10:5, 6).

Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; 6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

When speaking to the Canaanite woman with the demonic daughter our Lord refers to the non-Jew as a “dog” (Mark 7:27).

Mark 7:27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.

When Jesus sought to overthrow the racial and geographic bigotry of His audience, He told the unlikely (and shocking) story of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).

Luke 10:33 “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,

Because of His association with the unclean and Gentiles He was accused by the religious establishment of being “a man who receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:1, 2).

Luke 15:1 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

When confronted by the religious establishment, He was accused of being a Samaritan and thus, “Having a demon” (John 8:48).

John 8:48 The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

All of this clearly shows an inbred animosity existing between the Jew and the non-Jew.  Although God has a love for everyone, there is little question as to God’s command to terminate the people of Canaan in the Book of Joshua.  We would be wrong to assume the situation in the Middle East is simply one of misunderstanding.  Regardless as to the nation, if a nation seeks another nation’s destruction, then the attacked nation should do what is necessary to stop the aggression.    However, we would be wrong if we simply assumed that the land conquest in the Book of Joshua was because of ethnic reasons.  God’s love is impartial as it relates to racial or geographical qualifiers.

I will comment on this a little later, but the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) and of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19) were intentionally told to take current and prevailing opinions and drop them on their head.  It is not by accident we are told as “Christians” to “love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us” (Matt. 5:43).  Again, such radical ideology is still difficult to completely grasp.  Paul goes further and says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Rom. 12:14).  Before we are Americans, we are Christians; before we are Republican or Democrat, we are Christians; before we are Bible Church, we are Christians.  Being a follower of Christ dominates whatever else exists along ethnic or geographical lines.

Regardless as to whether or not a person is an American, ally or enemy; regardless as to what political party they are a part of, regardless as to whether or not they are socialists, communists, or a functional democracy, God is calling worshippers from all people groups, and we must pray for them and love them as God would.

Second, a Christ worldview is marked by compassion for those who suffer (v. 2).  We have developed a significant degree of suspicion as it relates to those who are in need.  As believers, it is biblical to honor those who work and bear their own burdens.  It is equally true that nothing we do this side of heaven will wipe out poverty (Mark 14:7).  There are those who will abuse Government programs and Christian charity, but this does not make it wrong to have compassion for those in genuine need wrong.

Our cynicism should not harden our hearts toward those in need.  Jesus saw those who were without food for three days, and He was moved with compassion.  Paul tells us we should be good to all men, especially those in the household of faith (Gal. 6:10).  We must not allow our compassion to be defined by race or region.  Many who suffer do so as a result of their poor choices.  Some, however, suffer for Providential reasons.  Regardless as to why, we cannot afford to become hardened toward the suffering of others.  As a community of faith, I take great delight in our collective generosity as it relates to our benevolent offering.  I also believe it is right for us to be involved in our community in the various services it provides for those in genuine need.  We must not allow the few who misuse the system to desensitize us toward those in real need.

Third, a Christ worldview is marked by the naturally impossible (vv. 3-7).  Although we live in a natural world, we are not bound by its components.  You might believe such thinking is irrational, but there is another dimension that exists beyond the power of the simple eye to perceive.  Our God, the God we individually and collectively profess, “Is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Eph. 3:20).  Our God is able to feed 5,000 plus people with five loaves and two small fish (Mark 6:34-44).  He is able to feed 4,000 people with seven loaves and a few small fish (Mark 8:1-9).  Our God is able to open deaf ears, loosen tied tongues, deliver the demon possessed, heal the lame, and cause the blind to see.  This is the story told and preserved for us as His people.  As Christians, as followers of the Christ, our hope lies forever and unchangingly in the person and work of a God who is able to do the unthinkable.  He can part seas, cause water to flow from rocks, walk on it when necessary, and cause it to rain with such force as to destroy that which He creates.

Because He is all-powerful, our God is able to enable us to love our enemies and be moved by those in need.  He is able to destroy our prejudices and make us just like Jesus.  Because He is able, He can make from both Jew and Gentile one new man (Eph. 2:11-22).  This is His mission; this is His goal.

Finally, a Christ worldview is marked by lavish graciousness (vv. 8-9).  The audience that was the recipients of His miracle did not deserve what they received.  In fact, just the opposite would have been true.  They deserved isolation, rejection, and condemnation.  But God is God and as such He is lavish in the dispensing of His gifts.  Not only was everyone fed, but they were satisfied.  And not only were they satisfied, but there was excess.  This lavish graciousness is also noted in our Lord’s words when He said, “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you” (Matt. 5:39-42).  What we do as Christians, individually and corporately, should be markedly different that what we might do as a nation.  It is impossible to be a Christian nation as it relates to a fallen world, but it is not impossible to be Christian in our response toward evil.

I cannot fully process the abundance of God’s grace, but I am glad for it.  In principle I can state these four thoughts and show the necessary connection between what is stated and the story before us.  I can even support it with other passages.  However, what I know in principle is still a genuine struggle in practice.  It is my prayer that I would not seek to fit God into my presuppositions or prejudices, but would rather see Him mold my will so that my worldview is thoroughly Christ-like.  May this be our collective prayer before the God whose grace is without partiality and always superabundantly dispensed.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

This narrative continues to celebrate the innate goodness of God.  Regardless as to what our thoughts and opinions might be concerning Jesus, they must conclude with the idea that He is good.  It is because He is good that what He does is good.  It cannot be otherwise.  In our present passage, Jesus heals an individual who is both deaf and speechless.  His inability to hear contributed to his inability to speak.  Regardless as to the condition, it was just cause for our Lord to act and, in acting, to display His power over all disease.  In so doing, His status as Messiah continues to be established.  In commenting on the grammatical structure of this statement, A.T. Robertson notes how, “The present perfect active shows the settled convictions of these people about Jesus.”  Jesus was never charged with doing evil.  Everything He did was “good.”

The entire Gospel of Mark seeks to establish the identity of his primary character.  He is the one who was foretold and pre-figured.  He is God’s Hero King.  What Jesus did and why it was done has intentional design.  Nothing was random; everything was deliberate.  I appreciate the calculated manner in which the following thought explains this idea.

“The actions of Christ reveal who he is and what he has come to do. Jesus’ actions are nothing less than a demonstration or ‘acting out’ of his gospel message, and the healing of this deaf mute man is a demonstration of the kingdom that Jesus has brought. It is a powerful and profound example of the in breaking of the kingdom of God, and in this action Jesus is revealing both who He is, as the Messianic King and what He has come to do in bringing his redemptive kingdom to bear on sin-cursed men. This story demonstrates Christ and his kingdom in two main ways. First, it reveals that Jesus is no respecter of persons and the Kingdom of God is not ethnical or racial in nature, and second, it reveals that Jesus is the Messianic Servant of the Lord come to do a spiritual work in the hearts of men.

http://www.newlife-lajolla.org/members_only/sermons/he_has_done_all_things_well.htm

When His immediate audience concluded that, “He does all things well,” I believe we would be amiss if we did not hear, in echo, the stirrings of Genesis 1:31 where God sees all that He has done and says, “It was very good.”  It is important to remember that biblical revelation is telling one story.  What God did and does is good.  William Barclay notes how, “When Jesus came, bringing healing to men’s bodies and salvation to their souls, he had begun the work of creation all over again.  In the beginning everything had been good; man’s sin had spoiled it all; and now Jesus was bringing back the beauty of God to the world which man’s sin had rendered ugly.”  (William Barclay, Mark, 182).

Nothing that happens falls outside of this moral quality in God.  What Romans 8:28 states is equally true.  Everything is working together for good.  There is inclusiveness to the workings of God that cannot be overlooked.  He does everything well.  Whether our assessment of the present circumstances or the outcome appears harmful and destructive, He does everything well.  This is the testimony Job gave in the context of harsh circumstances (Job 1:21).  This is the testimony Joseph gave in the context of caustic conditions (Gen. 50:20).  This is the testimony Paul and Silas gave in the jail of Philippi after brutal treatment (Acts 16:30).  This is the testimony Paul gave in the face of debilitating physical maladies (2 Cor. 12:9).  And this is to be our testimony as well.  Everything God does is good.  The path will be marked by pain, the circumstances tainted by crushing defeat, yet in the midst of and surrounded by our moments, we can say, “He has done all things well.”

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

Read Mark 7:24-30

Mark’s accounting of this story is direct and terse.  Matthew provides necessary embellishment that enhances the encounter.  Together they form a remarkable story of how our Lord is merciful.  Mark places this story in contrast to the interaction with the religious leaders.  The Pharisees and Scribes are arguing over whether or not one should eat with unwashed hands, and Jesus ministers to a Gentile woman whose daughter is demon possessed.  The disparity could not be more stark.  How many times do we “hyperventilate” over the unimportant only to overlook the dying lying at our feet?  Although it would appear His actions are insensitive (“He did not answer her a word”) and His words are demeaning (“throw it to the dogs”), what we cannot feel is the look in His eyes and the expression of His face.

The woman was consumed by her grief.  Her condition was agitated and her actions were aggressive.  Her circumstance removed all protocol and etiquette.  Without shame or restraint, she pursued our Lord with her petition.  Her daughter, her little daughter was cruelly possessed by a demon.  As a Canaanite, an outcast and dog to the Jew, she came and prostrated herself before, “The Son of David.”  Her petition was simple, “Lord, help me, have mercy on me.”

Our Lord makes the comment, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  In this He affirms what is true.  Yet what is true in this one statement is not the truth in its entirety.  The story of God has the hero coming to Israel and through Israel to the world.  Jesus knows this, but His audience and those closest to Him do not.  The Book of Acts testifies to the slow manner in which His people “get it.”

Although “the children [must be] satisfied first” it does not mean only or exclusively.  It is only after the children eat that the “dogs” partake of what is left.  The intent of the imagery is not for us to conclude that the gospel brought to the Gentiles is but mere crumbs and a poor reflection of the real thing, but rather to show how the Gentiles were always a part of God’s story.  Our Lord’s response to her faith is unique and the Bible records only a smattering of such statements (cf. Matt. 8:10).  All of this is set in contrast to the prevailing condition of the religious establishment.  God wants us to see and understand the nature of what He is doing.  How many times have we inadvertently developed an attitude and response of religious bigotry toward those who are different than us?  It is understandable and easy to gather around and interact with those similar to ourselves.  It is only natural.  But Christianity is supernatural.  Christianity breaks down barriers.  Christianity places everyone, everywhere, at all times on an equal plan of need and inability.  Only God makes people right before Him.  As such, no one is any better or worse than anyone else.

Often ethnicity, geography, and culture cause us to develop prejudices toward others who do not “fit” into our conditioned ideals.  This makes us look at others like the disciples looked at this Canaanite woman.  It is this ingrained distaste for those who are different that makes us insensitive to their crushing need.  We cannot look past the form to observe the brokenness.  This story moves us from our preconceived notions as to who God is and what He does, to see that He is the God of mercy and compassion.  We know the letter of the law, but do we know its spirit?  The entire law is summed up in one idea, “Love God.”  Consequentially, “Love one another, . . . even your enemies.”  Jesus fully understood what the law stated, but He equally understood the intent of the law.  He was capable of looking past the letter and holding fast to the spirit.  This must be equally true for His people.  It is only as we look past the letter to the spirit that we can effectively minister to our immediate community.  In many ways we are no better than the religious leaders of His day.  Although we are incapable of judging their motives, we can clearly see how our Lord addressed this Canaanite woman.  May God help us to be more like Jesus and less like the religious establishment as we seek to “shout the supremacy of God in our immediate community.”

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

Remember to whom Mark writes.  He is writing to a Roman audience, a Gentile audience.  He is showing how they are included in the redemptive purpose of God to secure for Himself a people who will love Him and worship Him forever.  It is these people who will enjoy the presence of God forever.  Although this truth caused the religious establishment to put Him to death, it caused the larger world to rejoice.

In the purpose of God for the redemption of His people, worshippers from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation were intentionally included.  Many within the Jewish religion excluded Gentiles from a redemptive hope.  Jesus forcefully shows how Gentiles were a part of God’s plan all along.

The same tension continued to exist with Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10.  In Acts 10 we have the vision to Peter declaring that all foods are clean (10:1-23).  The Holy Spirit then falls on the Gentiles, just as He did in Acts 2 (10:23-48).  Peter defends Gentile inclusion (11:1-18) and the church in Antioch grows strong in the Spirit (11:19-30).

³⁴ “Opening his mouth, Peter said: ‘I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,  ³⁵ but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.  ³⁶ The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)…  ³⁹ We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.  ⁴⁰ God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible,…  ⁴² And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.  ⁴³ Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins‘” (Acts 10:34-36, 39, 40, 42, 43).

The early church continued to wrestle with this idea in the book of Galatians and then at the church council of Acts 15.  Yet, it is clear from Mark 7:1-23 that Jesus removed any man made barriers and wrong conclusions concerning the dietary laws of the nation of Israel.

The New Testament openly testifies to the inclusion of people from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation.  Salvation is not defined by ethnicity.  Among the people of God, there are no privileged people groups.  God has made from both Jew and Gentile one new man (Eph. 2:15).  May God cause us to see the largeness to His redemptive purpose, and may we see this both locally, nationally, and globally as we continue to become a church planting church.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

Mark appears to emphasize the fragile and frazzled existence of Christ and His disciples.  No matter where they turned, the masses waited with their needs.  This thought has two immediate applications.  First, in vocational ministry “life” can be very consuming.  People have needs and if anyone attempts to meet those needs in their own strength, they will fail physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  The pace alone when engaging in vocational ministry will consume the individual.  It has been said, “Ministry makes a terrible mistress” and “the ministry will take all you have, never set boundaries and never thank you for what you’ve given.”  Second, simply living is consuming.  No matter who you are or what your station is in life, it is demanding and draining.  The question is, “How do we exist with physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being without disengaging?”  “How do we rest in Him no matter what the storm offers?  Let us consider the thought as it is found in Mark 6:37.

“This miracle is mentioned by all the four evangelists.  It is one of the most astonishing that Christ has wrought.  It is a miracle which could not be counterfeited, and a full proof of the divinity of Christ.” (Adam Clarke’s New Testament Commentary on Mark 6:44).

In the feeding of the multitude, our Lord again “tests” His disciples to see if they are getting it.  He had already given them authority to preach, to deliver, and to heal.  He has sent them out as ambassadors of His kingdom, thus His statement was genuine in verse 37.  Notice with me the additional narrative John gives to this story in John 6:6, “This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.”

Mark uses the word “test” 1) of our Lord’s test in the wilderness (Mark 1:13; 10:2; 12:15) and 2) of the Pharisees and Sadducees seeking to test Jesus (Mark 8:11).  Jesus is now testing His disciples.  The entire story is rooted in verse 37.  Place verse 37 in the context of vv. 7-13, 30-32.  “Jesus uses the emphatic personal pronoun to make the message plain: ‘You give them something to eat‘” ([emphasis added] Walter W. Wessell, “Mark,” EBC, [Zondervan, 1984], 8:673).

Jesus was fully expecting His disciples to be able to feed the multitude.  He knew what they had at their disposal.  He had already given them His authority to act in His behalf.  Just as He was able, so also were they.  They, however, were not fully aware of what this looked like.  So instead they struggled.

This will be one of those “eye opening” moments.  Remember the placement of this passage.  They just returned from doing many powerful things and they have just shared with Him what they had just seen and done and now He seeks to cement this idea with more force.

The intent of our Lord is not for them to declare their independence from Him, but to see that they are to live in His power.  This is the Christ-life of the New Covenant.  This is the idea in 1 John 4:17.

“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

It is the idea in John 14:12.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father” (John 14:12).

“Not necessarily greater miracles and not greater spiritual works in quality, but greater in quantity.”  (A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament)

It is the same idea in Galatians 2:20.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20).

They could have fed the multitude just as He will do because He is working through them.  It is not their glory that such miracles are done but for His.

Often we look back and believing God acted differently than He does now.  We say such things thinking that God was really working then, but now there is a deficiency in His power and in His church.  I am not willing to concede that what we have today is less than what His early apostles or disciples had.  We have the same Christ, and it is His power and His life that is to flow through us in the expansion of His kingdom.  We are involved in kingdom work no matter what level we might be functioning.

Regardless as to whether we are involved in vocational ministry or engaged in life through work, marriage, parenting, serving, it is the life of Christ that works through us.  All of our existence is from Him, through Him, and for Him.  It is His power that produces our good works, our obedience, our fruit, and it is because of this that He is to receive all the glory.  It is my prayer that we would live resting in His finished work and ongoing advocacy as individuals and as a community of faith.  May God cause us to see that He is not only necessary, but enough.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

I find John’s statement and cause for imprisonment striking in light of our presidential elections on Tuesday (November 4, 2008).  Although I would probably argue that the prophet’s role in a theocracy, John’s role in a monarchy and our role in a democracy might be different, there are similarities.  I am told pastors cannot tell you to vote for specific candidates, there is, however, a right and wrong in what each of our presidential candidates promote and the Bible does speak to issues.

Does the Bible promote a system of honorable work?  Are we to concern ourselves with the poor, widowed, and orphaned?  Is greed and the exploitation of the less fortunate sinful?  Should we be warmongers or peacemakers?  Does war, like divorce, exist simply because of the hardness of men’s hearts? Should laziness be enabled?  Does the issue of personal convenience justify taking the life of the unborn child, infanticide or euthanasia?  Is the use of our natural resources an expression of biblical stewardship and mankind’s dominion over the earth?   When does environmentalism become idolatry and exploitation become criminal?

Should crime be punished?  Does the government have a biblical right to carry the “sword” and to take the life of those who commit capital offenses?  Is it biblical for a government to tax its people?  Is it ever right for Christians not to pay taxes or speak against excessive taxation? All of these issues are addressed by the Government, but do we not have a responsibility as Christians to concern ourselves with these areas as well?

If a pastor is to be blameless and above reproach, why would our president or government officials get a free pass on unethical behavior?  Are we so biblically illiterate that we no longer care what a man’s integrity is as a government official?  Has the position of president become a popularity contest?

Let us not deceive ourselves.  There is no perfect system of justice until such a time as God comes back and dwells among us in a tangible way.  Yet we must never let evil men rule without our voice of dissent.

We sometimes fail to see how neither party is truly biblical.  Christianity supports the government because God appoints who rules and we are to honor those who occupy the office.  Being patriotic is biblical.  It would be just as right to be patriotic if you lived in modern Iraq or ancient Rome.   Sometimes our patriotism is to support and sometimes it is to speak against, but either action is still patriotic.

As Americans, we cannot afford to confuse our American ideology, which we have lived with for 200 plus years, with biblical Christianity.  The two are not the same.  Are there points of overlap?  Absolutely, but let us not think the two are the same.  You and I are first Christians, and then we are Americans.  Should Christians fight for and vote for biblical legislation and fight against and vote against immoral and unethical legislation?  Absolutely.

Regardless as to what our government does, we have a clear call from the Scripture as it relates to our responsibilities as a Church and as Christians.  You and I have no king but Jesus, and we must never forget that we are citizens of another country.  We have the blessing of living in America.  It is by God’s design and choice that such a nation exists.  What it will look like in the coming years will be very interesting and perhaps fear-filled for the following generations, but this does not alter what we are to be about.  We are to love God first and then as a consequence of His love, to love our neighbors whether they live across the street, in another state, or in another nation.  May we vote for what is right and not simply for what is convenient.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

and gave them authority over the unclean spirits”(Mark 6:7).

The word used for “authority” is the word used to describe a person whose position gives them the power to act and order.  Mark uses the word “authority” nine times.  Jesus taught as one having authority (Mark 1:22).  He exercised “power” over demons (Mark 1:27).  In healing the sick Jesus revealed His power over sin and its consequences (Mark 2:10).  It is this same transfer of “authority” He gave to the twelve disciples (Mark 3:15; 6:7).  The power exhibited by Jesus Christ was evident to all; from where this power came was openly questioned (Mark 11:27-33).  The religious establishment desired to assign its source to Satan.  Jesus openly refuted such blatant error.

There is a parable unique to Mark in Mark 13:28-37.  In the parable our Lord speaks of the time when He will be physically absent from the work.  Verse 34 continues the thought found in Mark 3:15 and 6:7 where authority is given to His servants in His absence.  It is through His people that His presence is continued.  It is because of this authority transfer that His people are able to go into all the world and call everyone, everywhere to repentance and faith in Christ.   It is the same idea contained in Matthew 28:18 where Jesus is described as having been given all authority in heaven and in earth.

The authority of Christ transferred to the disciples invested them with “power” to preach the gospel of the kingdom, to cast out demons, and to heal the sick.  It was essentially the very same acts and works Jesus was exhibiting in His ministry.

Although the kingdom that awaits its final installment is still yet future, we must not neglect the truth of the kingdom today.  If we were to consider the idea of the kingdom from the book of Acts through the book of Revelation, I believe our understanding of this idea would be greatly enhanced.

First, after our Lord’s resurrection He continued “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

Second, the Jewish disciples of Christ looked at such teaching as directly applicable to them (Acts 1:6).  Our Lord did not answer their question directly, but guided their focus to the larger purpose of God (Acts 1:7, 8).

Third, Philip, in Samaria, preached “the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12).

Fourth, Paul, after his first missionary journey, returned to Antioch and encouraged his audience “to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God’” (Acts 14:22).

Fifth, Paul, during his second missionary journey, “he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8).  “This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:10).

Sixth, when Paul addressed the Ephesian elders he referenced the content of his preaching by saying, “among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God” (Acts 20:25).

Seventh, in Paul’s final statements “he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.  Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him” (Acts 28:23, 31).

Finally, throughout the rest of the New Testament letters consistent reference is made to the already-not yet idea of the kingdom of God (Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 4:20; 6:9, 10; 15:24, 50; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; Col. 1:13;  4:11; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 4:1, 18; Heb. 1:8; 12:28; James 2:5; 2 Pet. 1:11; Rev. 1:9; 12:10).

Part of my past struggle was my attempt to explain the bible via systems, and the bible does not always fit into our systems.  Our desire to systematize is understandable, and although the Scripture teaches a system and although the system is without contradiction, our finite minds create systems that are closed and defensive and not open and receptive.  Let me suggest five initial thoughts concerning the Bible’s “system.”

• The Bible’s system is Trinitarian. God existing in one essence manifested in three persons is the sum total of creation’s cause, meaning, and goal.

• The Bible’s system is Christo-centric. It has Jesus Christ as the centerpiece of its activity.

• The Bible’s system is couched in the context of kingdom terminology.

• The Bible’s system is singular and intentional in design and execution. It is unstoppable and certain.

• The Bible’s system speaks of an agreement between God and His people that categorizes itself in two large parts: an old agreement/covenant/testament and a new agreement/covenant/testament.

I believe man-produced systems can contribute to our learning, but I do not believe any man-produced system can afford to be closed.  What I just exposed you to is biblical theology and biblical theology says Jesus, Paul and the rest preached the kingdom of God, and somewhere along the journey the church has been unclear on this point.

Although I believe there is significant discontinuity in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, I also believe there is significant continuity in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.  I believe the Bible has a singular, unifying idea that causes every note sounded by God’s revelation, either general or special, to resonate with a Christological theme that has as its movement the redemption of His people and the glorification of the Trinitarian God.

I cannot speak for everyone, this much I recognize and understand, but I can speak for myself as to where I have been and where I am currently residing.  In my past I was too close to the problem to see the solution.  The old adage, “Can’t see the forest for the trees” was true of me.  I embraced a system of theology before I actually understood the biblical text.  By allowing the text to speak for itself, I have come to conclude that no system can afford to be absolute or closed without doing an injustice to the text and becoming divisive and dogmatic.  I am still learning to let the text speak independent of my past “systems” and I am still growing (at least I hope so) in courage to accept the voice of the text even when it appears to be contrary to my past “systems.”

This does not mean that everything I embraced inside of systems is wrong, but it does mean that those outside my systems of thought still have much to contribute to the ongoing dialogue of learning as I wrestle with the biblical text.

For me the journey is refreshing.  It takes courage to think outside the theological box.  What I am finding is that orthodoxy and evangelical theology (biblical theology if you like) is much deeper and far broader than I initially thought.  There is a richness to God that I had previously underappreciated.  Now I glory in what I know and do not know. Such thinking is enabling me to be humble, teach-able, and charitable toward the theological unknown.  God is proving to be far greater than my past “system” of thought.  Although some might find such thinking problematic and perhaps unnerving, I find it exhilarating and breathtaking.  My journey has God as its subject and object.  He is both the source, the means, and the end.

An area in which I am being enriched is that of God’s already- not yet kingdom expression.  May the Holy Spirit continue to enable you to push beyond your system and into the very heartbeat of God.  May you find kindred spirits in your pursuit of Him.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

In all of our stories from Mark 4:35 and following, there is consistent thread of faith.  Faith appears throughout as a precondition to the miraculous.  Nonetheless, is faith a precondition to the miraculous or is it a consequence of the miraculous?

Some would argue from the passage that “the miracle does not generate faith; rather, faith must be present for the miracle to occur.  This is the negative side of the positive correlation between faith and miracles seen already in Mark: miracles can and do take place in a context of faith (cf. 2:4; 5:43, 36); conversely, where there is no faith, miracles cannot occur.”  ([emphasis added] The Oxford Bible Commentary, Ed. John Barton and John Muddiman [Oxford: University Press, 2001], 897, 898).

Here is my tension with the absoluteness of this statement.  If such a conclusion is true, then faith becomes a burden to be born.  Faith becomes a tool to be exploited and expanded on.  In the absoluteness of this statement, every bad thing you’ve prayed over and had as its outcome nothing can be attributed to your lack of faith.  Had you simply believed “enough” disease, death, depression, and dysfunction would have turned out the way you asked.  Your child would not have gone astray, your marriage would not have failed, your bills would have been paid out, and your health would have been restored, had you simply believed.  Such thinking is truly guilt-forming and bondage-making.  This is not a biblical view of faith.

We could equally dismiss our unanswered prayers by simply saying, “It was not God’s will.”  This statement is true, but it does not sufficiently address the issue of faith.  How do we handle the faith factor?  I would like to back the discussion up for just a moment and consider the idea of a miracle.

An aspect of prayer is the performing of miracles, either through providential means (which negates to a degree the idea of it being miraculous) or through direct and unexplainable phenomenon.  Most miracles are through secondary means.  Miracles such as the parting of the Red Sea used a mighty wind, the virgin birth used a human womb, and feeding 5,000+ people from five small loaves and two fish still used two small loaves and five fish.  Some miracles bypass secondary means like the resurrection of Jesus Christ or the raising of Lazarus from the dead.  However, the point being that when people pray they are asking God to work miracles.    What are miracles?  “[Miracles are] extraordinary events that manifest divine power, that are wonders to human understanding, and therefore what human beings perceive as signs from God.  The manifestation of the divine power may happen with or without human agents of God.”  (S.v., “Miracles,” Seung Ai Yang, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, Ed. David Noel Freedman, 903).

Faith and prayer are incapable of being separated.  Biblical prayer is indissoluble linked to biblical faith.  God works through faith and prayer but is not restricted by faith and prayer.  Personally I am relieved and quite happy that God is bigger than my faith and my prayers.  Some might assume that I have neither faith nor prayer, but such a conclusion would be false.  I have both, but my inability cannot cancel His sovereignty.  My failure to act in faith or to petition Him through prayers will not stop Him from doing all He desires and wills.

In the outworking of God’s purpose, faith and prayer are present.  Whether it is a precondition or a consequence, it is there.  God works through faith and prayer and God works in its absence.  Faith does not hold God in bondage.  It has never forced God to do something He does not desire or will.  Your weak faith or apparent strength of faith is more for your edification than for His working.

And yet God invites us to believe.  Through faith mountains are moved (Matt. 17:20) and the fiery darts of persecution are squelched (Heb. 11).  The overriding element in all of our miracle stories is for us to believe that God is in control and that He truly cares.   Mark 6:1-6 is a fitting contrast to the faith stories in Mark 4:35-5:43.  In the city of Nazareth He made faith in Him a prerequisite to His working of miracles.  Did He work in Nazareth?  Yes, but He would have done more had they simply believed.

Although many might accuse me of muddying the waters that are already significantly agitated, let us not dismiss too quickly the fact that He calls us to faith, to believe, to rest in His control over all things.  Are you spiritually depressed?   Come to Him in faith.  Are you emotionally distraught?  Come to Him in faith.  Are you financially destroyed?  Come to Him in faith.  Faith in God is always a proper response to any and all life situations.  There is never a condition where faith is an inappropriate response.

Faith finds God as its object and rests in Him.  The value of faith is found in the object and not in the outcome or the amendment of the moment.  God is enough, and faith finds this true.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

This passage, and those surrounding it, has challenged me to continue thinking of the inter-play between faith, repentance, fellowship, and forgiveness.  Personally, I desire to make each of these elements containable and connected.  I want them “to fit” into a way of thinking that is understandable, tamable, and perhaps controllable.  I want to be in control of what each of these elements look like.  Yet it is impossible to fit the proverbial square peg into the round hole without doing damage to both the peg and the hole.  Unfortunately, what I want and what is biblical are not always the same.  You might wonder how the passages in Mark 4:35-6:6 evoke such thinking?  Faith is “huge” in all of the stories noted in Mark’s gospel.  Repentance is never stated, only assumed.  As a consequence of faith, God works mighty miracles.  In the absence of faith, established boundaries are honored and God chooses not to work.  Much is assumed throughout.  As I have meditated on these things I have tried to honor the biblical text without forcing many of my theological presuppositions into the text (i.e., “exegesis good, eisegesis bad”).  Initially, if my ramblings appear disjointed and unconnected, please dismiss it and forgive me.  However, there is a chance that it might jar you into greater clarity in these areas and thus I press ahead with my delineations.

In an attempt to clarify these ideas in my own thinking, I will begin by defining each element.

Faith/Repentance

Faith and repentance are inseparably linked.  I think we would err if we tried to define the one in the absence of the other.  Faith can be clarified by its synonyms: belief, trust, and rest.  Faith is never neutral.  It does not exist in a vacuum.  Faith always has an object that is believed.  It rests in something or someone.  In our context, biblical faith has as its object God whether it is His person, word, or work.  Here again, we would err if we separated too sharply His word and work from His person.  His word is God verbalized, and His work is God visualized.  Biblical faith has God as its object.  Faith believes God, it trusts God, and it rests in God.

Repentance is the flip side of biblical faith.  Repentance, at its essence, turns from non-reliance to reliance.  It goes from unbelief to belief, from non-trust or distrust to trust, and from rebelling against God to resting in God.  My failure to believe or my lack of faith (the two are the same) is repented of when I trust Him in explicit situations that call for faith.

It is difficult to draw too clean of a line between one’s rebellion and one’s resting.  The interplay between the two is separated by a fuzzy line.  In His people, one’s rebellion has rest and one’s rest has rebellion.  There are tinges of either one in each expression.  So what I might desire to be clean, absolute, dogmatic, and thus definable is often blurred and hazy.  None-the-less, I am called to believe and to walk by faith and repentance is implicit in the act of faith.  No one has biblical faith that does not have biblical repentance, and no one has biblical repentance that does not have biblical faith.  Let us now consider the ideas of fellowship and forgiveness.

Fellowship/Forgiveness

Fellowship with God presupposes forgiveness from God.  Like faith and repentance, these two elements are inseparably linked.  Although forgiveness is causal and fellowship is consequential, neither one can exist in the absence of the other.  My fellowship with God is based on and sourced in my forgiveness from God.  One’s view of forgiveness will greatly color one’s view of fellowship.  If my forgiveness from God is conditional, no matter what that condition is, then my fellowship with God will be conditional.  If I believe His forgiveness of me is cross-centered, unconditional, inclusive, and absolute, then the fellowship I enjoy because of this is cross-centered, unconditional, inclusive, and absolute.  I am not concerned as to whether or not I “feel” in fellowship no more than I am concerned as to whether or not I “feel” victorious or like a conqueror or justified, reconciled, or  redeemed.  However, that “issue” can be discussed separately from this short article.

How does all of this relate to the topic at hand?  First, everyone everywhere at all times has faith and repentance.  The issue is not one of capacity, but rather kind. Everyone everywhere at all times has the capacity for faith and repentance and, in fact, exercises these two elements daily.  The capacity to trust, rest, believe, have faith is always present and is always exercised.  It is the kind of faith and repentance that is the issue.  Biblical faith and repentance has as its object and outcome a movement from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and toward God.

I believe God acts on me in such a way that my faith and repentance has God as the object and outcome.  His image in me guarantees the capacity for faith and repentance.  His action on me guarantees the kind of faith and repentance.

In the area of justification (i.e. salvation), biblical faith and repentance have as their object God and the person and work of Jesus Christ.  The outcome of such action on my part receives forgiveness from God and places me in fellowship with God.  There is nothing I can now do to undo what God has done.

In the area of sanctification (i.e. the Christian walk), it is my faith/repentance that continues to appropriate what is true concerning my forgiveness and my fellowship.  The elements of faith and repentance are always under-girding the entire Christian life.  There is never a time when a Christian is without faith or repentance.  There are times when my experience of faith and repentance is weak and less palatable, thus my enjoyment of my position of forgiveness and fellowship is weak.  During those periods I must live by faith and not by feelings or I will exist on shifting shorelines and sinking ships.  It is my ongoing prayer that you and I will live by faith and repentance in the all sufficiency of Jesus Christ and that we will enjoy the unabated feeling of His forgiveness and fellowship in our Christian walk.  May we never tire in our pursuit of His joy.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

fell at His feet ²³ and implored Him earnestly, saying,

‘My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her,

so that she will get well and live’” (Mark 5:22, 23).

This passage has a couple of dynamics within it.  First, one can get lost in the debate as to whether or not God still heals as dramatically as we read in this passage.  Whether or not we believe He heals in this fashion might have little immediate or direct impact on us if we are not facing the imminent death of a loved one.  The second dynamic is immensely practical and strikes much closer to the heart – the humbling of the individual in his coming to Jesus.  The description of this man’s humbling in his coming to Jesus continues to mark those who would come to Jesus.  No one comes in any other way.  The means our Lord employs to bring us to this point is varied, but the process is always the same.  It is only when we come to the end of self that we find the Savior.

Although the study as to whether or not our Lord heals as directly and immediately and supernaturally as He did then is necessary to understand, what I would like us to consider is the necessary brokenness that we must face in our pursuit of God and our fellowship with Him.

The New Testament is clear: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

⁵ “for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. ⁶ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time” (1 Pet. 5:5, 6).

“But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, ‘GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE’” (James 4:6).

When we consider our justification, this principle is non-negotiable.  The grace of God to save sinners is contingent on them giving way to Him.  Unless they humble themselves before Him, He will not save them.  There is always more to this idea than what is stated, but what is stated is true.  When using the word “contingent” we simply mean conditional.  For example, God saves only lost people.  The condition to salvation is first being lost.  In the reformation several ideas were present.  Three of those ideas are captured in the statement summarizing our salvation: By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (sola gracia, sola fida, solus Christus).  In order to be saved from sin, these three aspects are always present.  The “condition” is three-fold: grace, faith, Christ.  Thus, the receiving of God’s gift of eternal life is “contingent” on grace, faith, and Christ.

When we consider our sanctification, this principle has a different face but we still come to God by faith.  The idea of grace through faith in Christ is still operative.  Sanctification is the continued outworking of justification.  Justification produces sanctification.  The one flows from the other, and the two are inseparably linked.

Humility does not merit grace.  Grace, by its very nature, is incapable of being earned.  If grace is earnable, it ceases to be grace.  This principle is equally operative in our justification.  Faith of itself does not merit salvation.  God saves by grace and faith is a door through which grace works.  In our sanctification, faith continues to be a door through which grace works, thus the call to walk by faith and not by sight.

In looking at the Christian life, let us consider for just a moment the evil of pride.  Pride places one’s confidence in one’s ability rather than in Christ’s sufficiency.  Pride takes credit for what He has done.  Pride deceives itself into believing that what it possesses is earned and deserved.  Pride takes from Christ the glory and adds to Christ self-boasting.  Just as faith opens the door through which grace works, pride closes the door through which grace works.

In our present story, Jairus came in faith to Jesus.  As such, the grace of God passed through the door of faith and worked the miracle.  Had Jairus not come because of pride, then in this instance the grace of God may have had no door through which to work.  His faith was not necessary for God to choose to work, but in this case it seemed to be the vehicle through which Jesus extended grace.

The storms of life place us in positions whereby our deceived selves see our completely bankrupt state and, in faith, come to Jesus for help.  Jesus sees our simple faith and works grace.  Our faith does not merit grace.  Our faith is the door through which grace walks and thus works.  God calls us to live by faith, not by sight.  A faith walk consistently senses the grace of God at work in everything, everywhere, at all times.  A sight walk, one marked by pride, fails to see the sufficiency of Christ and thus lives a wretched existence.  Pride does not acknowledge the need and the necessity of God’s grace and consequently seeks to merit what cannot be earned.

It is only as we are lost to self that we are found by Him.  And in losing, we win.  Our loss becomes our greatest gain.  Although the breaking is horrific, let us not lose faith and let us continue to believe that He is in control and that He truly cares.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

First, let us begin by noting how the devil’s defeat is already secured.

“But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house” (Mark 3:27).

This parable tells us that Jesus has bound the devil and has placed him in a position of subjection.  Jesus is the strong king who has conquered His enemies.

“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out”  (John 12:31).

The devil’s demise is certain.  He shall be acted on by something or someone outside himself.  God, in the cross, will overthrow the devil for good.

“and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged” (John 16:11).

God, as the authority, has already judged the devil.  This past judgment continues to this day.   ”The perfect [tense] emphasizes the completed act of judging the present ruler of the world.”  (Rogers and Rogers, 219).

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Our Lord’s victory over the devil is absolute and complete.  His power is restricted and controlled.  He can only do what God wants done.  The devil’s overthrow is certain.

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” (Rom. 16:20).

¹⁴ “[He made you alive,] having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him” (Col. 2:14, 15).

The words canceled out “was used for wiping out the memory of an experience, or for canceling a vote, annulling a law, or canceling a charge or debt.”  (Rogers and Rogers, 464).

“The perfect stands in contrast to the aorist in this section and fixes attention on the present state of freedom resulting from the action which was especially before the apostle’s mind.”  (Rogers and Rogers, 465).

“Christ divested Himself at the cross of the evil power which had struggled with Him so strongly during His ministry in attempts to force Him to abandon the pathway of the cross.”  (Rogers and Rogers, 465).

¹⁴ “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” (Heb. 2:14, 15).

At the cross Jesus stripped the devil of his power to use death as an element of fear and bondage.  The word “to render powerless” means “to render inoperative, to nullify, to make idle or ineffective, to render impotent as though no longer existing.”  (Rogers and Rogers, 520).

By rendering the devil powerless, our Lord frees His people from fear of death.  “The word was used in the papyri for the release from a position of responsibility; e.g., a marriage contract, the superintendence of land under lease, the release from a municipal office, or the release of a slave.”  (Rogers and Rogers, 520).

The devil’s demise was pronounced in the Garden (Gen. 3:14, 15), sealed at Calvary (John 16:11), continues in the present (Col. 2:14, 15), and completed in an imminent future (Rev. 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 25:41).

Second, let us note how we fight from victory and not for victory. How should we treat the devil in light of God’s work?

A. We need to be sober (2 Cor. 2:11; 1 Pet 5:8)

“so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11).

The devil has a plan of attack against you and God.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11).

Most note how the word “schemes” is our English word “method.”  The devil has an intentional plan or method to his attack.

⁸ “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹ But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (1 Pet. 5:8, 9).

The word “sober” means “to abstain from wine.”  The idea is that we are cleared headed, not having a clouded mind.  “To be alert,” simply means “to stay awake.”  Basically, do not fall asleep.

B. We need to be standing (Eph 6:11-16)

¹¹ “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, ¹⁵ and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; ¹⁶ in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph. 6:11-16).

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

⁸ “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹ But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (1 Pet. 5:8, 9).

Although we do not fight the devil in our own strength and we are fighting from victory not for victory, it is still a real and genuine battle.  His opposition to God and thus His people is real and “in time.”  We must go hard against the devil and his use of a fallen world system and his enticements toward our fleshly, fallen appetites.

C. We need to be submitting (James 4:7)

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

These two opposing ideas are two sides of the same coin.  Submission to God is a resisting of the devil.  Although living in unbroken conscious submission to God is impossible this side of heaven, we should be standing firm by submitting to God.  Thankfully, even in the absence of this conscious submission, God is victorious.  We still have the unimaginable privilege of willfully submitting to God, and in so doing we are resisting the devil.

Notice the text.  Resisting the devil is impossible in the absence of submitting to God.  The emphasis should not be on resisting the devil but on submitting to God.  The one automatically produces the other.  Even though there are distinct periods when I am fully aware of the spiritual warfare I am in with the devil, I try not to give the devil any more affirmation than is necessary.  My focus is on God and how loving, gracious, and generous He is toward me.  My submission to Him is a consequence of the Holy Spirit’s work in me and through me.  Because of His gracious and generous acts in my behalf, the devil is resisted.

All of these verses shout one simple idea, “I reign because He does!”  We have the victory in Christ Jesus our Lord over sin, death, and the devil.  May He receive all the power, glory, and honor.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

The story before us reinforces these truths.  He is God and has absolute authority and control over all things created.  I believe the storm was a test to see if they learned what He had just taught.  Some tests are “passed” and others are “failed” but all are intentional and purpose filled.

Here is my premise: All of life’s storms are an intentional part of God’s redemptive purpose for us.  Romans 8:28 says that everything works together for good.  The “good” concerns our justification, our sanctification, and our glorification.  The “everything” includes all of life in all of its joys and sorrows.

There is no aspect of our existence that is outside of God’s meaningful purpose for us.  Everything in life is moving toward, existing in, and flowing from our redemption.

Every hurricane, earthquake, tsunami, drought, blizzard, flood, or tornado, every sunrise, sunset, babbling brook, gentle breeze, sun kissed setting are parts of His redemptive purpose for us in all of its aspect and is thus “good.”

Every trial, test, or temptation is an intentional part of God’s purpose that contributes to our redemptive experience.  Nothing falls outside this purpose.  There are no accidents or random or arbitrary acts or events.  Everything has purpose, everything has meaning, and everything has intent.  There is a reason behind each and every aspect of your life.  Everything about your life is moving toward, existing in, and flowing from your redemption.

Your job, your parenting, your grand-parenting, your spouse, your heartache, your sorrow, your joy and your triumphs are all a part of God’s redemptive purpose for your life.  Nothing is wasted and nothing is forgotten.

God brought His disciples into the storm in order that He might “test” them to see if they truly grasped what He just taught them.  God controlled the storm.  He sets in motion events in order that storms would exist.  Storms do not have a life of their own.  They are not outside of what God is doing.  God is doing the “storm.”  All of life is a storm.  Our response to storms reveals whether or not we “get it.”  Do we really believe God is in control?  Do we really believe His purpose will be fulfilled?  Do we really believe He cares for us unconditionally, personally, and meaningfully?

There is a great comfort that is ours when we begin to realize that all of life in all of its complexities is a part of His redemptive purpose for us.  God has determined this storm in my life, and the storm will reveal whether or not I actually believe in His control and His compassion.  Do I honestly believe that God will finish His work in me and through me to those around me?

Storms are never pleasant, and they are never easy.  Often it is so dark that we lose our way and begin to question whether or not there is any purpose or reason for what we are going through other than mere chance and poor misfortunate.  The death of a loved one, the passing of a child, a still born baby or miscarriage, divorce, rebellious children, unemployment, financial ruin, chronic sickness, failed health that is left undiagnosed, all of these and a varied multitude of black events are all designed by God for us to show just how much we are resting in Him.  Such events do not come to us from the hand of a despotic malignant ruler, but the kind and gentle hand of a Shepherd Savior King who has determined the means as well as the end.    God is in control of our dark moments, He does care for us passionately, we are the objects of His unadulterated affection and yet loss and pain still happen.

As a shepherd, I call you to trust God in your affliction.  Know that He is working everything for good and His purpose for you is being fulfilled.  He will not fail no matter what the moment looks like.  Embrace Him as the loving, gracious, and kind God that He is, and see that He is in control and that He does truly care.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

Read Mark 4:33, 34

Verses 33 and 34 are Mark’s editorial on the teaching ministry of Jesus Christ.  They form a fitting conclusion to the parables found in verses one and following.  There are two questions confronting us in these two verses.  Was what Jesus taught understandable by His immediate audience?  And secondly, why did Jesus not explain everything to everyone rather than only to His disciples?

First, it must be understood how He taught with plainness and simplicity (v. 33).  He did not preach what he could not illustrate; and when he was finished, the people who heard him understood what he had said.  “Our Lord spoke in parables, adjusting His discourse to their capacity to understand.  The implication is clear that parables were employed to make truth plain.”[1] They understood what He said in a context.  The circumstances of the moment lent itself to interpreting the story.  What might appear confusing to us was possibly apparent to His immediate audience.  The larger idea presented by our Lord was clear.  What He wanted them to understand could be understood.

Let us make no mistake here.  There is a distinction drawn in our text between the group found in verse 33 and that of verse 34.  The group found in verse 33 is the teeming masses that crowded around our Lord forcing Him to teach from a boat while the unruly gathering swirled around Him.  By direct application, if your only interaction with our community of faith is Sunday morning, then you are a part of the larger audience to whom Jesus is teaching in verse 33.

Verse 34 makes it clear that there was more to His teaching than what was openly or publicly taught.  Not everything He wanted to communicate or make known was done in the public arena.

However, there is a second aspect to our Lord’s methodology.  It must be understood how He taught with intensity and design (v. 34).   In addition to the larger group whom He addressed publicly, there was another group that showed themselves open and responsive to further instruction.  I believe Mark’s comments are designed to show us the distinction between the two groups.  New Testament scholar D. Edmond Hiebert confirms this idea with the following comment, “‘But privately to his own disciples’ – in contrast to ‘those without.’”[2] There was more to His instruction than what they heard publicly.  I am immediately led to think of Matthew 28:18 and the call to disciple the nations and 2 Timothy 2:2 where we are called to take some further than the general listening population.

“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2)

In light of my current ministry I would like to take the time to share my perspective of the Sunday Morning Preaching hour (+15 minutes).  First, I believe the Word of God properly handled has inherent power and is effectual.  This means that if we did nothing but stand up and hear the reading of God’s Word, God could change our lives for good.  Second, I believe my primary responsibility is to explain the text in its historical context.  Third, I believe a secondary responsibility is to provide and guide the audience with areas of application.  Fourth, I believe the Spirit of God takes the Word of God and makes certain and necessary application in the people of God.  Fifth, because of the limitations placed on us by our depravity to understand, our physical ability to listen, and necessary time restraints, I do not believe I can say all that needs to be said on a Sunday morning in a 35 minute time slot.  This is why I provide the fuller study in the foyer before the service.  You can take the study and go “deeper” into the text if you so choose.  Sixth, because I do not believe everything that needs to be said can be said or endured in any 35 minute slot, we have provided ABF response groups, GLORIA, and various men’s and women’s Bible studies.  Seventh, there is constant interaction by the elders with individuals on a personal, individual level for the purpose of soul care.  Here is where the most intimate and delicate application is made to the audience.  Eighth, because of my involvement with the flock on a personal, intimate level, I am careful as to how far I take certain applications.  No one with whom I counsel and from whom I have received personal information wants to become a part of my application or illustration.  For me to use any private situation as a public illustration is a breach of pastoral ethics and professional confidence.  In light of this, my application is principle driven and broad.  Although I believe my application is pointed enough to address specific issues within any given individual, they are broad enough to represent our fallen state at large.  Ninth, I am constantly growing pastorally in my ability to handle the Word of God in a public arena.  I am a teacher; this is my gifting, and I do not apologize for it.  But this does not mean or assume I have attained any degree of perfection.  I am persistently looking to see how I can better communicate the Word in a manner that is understandable by the congregation.  I want to believe there is a unique relationship between the teaching, elder shepherd and the sheep identified in a community of faith.

With all of this said, let me propose the following thought:  If you only attend on Sunday morning, then I would encourage you to consider attending some of our various other studies.  I would encourage the men to lead their families by attending the ABF response groups, by attending GLORIA, by attending a men’s study, by attending a Saturday morning study.  Women also have many of these same options available to them.  Rare and perhaps unhealthy is the person who can attend everything, but it is equally unhealthy to only attend Sunday morning.  If Sunday morning is your only option, then praise Him.  But if you have other options in addition to Sunday morning and you can, but do not avail yourself of them, you should consider strongly how you might start going to the next level.

May God continue to grow us in our understanding of who He is, what He is doing, and who we are in Him.  May we never tire of seeing His working in His people.

[2] D. Edmond Hiebert, Mark: A Portrait of the Servant, 112.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

. . . ²⁷ and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows-

how, he himself does not know.  ²⁸ “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade,

then the head, then the mature grain in the head^.

²⁹ “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

As is true of all parables there is a large, singular idea that needs to caught by the listener.  The intent of the parables as found in Mark 4 is to encourage His disciples as to the certainty of the work in which they are engaged and to instruct them as to the character of this kingdom.  There are three aspects to this kingdom as it is described in the parable.  First, the growth of the Kingdom is always constant.  Second, the growth of the Kingdom is unavoidable.  And finally, the growth of the Kingdom is complete.

Let us begin by noting how “The growth of the Kingdom is always constant.”  Often our inability to see the object or idea with our own two eyes leaves us with uncertainty and doubt.  Yet faith seizes the invisible in order to believe the unimaginable.  It is while the individual lives their life that the seed sprouts and grows.  Even when we cannot see, God is at work establishing and advancing His Kingdom.  There is nothing created that can stop Him from what He has begun.  Arthur C. Ainger wrote the following poem in 1894.  I would like to consider the first two stanzas since they capture so well the idea presented in the parable.

God is working His purpose out

God is working his purpose out

as year succeeds to year:

God is working his purpose out,

and the time is drawing near;

nearer and nearer draws the time,

the time that shall surely be,

when the earth shall be filled with the glory of God

as the waters cover the sea.

From utmost east to utmost west,

where’er the church has gone,

by the mouth of many messengers

the call of God has come:

Give ear to me, you continents;

you isles, give ear to me,

that the earth may be filled with the glory of God

as the waters cover the sea.

The second noted area is, “The growth of the Kingdom is unavoidable.”  Although God works in and through the will of man to accomplish His purpose, such a choice on God’s part does not cause Him to be in bondage to man’s will.  There is nothing man can do to stop or undo what God has and is doing.  New Testament scholar William Barclay makes the following observation:

“There is nothing so powerful as growth.  A tree can split a concrete pavement with the power of its growth.  A weed can push its green head through an asphalt path.  Nothing can stop growth.  It is so with the kingdom.  In spite of man’s rebellion and disobedience, God’s work goes on; and nothing in the end can stop the purposes of God.” (William Barclay, Mark, 108).

Finally, “The growth of the Kingdom is complete.”

We are not to lose heart when we sow seed and do not see immediate and open change.  If the seed is sown and if it lands in good soil, then a harvest is inevitable.  “Some growths are quicker than others, but in all there is growth. And we have no right to look for the end at the beginning, the ripened Christian experience in the young convert, the full corn in the first appearance of the blade.” (People’s New Testament Commentary on Mark 4:28)

What a powerful commentary on the nature of the work in which we are privy to and a part of!  Right now God is causing His kingdom to increase.  Right now God is marching through the ranks of those who would rise up against Him.  Right now God will finish the work that He alone began.  We must patiently await the inevitable, the unavoidable, and the unimaginable.  May the truth of His kingdom marching on be a source of deep-seated encouragement and hope.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.