Do Not Free Only Believe
I want to start us off
this week encouraging us to pray for our pastors and our government
leaders. One this we all need to
remember is that none of them have ever been through anything like this. The last major pandemic was the Spanish Flu
of 1918. Let’s be praying for
supernatural wisdom for Fred, Carl, John, our President, our Governor, and all
who have to make decisions during this time.
Let’s pray and begin.
A common topic as of late
has been fear. Fear of contracting the
virus. Fear of death. Fear of a deep financial recession. Fear of how all of this will affect our
November elections. But, as we all know,
believers should not be people of fear.
We should exude joy and confidence in these tumultuous times.
In Mark 5 Jesus is
walking with a synagogue leader to the leader’s house. The man has come to Jesus concerned for the
health of his daughter. She’s only 12
years old and very sick. The leader
tells Jesus that she is “at death’s door.”
Jesus, out of genuine care and concern for the man and his daughter,
begins walking to the leader’s home. But
something delayed Jesus, and in the middle of that delay, messengers arrived to
tell the man that his daughter had died.
We aren’t told what went through the leader’s mind, but Jesus simply
tells him in Mark 5:36 “Don’t be afraid.
Only believe.”
Don’t be afraid. Only believe.
Believe what? How do I not be
afraid? Let’s look today at what to
replace our fear with and why God asks us to walk through fearful times. We are going to look at a number of passages
today. I’ll try to have them all on the
power point, but please research these on your own. These have been very beneficial for me as
I’ve meditated on them this week.
Mark’s gospel is the
shortest of the four. Mark wrote with a
sense of urgency and is almost like listening to a podcast on 1.5 speed so you
can get through it quicker. It’s almost as though he especially wants his readers
to be able to read it in one sitting.
But in the end of chapter 4 and all of chapter 5, Mark puts 4 stories
together to show us the power of Jesus.
To prove that he is Messiah, he takes these 4 short stories and puts
them all right here together so we see Jesus’ supernatural power over things no
other human has had authority over.
Let’s start in Mark
4:35. Jesus had been teaching around
Capernaum, but He told his disciples to come with Him to the eastern side of
the Sea of Galilee.
On
that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other
side." Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just
as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of
wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was
already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and
they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are
perishing?" And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea,
"Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly
calm. And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no
faith?" They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who
then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" - Mark 4:35-41
NASB
Jesus had been teaching
around Capernaum, but He told His disciples to come with Him to the eastern
side of the Sea of Galilee. He goes to
the back of the boat and falls asleep.
Remember, 4 of the disciples were experienced fisherman. I’m sure they’ve been in a number of storms,
but this one had them terrified. They
ran to Jesus and said “Don’t you care that we are going to die?!” But remember, the whole reason Jesus even
came to earth was because He cares about people!
There are fearful times
that we put ourselves into, and there are fearful times that God leads us into
in order for us to see Him in a new light that we have never seen Him in
before. In this case, Jesus led them
into several boats and said, let’s go to the other side. But upon being so rudely awakened, Jesus
looks at the sea and said “Hush, be still.” The Greek word the NASB translates
as “Hush” has the idea of “silence, or to hold one’s peace.” The word translated “be still” means to
muzzle. But in so speaking to the waves,
Jesus was also speaking to those in the boat with Him. “Hold your peace, and muzzle your
reactions.” Jesus showed His power of
nature in order to build the faith of those in the boat. Just like Peter walking on the water. So long as Peter’s eyes were firmly fixed on
Jesus, he could walk on the water. But
when he lost his focus and realized what he was doing and began to look at the
waves, he sank. But, give Peter some
credit. Remember, 11 others stayed in
the boat. Only 1 had the boldness to ask
to walk on water with Jesus.
Carrying on in Mark, we
come to chapter 5. We’ve seen these next
three stories in our Matthew series, but they are so relevant for our times
that I want to go over them again, quickly.
This is Mark 5:1-20.
They
came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. When He
got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit
met Him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind
him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles
and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken
in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Constantly, night and
day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself
with stones. Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him;
and shouting with a loud voice, he said, "What business do we have with
each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not
torment me!" For He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you
unclean spirit!" And He was asking him, "What is your name?" And
he said to Him, "My name is Legion; for we are many." And he began to
implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there was a
large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. The demons implored Him,
saying, "Send us into the swine so that we may enter them." Jesus
gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine;
and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of
them; and they were drowned in the sea. Their herdsmen ran away and reported it
in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had
happened. They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed
sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the
"legion"; and they became frightened. Those who had seen it described
to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the
swine. And they began to implore Him to leave their region. As He was getting
into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he
might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He said to him, "Go home
to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you,
and how He had mercy on you." And he went away and began to proclaim in
Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed. -
Mark 5:1-20 NASB
It is always pointed out
in this passage, and rightly so I think, that the man instantly recognized
Jesus as the Son of the Most High God.
This man lived alone. People had
tried to subdue him before, and it never worked. I doubt he had heard of Jesus, but when he
sees Jesus the demons recognize Him as God.
And Jesus rescued the man from the demons. Why? To establish faith. Because He cared for others.
The next two are
interconnected. The first story is
interrupted by the second. But let’s
look at the second first. Mark 5:25-34:
A
woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the
hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at
all, but rather had grown worse-- after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the
crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. For she thought, "If I just touch
His garments, I will get well." Immediately the flow of her blood was
dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had
gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My
garments?" And His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing
in on You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'" And He looked around to see the
woman who had done this. But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had
happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace
and be healed of your affliction." - Mark 5:25-34 NASB
This woman had been sick
for 12 years. She had spent all her
money on doctors and had basically decided that she wasn’t going to get any
relief and resigned herself to a life of chronic illness. Then she heard of Jesus. But she was too embarrassed to approach Him. She decided that simply touching His garments
was sufficient to heal her. As soon as
she did, Jesus stopped. Now there was a
great crowd around Him. His disciples
asked Him if He saw the massive crowd.
“You’ve probably been touched by all of us at some point.” But Jesus found the woman and told her that
it wasn’t his clothes that healed her.
It was her faith. You couldn’t
just touch Jesus and expect to be healed.
He strengthened her faith.
Where was Jesus going
that a large crowd was following Him?
Let’s go back and grab the 4th story. Starting in verse 21 and then skipping over
the passage we just read.
When
Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd
gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. One of the synagogue
officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet 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." And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and
pressing in on Him. ... While He was still speaking, they came from the house
of the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; why trouble
the Teacher anymore?" But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said
to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid any longer, only
believe." And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James
and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the synagogue official;
and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. And entering in,
He said to them, "Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died,
but is asleep." They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He
took along the child's father and mother and His own companions, and entered
the room where the child was. Taking the child by the hand, He said to her,
"Talitha kum!" (which translated means, "Little girl, I say to
you, get up!"). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was
twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. And He gave
them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that
something should be given her to eat. - Mark 5:21-24, 35-43 NASB
The synagogue leader
comes to Jesus asking for Jesus to simply touch his daughter so she could be
healed. Jesus, out of care and
compassion for the man and his family, headed for his house. But on the way He stops. I’m sure the leader was very impatient. “Why is He stopping? Why doesn’t he just come on? That woman has been sick for 12 years, she’s
old. My daughter is so young and has her
whole life ahead of her. Come on,
Jesus!” While Jesus was speaking to the
other woman, the leader got the dreaded news no parent ever wants. His daughter was dead. But Jesus tells him “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.” Jesus goes into the girl’s room and tells her
to get up. Jesus had power over death,
and He used it to build faith.
What do we learn from
these stories 2,000 years later? Get to
Jesus. The disciples came
disrespectfully. The woman with the bleeding came thinking she shouldn’t
come. The synagogue leader came in total
humility, bowing at Jesus feet. But they
all came. And Jesus built their
faith. He didn’t call out how much faith
they had, they just had to have faith.
Depending on each situation, He established or built their faith up.
And they all died
eventually died, one a second time.
Jesus ultimately doesn’t deliver us from diseases. He ultimately saves us from our sins. That brings meaning and stability to
life. Our live is not defined by a
pandemic, or a food shortage, or a paper good shortage, or a financial
recession. Our life is defined by our
response to Jesus.
A few other quick
observations before we move on from Mark:
Jesus’
word never fails
Jesus
is present
Jesus
has power over spiritual darkness
He
has power over health
He
has power over death
I want to quickly look at
Isaiah 8. I’m not going to put it on the
slides, but in Isaiah 8:11, God told Isaiah not to get caught up in
controversies. When things go wrong, we
look for someone to blame. We fear the
most what can’t be identified, and it leads to paranoia. In verse 12, God told Isaiah not to fear what
most fear. God goes on to say that
instead, we should fear Him. It wasn’t
this way in the Hebrew, but in English it creates an interesting word play. Don’t fear the unknown. Fear God.
Disease nor man can separate us from God, but sin does. We tend to fear difficult circumstances and
dangerous people more that we fear disobeying God. In Isaiah 8:14, God told Isaiah that he would
be a stumble block to Israel. If we
ignore God, we will trip over or smash into Him. We are on a collision course with the One who
is – Yahweh.
Let’s stop worrying so
much about sins of others and threats of our times. Let’s stop letting ourselves getting sucked
into the paranoia and cynicism and worry instead about where we put God in our
lives and whether we are dealing with our own sin and treating Him as holy and
making Him our sanctuary. Choose our
fear.
At the end of chapter 8,
people were looking to the government and the king to save them, but Isaiah
showed us in chapter 9 that he was looking to Christ for his hope. To Emmanuel, God with us!
I’ve seen another verse
circulate recently, and I wanted to touch on it for as well this morning. It’s 2 Timothy 1:7.
For
God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and
discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:7 NASB
This verse is an
excellent one to meditate on during trying times, but to take it by itself is
to miss its intended meaning. Let’s back up and see the context around verse 7. Paul is writing his second letter to Timothy
encouraging him as a pastor to continue in the good work of the ministry.
I
thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as
I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even
as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. For I am mindful of
the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and
your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. For this reason I
remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying
on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and
love and discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:3-7 NASB
Paul began by reminding
Timothy of the faith of his grandmother and mother. Paul was convinced this same faith was
Timothy’s as well. He encouraged Timothy
to rekindle the gift of God in him. But
the verses following the famous verse 7 is where I want to focus.
Therefore
do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join
with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus
from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior
Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a
teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for
I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I
have entrusted to Him until that day. Retain the standard of sound words which
you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard,
through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted
to you. – 2 Timothy 1:8–14 NASB
Because God has not given
us the spirit of timidity or cowardice, we should not be ashamed of the
testimony of our Lord. What is that
testimony? It’s in verses 9 and 10.
who
has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus
from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior
Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel, – 2 Timothy 1:9-10 NASB
Our
Savior Christ Jesus has abolished death and brought life and immortality to
light through the Gospel. It doesn’t matter what life throws at us, nothing can
separate us from the love of God. We are
free forever more.
Now that we have the
context, let’s go back and look at verse 7.
For
God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and
discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:7 NASB
God has not given us a
spirit of timidity. Other translations
use fear or cowardice. Either way, the
Greek work is never used in a positive sense.
The verb tense in the Greek for “has not given” shows a past complete
action. God has already provided these
resources. What are we to use to combat
the fear of sharing the gospel? And what
better time to share the hope of the gospel than these uncertain times?
He has given us power, a
great force or energy. It is an effective,
productive energy Ephesians 1:19 calls it is a surpassing greatness power, the
same power that raised Jesus from the grave.
When I first began
thinking about this verse in light of my message this week, I was trying to
figure out how in the world love could be the opposite of fear. But this isn’t just any old love; it is
agape. Not philos (an emotional and conditional love) or eros (a sensual and selfish love), but God’s constant
self-sacrificial love that does not ebb and flow. When I read the context of the verse, I
realized that if we have the same love for unbelievers that Jesus does, we won’t
be afraid or ashamed of the gospel. The
love for others will drive out our fear.
If we are more focused on others and how to serve them even while
socially distant, we will not have fear.
Finally, God has given us
discipline. This is the only place in
the Bible that this Greek word is used, but it is a compound work literally meaning
saving the mind. It is an admonishing or
calling to a soundness of mind or to self-control. A mind full of fear is not sound. If we constantly fear or worry about what
tomorrow holds, we are double minded.
Isaiah wrote that God will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is
stayed, or fixed, on Him. The Hebrew
says that the steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace because he
trusts you. Have a steadfast mind. Fix it on God.
When I write a sermon, I
often have playing worship music to keep me focused. When I was working on this week’s message, a
video came on about the story behind a new modern hymn. In August of last year, Janet and I went to a
worship conference in Nashville, TN and at this conference, Janet and I got to
spend some breakout sessions listening to the 5 men who helped compose this
song and learn more about them as individuals.
One of the writers is a pastor in Texas, and he has been teaching his
children the Heidelberg Catechism. The
first line of that is “What is your only hope in life and in death?” He said his son has really been struggling
with the concept of death – a topic that is terrifying to children and
adults. Wanting to write something that
his son could sing and be encouraged by, he suggested a song about Christ being
our hope. Two other writers are worship
leaders in their churches and wanted to encourage their body with a message of
hope. They meshed the two ideas together
and released a song titled “Christ our Hope in Life and Death.” The new hymn was just released on March 11 of
this year, and I don’t think any other song could be more fitting for the time
our world is in right now.
I’ll put a link in the
transcript to the song with lyrics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OibIi1rz7mw),
but I want to read the first part of the Heidelberg Catechism for us, and I’d
highly encourage you to go listen to the song.
The Catechism was written in 1563 in the midst of the reformation. It had three goals 1) to be a teaching tool
for young people, 2) a guide for preaching in church, and 3) a form of
confessional unity among several protestant churches around Heidelberg. It is divided into 52 sections so that each
part could be explained in an afternoon worship service each Sunday of the year
and is full of footnoted references to examine.
This is the first section:
Q. What is your only
comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, 1but
belong—
body and soul, in life
and in death—2
to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.3
He has fully paid for
all my sins with his precious blood,4
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.5
He also watches over me in such a way6
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven;7
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.8
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.5
He also watches over me in such a way6
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven;7
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.8
Because I belong to Him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life9
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for Him.10
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life9
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for Him.10
1 1 Cor. 6:19-20
2 Rom. 14:7-9
3 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14
4 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:2
5 John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11
6 John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5
7 Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18
8 Rom. 8:28
9 Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14
10 Rom. 8:1-17
By the way, there are a
number of artists who are doing worship nights on social media and
YouTube. I’ve only been able to catch
snippets of some, but the few I did were very encouraging and helped me to
refocus in this trying time.
I’ll leave you with this
statement I heard this week: if God is small enough for our minds, He’s too
small for our problems.
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