BEFDL 15 (from HGM on 19 April 22)

BIBLICAL ELEMENTS FOR DAILY LIVING-15

TEXT:   "Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. ¹⁷ And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.¹⁸ And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him."  (Mark 1:16-18)

 I.   NET

      A.  The "nets" is whatever we may use to draw to ourselves the fulfillment and satisfaction that we seek.  Simon and Andrew were casting their nets to catch fish.  When Jesus came, He used words that they could easily understand.  He told them that is they would follow Him, He would make them a "fisher" of men.

     B.  Notice that Jesus did not say He would show them "how" to fish for men.  Rather, He said that He would "make" them to "become" fishers.The emphasis was not on methodology, but rather on the Lord's desire to draw them to Himself, in order to change them.

    C.  John shares this thought this way,

          "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;¹⁰ And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."  (Revelation 5:9-10) The emphasis is on our being made ready to reign, not on the fact of reigning.

       D.  Many place great emphasis on the program (net) that is used to accomplish a certain purpose, rather than seeking to develop the ability to rightly use the program.  We cannot give what we do not have.  Therefore, it is very important that we spend quality time in the presence of the Lord and develop a strong spiritual relationship with Him.

       E.  Only then will we "have" in order to "give."  In Acts we read,

            "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

The word "witnesses" can be translated many ways.  The most common is martyr, but another way is "sample."  Here the Lord is placing the emphasis on our becoming a "sample" of Himself.  Often, the emphasis has tended toward two extremes, either "asceticism" or "activity."

       F.  In the early church, there were those and so true today who became known as "Desert Fathers."  They considered the world to be so wicked that they went out into the desert and lived in caves so they could be separated and as a result become "spiritual."  I am not really sure of this word.

       G.  But Jesus said that we were not to hide our light under a bushel.  We are to be in the world, but the world is not to be in us.  Rather, our light is to shine before men.  WE are to become a "witness" of the life and ministry of Jesus by becoming a "sample" of Him, a piece of the real thing in the place of need.

       H.  In our becoming a "sample" of the presence and power of the Lord, there will be many occasions in which it will be easy to be otherwise.  Jesus said, "I will MAKE you to BECOME."  This is a processing of the Lord to prepare us to rightly respond in the situations.  Thus, those who are to rule are presently being prepared for this purpose.

       I.  As we allow the cross to become effective in our lives, and we die to our feelings and reactions, and allow Jesus to be seen through our lives, we will indeed begin to catch those lost, for Christ, in the world.  

       J.  The other extreme is "doing."  For to many, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is considered to be "power for service."  These place the emphasis on going out to do witnessing, which can result in running without the message.  Our life needs to reflect the message for the world to see.  

    K.  Peter heard the word "fishing" and did not realize all that he was about to experience in being "processed" to become the witness the Lord intended.

    L.  When peter told the Lord that he would die for Him, Jesus responded that instead he would deny Him.  Peter reacted, but soon learned differently.  We tend to promise the Lord many things, which we are incapable of doing.  But the Lord has provided a way for us to go beyond these cycles of failure "follow Me and I will make you to become."

 II.  PARTING THOUGHTS

      A.  It has been said that no one can "get our goat" unless we have one to get.  We cannot be offended is there is no offense in us.  As a child I remember how kids would tease and pick on certain children.  Now I see that these were being picked on because they reacted to an offense.  The greater the reaction, the more they were picked on, as other kids enjoyed the reaction. 

      B.  In effect, Acts 1:8 reads, "you will receive power . . . to become."  The desire of the Lord is to so change us that only His life is to be seen.  Therefore, all we need to do is to say, Lord, I am available and willing to receive."

      C.  Only then will we become the "message" that people will respond to; our lives so changed by the power of God, that His presence and blessings are evident.

A MEDITATION ON EASTER

Around Christmas time last year I shared some thoughts on Christ not being a baby and now as we draw closer to what many call the Easter season I would like to share some thoughts on this topic. First, the word we use to express the great victory of Christ, “Easter” is found once in the KJV of the Bible and has nothing to do with the Gospel; the death, the burial, and (our blessed hope of glory) the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The word “Easter” is found in Acts and is talking about Peter not Jesus, “And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” (Acts 12:4) and is translated from the Greek as Passover, again it has nothing to do with the Gospel message. I am not going to go into all of the pagan rituals and religious traditional practices that surround the historical myth of Easter my intent is to lift up the name of Jesus. But, my friend we have “truly” (taking something from the physical realm and projecting it into the spiritual realm) drifted so far from the true meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and the great price He paid for my sin and your sin. We have insulted God’s supreme act of giving His only begotten Son and the truth for an emotional swell during the holiday season, to increase church attendance, and to spread ones denominational message under the guise of sharing the Gospel. We do so much in church that displeases God and cover it up by saying we are sharing the Gospel. God please forgive us. God does not need special services that effect our emotions and feelings to share the Gospel message. God needs dedicated and consistent children to follow Him and His basic plan. A few years ago I heard a statement from a pastor (of a church we once attended) that just shook me to my knees. He said after Jesus was arrested and crucified the light of the world went out. How my spirit quivered within me. How my stomach churned and ached for this fellow’s words were not true, but was in keeping with the emotional Easter tradition. At no point in time has Jesus not been the light of the world. My friend even when Jesus obediently and willfully laid His life down, He was still in control; of all Heaven, earth, hell, and will always be the light of the world. His light will never go out. Death could not hold Him, the grave could not hold Him, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57) Because this is true about Jesus we too can say, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Let us not be led by our emotions and plans to practice an Easter season, but be led by the Holy Spirit to know and understand the true message of the Gospel. This my friend is the message that will change your life forever. At the Passover Supper (before He went out into the garden) Jesus knew the garden experience was there and He knew that the cross, death, the grave, and hell was waiting Him. Yet Jesus went out with a hymn in His heart, “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.” (Matthew 26:29) How could He do that? He could sing because He had the victory already in His heart. The victory and trust He had in His Father to carry Him through the garden, onto the cross, and into and out of the grave. He knew His Father would never leave Him nor forsake Him. The victory was first won as the Father pressed out the life and will of Jesus at Gethsemane (which means where oil is pressed), “Then saith he unto them, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 39And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:38-39) Knowing what was before Him Jesus could still break bread with His disciples, “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.” (Matthew 26:26) Knowing what was ahead for Him Jesus could still give thanks, “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28) He could only do this because it was the most sublime manifestation of faith ever expressed. We think He had faith when He restored sight to the blind, strengthened limbs, and raised the dead. Yes that was wonderful, but we must see the spiritual side of things. We must see the necessity of faith in the realm of the Spirit, not in the flesh (like the Easter myth), but the realm of the Spirit where we have the faith to dare to believe like Jesus. It is Jesus’ victorious life which leads up to His victorious death and that is what presents Him as the Lamb without spot and blemish. When seen on the Mount of Transfiguration, He is a Lamb without spot or blemish, but it is a Lamb that has been slain! We are not saved by His life we are saved by His death. His life is exemplary it is beautiful, but He did not come to display great character and to do miracles, He came to die for us. The way of life is through a region of death and unless we partake of His death we shall never reign with Him. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:” (Romans 6:3-5) The truth of the season is a bitter sweet message of death so that we may live. It is not about new clothing, many church activities, special foods, and musical programs to get people to come to church, but it is about us loving God enough to be willing (like Jesus) to fall into the ground and die, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” (John 12:24)And, to love God’s word enough in simplicity to share it without fanfare and emotional ceremony knowing the Holy Spirit will do His work in lives. Then too we will be able to say we have before the throne (our heart) of God today a victorious risen Lord. Let us keep the love feast of Jesus’ sacrifice. Let us honor Him and His work in us and for those who we are to lead to the cross for His glory. Let not this season be a myth or holiday, but an invitation to life, the life of God. Written by David Stahl