COMMITTMENT AND TRUST

COMMITTMENT AND TRUST

SOME PROBLEMS WITH DOUBT

     Some years ago, in a discussion that I had with my physician, I had said," yes, I realize continuing like that could mean an early death, but that's all right, I'm ready for death. For years, I preached that 'the next life is where we recieved our Christian reward ."

My doctor, who was an older physician, was known as a Christian. And he pretty much lived that way. He would also come out with the truth in any conversation, almost to the point of being abrupt. So I was somewhat surprised by his response to my statement.

He looked at me in a sidewise glance. "Yes, that's what we say, but deep down, we all have some doubt."

     Naturally, we may experience doubt occasionally. But, I believe, that's like experiencing temptation. It comes and it goes. I'm certainly no judge of this doctor . Perhaps, he only expressed some passing doubt. Obviously, as a doctor he had gone through many years of education, and even if some things he studied had some doubtful conclusions(biological origins, etc.) he had to have developed good study habits and decision making. And death (both Christians and non-Christians) would be an event he must have witnessed on many occasions.

     However, as I thought about his conversation and my own belief, uncertainty would certainly influence my own commitment. Personally, my desire had long ago focused on trusting and committing my life in Jesus Christ and following Him. This hasn't always been successful in following Him, because I often fail.  But there is no other place to go--that's the truth.

DEALING WITH DOUBTS AND BELIEFs, AND COMMITTMENT

      The Gospels tell us the Jesus' first followers, including the apostles, certainly had doubt and disbelief.

The Gospels have a good account of this. When they heard that, He was alive, and had been seen, they refused to believe it.

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they(the women), and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared.

 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They entered in, and didn`t find the Lord Jesus` body. 4 It happened, while they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing. 5 Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. They said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He isn`t here, but is risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. They remembered his words, and returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest....Luke 24:1-9

MARK 16:10-13  "She(Mary Magdalene) went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept.  When they heard that he was alive, and had been seen by her, they              disbelieved.                                                                                                After  these things he was revealed in another form to two of them, (two believers going to Emmaus) as they walked, on their way into the country. They went away and told it to the rest.(Apostles) They didn`t believe them, either."       

  LUKE 24:10 Now they were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them told these things to the apostles.  These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn't believe them.                                                                                                                                                

MARK 16:14 "Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves (the Apostles) as they sat at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn`t believe those who had seen him after he had risen."

      John puts it this way,   "But Thomas one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore were saying to him,' We had seen the Lord!' But he said to them,' Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side I will not believe." John 20:24-25

     How did Jesus Christ deal with the doubt that came to His followers?

John 20:26-31, "And after eight days again His disciples were inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shot, and stood in their midst, and said,'Peace be with you. Then He said to Thomas,' Reach here your finger, and see My hand; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.'   Thomas answered and said to Him,' My Lord and my God!'  Jesus said to him,' Because you have seen me, have you believe?  Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believe.'" Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book: but these things have been written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."

"After that He appeared to more than 500 brother at one time, most of whom remain (are still alive) until now, but some have fallen asleep: then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles...." 1 Corinthians 15:6-7

      In the case of the Apostle Paul, over three years had passed, and Jesus Christ makes this other extraordinary, very dramatic, appearance.

    The apostle Paul, then called Saul, was a dedicated opponent of Christianity. At the time of his conversion to following Christ, he was on his way to a major city on a foreign country to root out the followers of Christ and bring them back to Jerusalem for execution. All of his life he had been raised as a strict Jew and follower of Judaism. He knew that Christianity had to be false. After all, Christianity's founder, who hung on across, had to be cursed, according to their law 

THE MAN THAT HANGS ON A CROSS IS CURSED OF GOD

Deuteronomy 21: 22-23 tells us: . And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:  
23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) 
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:  GALATIANS 3:13

JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED ON THE CROSS FOR OUR SINS

10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 

FOR SAUL-PAUL TO SEE JESUS CHRIST 3 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS--SAUL UNDERSTOOD THIS INSTANTLY--IT COULD MEAN ONLY ONE THING

     Nothing less than the risen Jesus Christ confronting Saul face to face would have changed his mind so radically. And that's exactly what happened. Totally convinced and committed, this man

went  out with a radically changed message.

    Paul speaks about Jesus appearing to him.  He's says he was "...trying to destroy the church persecuting it and he was advancing and Judaism beyond many of his contemporaries and countrymen. He was extremely zealous of his ancestral tradition. But when He who had set me apart... Called the through His grace was pleased to reveal His Son and me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles."

Obviously, Jesus Christ, in his appearing, changed everything for Paul... This was true in the lives of his apostles and followers. As the Gospels testify, news that Jesus appeared to her resurrected could not be true, in fact, , Luke 24:11 tells us, when the women "... Told these things I to the apostles. And their words seem to them  as idle tales and they believed them not." The New American Standard Version translates this even stronger: "these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them."

    

        IT'S NOT LIKELY that Jesus Christ is going to make an appearance before you to get you to believe. But there is  empirical evidence that we need to appreciate.

    Jesus Christ gave the church – you and I as the "called out" believers a commission to tell others and make disciples." (Matthew 28:19-20).  "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be  My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8).

.  Obviously we must thoroughly check out evidence that we present, but I belive, we often dismiss some things from  hearsay and without study. Have you really studied the shroud of Turin?  Is there any medical evidence on the resurrection?  Science for many of the other things that have happened in science or space? 

PRECEPTION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD and BORN ABOVE

N"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you." . Matthew 6: 33

"Truly truly I say to you must be born above to see the kingdom of God "  John 3: 3

The first three Gospels are mostly about the kingdom of God. "Although the Cross was the primary mission of Christ on the Earth, it was not his main message, nor was it considered as an end in itself. Any careful study of the Gospels will reveal that the kingdom was the primary message of the teaching of Christ." that statement was written by a Dr. Earle E. Cairns, in his book, p. 54, "Christianity through The Centuries."

According to Dr. Cairns, " Christ taught that the kingdom will never be realized by an historical Evolution process in which the Church by social action prepares the world His coming. The Scriptures plainly teach that the future eschatological, as distinguished from the present ethical and spiritual phase of the Kingdom, will be realized supernaturally and cataclysmically at the coming of Christ rather than as a result of the work of the Church.
Hence, the primary task of the Church is not world conversion by preaching and social action, but the evangelization the world by the proclamation of the Gospel, so that those who are to make up the true church may have an opportunity to respond to that message as the Holy Spirit brings conviction to their hearts." P.56

Most evangelicals that I know of , that I have been associated with,  believe the above statements, but I wonder sometimes if we sell short this last sentence that Cairn makes. I believe, the spiritual impact on our lives, that our new relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit, should be life changing. I wonder if there are times in our zealous  efforts to win somebody to Christ, we are manipulating somebody, rather than the Holy Spirit bringing conviction in their hearts.

I believe it's true that, many times, the Holy Spirit does convert somebody later in life, after the initial efforts of the soulwinner.  And I don't mean to be knocking the zealous soul winner--obviously, we all need to give an account of our hope in Jesus Christ.  But we had better be aware of the fact that a person that is not born again by God the Holy Spirit is not born again.

John 1: 11-12 "... as many as received Him, He gave the right to become tshe children of God, even to those who believe on His name. Who were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God."

"He saved US not on the basis of the deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His Mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ Our Savior."  Titus 3: 5

THE SINLESS MAN

"If I shut the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people, who are called by My name, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be opened and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place...."

            I've been studying the person of Solomon, and the way that he lived his life. Of anyone, one would think that Solomon would be the model of a man that God-fearing men would want to follow. 

          

         After all, he was a son of David, and Holy Scripture tells us David was a man after God's own heart. Not only the son of David, but Solomon in his own right, had sought after and lived in a great relationship with God--at least, in his younger years. Many times God had responded very favorably to Solomon, such as after Solomon's prayer in 2 Chronicles 6: 

         "Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house...." Or, in another place, Solomon had finished the house of the Lord, and the Lord had responded to Solomon's acts with the words of this first paragraph above. (2 Chronicles 7:13-15)

            The Queen of Sheba's statements about Solomon probably most accurately describe Solomon at this time: "How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom.

            Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness."

           

             In the book of Proverbs, Solomon writes:

            "The Proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel to know wisdom and instruction, to discern the sayings of understanding, to receive instruction in wise behavior, righteousness, justice and equity; to give prudence to the naïve, to the youth knowledge and discretion, a wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.

            The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Proverbs 1:1-7)

            While Solomon probably didn't write all of Proverbs, he, very likely, was the main author.

            Yet the Bible tells us other truth of Solomon also had a sinful side, particulrily in his older years. In first Kings 11: 4, Holy Scripture tells us: "For it came about when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; his heart was not entirely devoted to the Lord his God as the heart of David his father had been."

            "Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from God, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, they should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded. So the Lord said to Solomon' Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statuettes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son...."

            In Solomon's other writings, in the book of Ecclesiastes, he seems to throw the gates wide open to very narcissistic nature.which no doubt included all forms of sinful practice. In Ecclesiastes 2:1 he writes: "I said to myself,' come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.'  And behold it too was futility.... (10) And all that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure...." So Solomon was certainly not a model for men or any person.

            "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). And in regard to the New Testament, one can pick out the many shortcomings of the apostles.  All have sinned.

      

           Isn't it interesting, that while the Bible tells it like it is, even in regard to the Bible's heroes, there is not one single word about sin that can be credited to one person: Jesus Christ. There is only one sinless man: Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 4:15; 7:26, 1 John 3:5, etc.)

            2 Corinthians 5:20-21 "... We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him(Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

            "God made Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf..."? How can that be? To an Orthodox Jew that is an outrageous statement, and so it was to Paul the apostle, who wrote that statement--until he met the resurrected person of Jesus Christ.

            

             However the Jewish prophets foretold this in Isaiah 53.

"Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

            He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hid their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

            Surely he took our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted.

            But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.....

             He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he didn't open his mouth, he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.... For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth.

            And it was the Lord's will to crush him cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities."   Isaiah 53.1-11 NIV

            "by force and by law he was taken; what anyone played his cause?

            Yes, he was torn away from the land of the living; for our faults struck down in death. They gave him a grave with the wicked, a tomb with the rich, though he had done no wrong and yet there had been no perjury in his mouth.

            Yahweh has been pleased to crush him with suffering. If he offers his soul in atonement, he will see his heirs, he shall have a long life and through him what Yahweh wishes will be done.

            His soul's anguish over you will see the light and be content. By his suffering shall my servant justify many, taking their fault on himself." Isaiah 53:8 through 11, Jerusalem translation

            In the New Testament book of Acts, a Christian elder witnesses to a nonbeliever about Jesus Christ, using this passage in Isaiah 53. (Acts 8:30-37)