Greetings to you friend! What do you think Jesus meant when He said what He said? Well, now that seems like a-- well, it sounds sort of like a “silly” question, doesn’t it. But, well the more you think about it the more you think we ought to think about it. Right? What do you say we do it now? Stay tuned.
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Today’s program is titled, “What Did Jesus Mean?” It was suggested by a viewer. I don’t know where he lives; it’s e-mail. But that isn’t important-- where he lives. What is important is what he asked. Of course, we can answer his question with one compound sentence, can’t we? “Jesus said what He meant; and meant what He said.” That is it; what more can be said about it? We’ll see.
If you think you might want a free printed copy, or a free CD or an audio cassette tape of this program, simply mail your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Yes, I did say they are free; and I know that’s unusual for a religious program, but we’re just-- well, we’re just unusual, I guess. Anyway, our e-mail address is searchtv@searchtv.org. Or if you like you may pick up your telephone and dial this toll free number: 1-800-321-8633. And, you may see it-- or hear it-- or read it-- and much more interesting information on our website at: www.searchtv.org. Ken Helterbrand is going to lead us now as we sing and then I’ll be back and we’ll read God’s word together.
Our scripture reading today consists of the great commission by Mark. Jesus had met with His disciples, and this was after He had proven Himself to be the Son of God by the resurrection of the dead, and just prior to His ascension from what Mark says. “And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” And that is the great commission by Mark. And now let us go to God in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we are so thankful to You for the recorded fact of the commission that Jesus gave to His disciples and that continues to live on and on in our lives. And we are thankful for the inspiration and the encouragement and the challenge that we have to preach the gospel to every creature. Bless us in that effort today. We pray You in the name of Jesus who gave us this passage. In Jesus’ name; Amen!
What did Jesus mean when He said something? Does it really matter what Jesus meant when He said anything? Who was He that it really matters what He said? We have a Holy-Spirit-inspired introduction to Him in the very first three verses of the gospel of John. And it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made, that was made.” And verse fourteen adds, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” After writing at length of the many genuine miracles that Jesus did to confirm His deity-- even His death, burial and resurrection from the dead, John closed the narrative with these last words-- and they constitute the last verse of his gospel: “There are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”
We have another introduction of Jesus in Romans chapter 1, verses 3 and 4. Those verses say that He “was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” And in Acts chapter 1, verses 1 to 3 we read of “all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering (that is His death) by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” So, yes, we should give ear to Him whom God proved to be His Son with power by His resurrection from the dead. That, my friend, was the miracle of all miracles!
From those passages we learn that (1) Jesus Christ is God-- not “a god” with a small “g” as the “New World Translation” by the Jehovah’s Witnesses has it, but “God,” with a capital “G.” (2) He was in the beginning. (3) By Him all things were made that were made, and without Him nothing was made that is made. Do you understand that He is God, friend? He is the one to whom has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28, verse 18) until He comes again; and then at that time He will become subject to the Father that God may be “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15, verse 28).
We also know that “God who at various times and various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:1 to 3). Oh, say, friend, it does matter what Jesus said then, doesn’t it? Absolutely it does!
Oh incidentally, we (and in am saying that about all of us) will also be judged by what He says. Listen: He said, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him-- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.” That is John 12, verses 48 and 49. Well, that makes what He says about anything, mighty important, don’t you think?
“Well yes,” you say, “but what you call “the Scriptures” is written by mere men, and so how can we be sure that what’s attributed to Jesus is really what He said?” Well, now that’s a good question, and a legitimate one, too. Let’s see about that before we go any further. On the night before His crucifixion Jesus prayed. It’s recorded for us, that prayer is in the seventeenth chapter of John. He prayed first for Himself (verses 1 to 5); next He prayed for His chosen apostles (verses 6 through 19); then for all believers-- that would be us and that is in verses 20 through 26. In anticipation of His death the next day, He prayed: “O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” For the apostles He prayed to the Father, “I have given them the words which You gave Me, and they have received them...” Your word-- “Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.”
It seems from what our enquiring viewer writes that he’s heard someone (perhaps on television; I don’t know, somewhere) try to explain away the force of what’s commonly called “the great commission” recorded in Mark chapter 16, verses 18, as we read them awhile ago. You probably know them from memory, but let’s repeat them for those that do not. And in that passage Jesus is saying, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.”
If you are an observing student of the Bible, you can see many problematical thoughts in that passage. For example, in spite of the fact that Jesus plainly said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved,” there are opposing differences among believers over whether they really need to be baptized in order to be saved. However, let’s remember Who He is that said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” There is confusion among others about the miracles in the modern church. But, the things that disturbed our viewer most is the commission “to go.” What to do and, well, what to do and for whom we’re to do it. That is his question.
Personally, I take the commission to “Go into all the world” to mean just that. The church is to go to the people on every continent, in every country, in every city and town in all the world in every generation. While we are planning to “go” let’s not forget or to neglect the people up and down the street or across the street from our beautiful and comfortable places of worship. No, it doesn’t mean “whenever you go” or “wherever you go” or “whenever you go.” Jesus said “Go.” “Whenever you go or wherever you go” is too casual, friend. It means to deliberately and intentionally and purposefully “go” into all the world-- and the purpose for which you are to go is to “preach the gospel.” The kingdom of Christ is the universal reign of King Jesus. The “gospel” is called “the gospel of the kingdom” in Matthew 9:35 and other places; therefore, the gospel is universal in its scope-- and I must say in its appeal and its power to save also (Romans 1:16). Christ put no difference between the Jews and the Gentiles (the gentiles being not of Jewish heritage or lineage) which includes the rest of us. I’m working on a message about that; and it will be ready in a few weeks. Our friend understands that. He says, “Which I interpret to mean preach to everyone.” Well, he’s right about that! We’re to preach the gospel to everyone! “Red or yellow, black or white; they are precious in His sight,” all of them.
I think what disturbs our viewer most is that as he says “not many are going.” Oh say, that is a disturbing thing, isn’t it? In our age there are more ways of going than ever before. We and our sponsors are going by television, and radio, by the internet and by satellite-- and by the printed page into all the world. What disturbs me even more is that many who are going nowadays are not preaching “the gospel” as Jesus commanded. The churches are pre-occupied with social and community programs and projects. There’s much being written about the church’s loss of the youth when they grow to adulthood. And there are reasons for that, one of which is that in some places the youth could live and die of old age, never having missed a service of the church, without hearing one sermon on “the gospel way of salvation” (Ephesians 1:13). That’s frightening, isn’t it? Now that I am approaching my “finish line” I want to be able to say with the apostle Paul, “I kept back nothing that was helpful.....so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20, verses 17 to 38). And, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” while I have the breath and the brain to do it (1 Corinthians 9:15).
The apostle Paul pretty well describes our 21st century situation about preaching in the letter to the church in Philippi. He said: “Most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some even from goodwill: the former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely” (Philippians 1:14 to 16). The word of God also references some people in the regions of Galatia who preached “another gospel,” “a different gospel.” He said they had “perverted” the gospel of Christ. Read it for yourself in Galatians 1:6 to 10. They are still doing it, friend. And like Paul and like our viewer, “I marvel” that so many are so easily and quickly turned away from the way of truth. Let’s pray about it. Holy Father, we pray You today that You might exercise Your power through the written word, convincing us of the need for the gospel in our time, in our generation, that we might preach it, and preach it, and preach it, and preach it to all the world. In Jesus’ lovely name, Amen!
Then our response to the viewer’s question is: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from hearing the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” That, my friend, is the preacher’s commission to preach. And you can read it again after we’ve gone off the air in 2 Timothy 3:16 through chapter 4, verse 5. In all your studies of the Scriptures you never find either Jesus or any of His apostles doubting or questioning the inspiration of the books of Moses or the prophets.
I pray that you have been strengthened in the faith of God’s word to the extent you are ready now to turn from your worldly life to Jesus Christ-- to live the rest of your life for Him. I pray you’ll be bold enough to confess your faith to others and be baptized into Him for the remission of your sins as we studied that Jesus specifically commanded it and as the three thousand did in Acts chapter 2, verses 38 to 41. Then, would you write us and tell us about it? Oh say, friend-- we’re about to begin a new year. And, it just occurred to me-- what better time could there be for you to enroll in one of our free Bible Correspondence Courses. If you enrolled today-- this week-- we could have lesson one in your hands by New Year’s Day and you could begin that day. When we receive your request, we’ll promptly mail you the first two lessons. You study the first one and mail it back; and while you’re working on the second lesson, our graders will grade your first one and return it to you along with lesson three. The eight lesson course takes you in a systematic way through the whole Bible. Do it! Will you?
If you would like a free printed transcript, or an audio cassette tape, or a CD of this program, simply write us In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. No, no now, you won’t have to send money so you may send us your request by e-mail. Our address there is searchtv@searchtv.org. Or if it’s more convenient, you may use our toll-free telephone number. That is 1-800-321-8633. You might enjoy a visit to our website at www.searchtv.org, too.
This program will be there, in case you missed part of it, and a lot of other information about this ministry. We will be there as well. We plan to be back next week. We hope you can, too. And we hope in the meantime you might tell a friend about our program and encourage him or her or them to view the program along with you or in the privacy of their own home. And we will be grateful for that because you see we are trying to go to everyone with the gospel. We hope you will be back. God bless you. We love you.
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