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March 9, 2008AM
Mark 16:9-20
The Assignment of a disciple
We have just read a highly suspect passage of Scripture.
Some of your Bibles will not include these verses.
Some of your Bibles will include them only as a foot note.
Did Jesus really say these things?
They do seem a little far fetched.
If they had been written today in 2008 something else would be included.
These verses would come with a warning label.
Caution! Do not try to do these things at home!
Don’t drink poison thinking you won’t be affected.
Don’t handle venomous snakes thinking you are immune to their bite.
Don’t take chances with illness and disease.
Consult your physician if symptoms persist.
Don’t confront demons thinking they are powerless.
All these dangers are very real.
Did Jesus really say these things?
Or did someone add these words thinking they would attract a crowd?
These verses do tell us some very important things about Jesus.
Jesus has little tolerance for lack of faith among disciples. (vs. 14)
Jesus expects disciples to share Him with the world. (vs.15)
Jesus works miraculously through faith. (vs. 16)
In a word, we see Satan’s power toppled.
His kingdom cannot stand in the face of faith.
The power of the enemy over man is thrown down by Jesus.
And in its place is the proclamation of grace unto all people.
The disciples now occupy the place that Jesus held in life.
The disciples extend Jesus’ sphere of service to the ends of the earth.
Paul is absolutely right in Romans 1:16.
“The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith.”
Jesus says the Gospel is powerful.
Take the Gospel to the whole creation.
This world needs the message Jesus has for it.
The whole creation Paul says as been groaning (Romans 8:22).
Then he adds these two words – “until now.”
Jesus changed all that.
The world can find relief.
I think of the old Alka Seltzer commercial.
“Plop, plop fizz, fizz oh what a relief it is.”
Drop those two tablets into water and drink it down.
And relief comes.
Moses carried two tablets from the mountain of God.
They were the beginning of God’s good news for His people.
Those two tablets were a message of relief.
Live this way and you will be blessed among nations.
Live this way and “it will go well with you and your children for ever!” (Deut. 5:29)
God says to Moses in Deut. 5:33, “You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that is may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land which you shall possess.”
God is sending us out into the whole creation.
He has given us a message for the world.
That message needs to be lived out in you.
They won’t see it or hear it if you do not believe.
What if we were the only Church in Summerside?
Thankfully we are not, but what if we were?
What if we were the only people who were able to share this gospel?
Would we do anything differently than we are right now?
I ask myself this question, “Why are we not turning this city upside down?”
“Why do we leave this place every Sunday and Summerside stays the same?
“Why is Summerside the same this week as it was last week?
Is that what this Gospel, the power of God, is all about?
What if we really picked up the assignment that Jesus gives?
Would our schools be different?
Would our work places be different?
Would our restaurants be different?
Would our theater show different movies?
Would the bars be doing a booming business?
Would crime and drugs continue to be epidemic?
What would happen in our families?
The gospel changes lives.
I The First Church picked up the assignment that Jesus gave.
The church obeyed what Jesus commanded them to do.
We see the beginning of that obedience in verse 20.
The disciples went out and preached everywhere.
Everywhere they went they told others about Jesus.
And look at what happened.
“The Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen.”
Those comments may very well have referred to Acts 2:43.
“And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.”
This was the impact of the one and only Church in the world.
The world was amazed by that congregation.
Those who saw the Christians were in awe.
The talk at the local Timothy’s coffee shop would go like this.
Did you see what those Christians have done now?
My next door neighbour was healed.
And my cousin and his family, they had no food.
But those followers of Jesus stocked their cupboards.
And have you seen the difference in Jedediah?
He’s like - totally different!
And the stories of changed lives would go on and on.
Day after day it would be the same thing.
That First Church astounded their world.
One of those who had been healed was a lame beggar.
“While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s, astounded.” (Acts 3:11)
I love Peter’s response.
“Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? . . . And His name, by faith in His name, has made this man strong whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.” (Acts 3:12, 16)
I wonder what the coffee shop talk is about us.
II Stephen picked up the assignment from Jesus.
“And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.” (Acts 6:8)
Who was Stephen?
He was a table waiter.
He was told to look after the widows.
He was to make sure they were given food every day.
That was his job.
But he was in service to the King of kings.
He was filled with the Spirit of God Almighty.
He was a man full of faith. (Acts 6:5)
Full of faith!
Full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.
Full of God’s grace!
Full of God’s power!
Full of wisdom (Acts 6:3).
The Greek word for “full” is familiar to us.
It is pletho.
Stephen came furnished with God.
He was complete in God.
He was covered over with God.
People saw that “his face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15).
The presence of God radiated from him.
Pletho gives us the English word plethora.
It is excessive fullness, superfluity, an overflow, abundance, a
superabundance, a saturation.
Stephen had way more of God than he needed.
III Have you picked up your assignment from Jesus?
What is filling your life right now - is it God or it is anything else?
Is it God or is it worry?
Is it God or is it making a living?
Is it God or is it bitterness or envy?
Is it God or is it anger or resentment?
What is filling you?
I can’t recall hearing anyone say I have way more of God than I need.
I usually hear, “I wish I were closer to Jesus.”
“I feel like I am cold or stuck spiritually.
“I wish I was more consistent in my witness.
“I wish I was stronger and more confident in my faith.
I made a confession this week in some correspondence.
I said I feel thin.
One look at me and you know it isn’t a physical thinness.
I have felt stretched and shallow.
Jesus can demand faith in our lives because it is a gift that God gives. Eph. 2:8,9
Faith is God’s gift that First Church and Stephen received and put to work.
What is faith doing in your life today?
God’s gift of faith is a life-excavator.
Faith digs deeply into our lives to enable the fullness of God.
Faith enables obedience to wait for the promise of the Father. (Acts 1:4)
Faith receives the promised Holy Spirit.
He floods our thin and shallow lives.
Faith furnishes life completely with God’s indwelling presence.
Faith enables the Assignment of the Disciple.
Closing Song Holy Spirit, Be My Guide (vs. 1 & 3)