Living Among the Dead - Mark 5:1-20

On 3.21.2010 our congregation studied Mark 5:1-20 about the demoniac of Gerasenes. We observed four movements in the narrative. First, this was a most miserable man. Probably some of the darkest descriptive words of Scripture is that “he lived among the tombs!” Alive, but living with the dead. Violent beyond explanation. He could wrench chains and shackles apart. Tragically though, he could not break the chains that bound him and tortured him the most! He couldn’t break free from the powers of darkness. He was so out of his mind that he cried day and night. He longed to be free to the point that he bruised himself with stones. He was slowly losing his mind, his body, his soul, and his life!

Second, Jesus was his only hope! Then Jesus came along and the story really explodes now! Jesus enters into dialogue with the host of demons inside this man. He grants their request and sends them into a herd of 2,000 pigs! Imagine if you were a disciple. You see a whole herd of pigs jump as if to attention, they began to squeal frantically, and run in harmony towards the cliff! The dust rises from their scurried huffs and the water crashes from their falling, drowning bodies. Then when the dust and water settle, the disciples turn to see the most amazing sight of the day - the man is now calm, at peace, and in his right mind!

Third, the response of the townspeople is shocking! They beg Jesus to leave, and he does. Caution - be careful what you ask of Jesus, he just may answer! When Jesus’ boat drifted away from that shore, so did their only hope! Why did they ask him to leave? Did they think he was a magician? Were they upset because of their loss of the herd? I believe it was something else. Remember why the disciples were so frightened earlier in Mark? Because they realized that in the presence of Jesus, they were in the presence of God! I believe these people realized they were in the presence of a power they were not able to comprehend because they had bound this man themselves! If Jesus could do this, what else would he do when he got into town? Whatever it was, they did not want it!

Fourth, the man becomes a preacher of life! The demons made a request, and Jesus complied. The townspeople made a request, and Jesus complied. The transformed man made a request, and Jesus denied! (Prayer is not about having your way with Jesus, it is about Jesus having his way with you!) Jesus had other plans for this man. He was to go home and tell his friends about Jesus. He did exactly this! Imagine the scene. He shows up on the doorstep of a grade-school companion. His friend welcomes him into his home but cannot believe what he is seeing. His fingers are nubs and his arms are full of scars, but he is smiling and at complete peace. His friend asks, “What in the world happened to you? How did you get free?” He replies, “Let me tell you about Jesus!”

The Beatitudes: A Christian Portrait

Last night our church began a study of The Beatitudes, Mat 5:1-12. The message was an overview with two main points.

1. The Beatitudes are more descriptive than prescriptive. In other words, these are not so much attitudes that should be in the life of a believer as they are attitudes that are in the life of a believer. I say this for three reasons. (1) Each beatitude is divided into two parts; naming a Christian virtue and naming the blessing that is attached to that virtue. For example, poor in spirit is a Christian virtue. The “blessing” for the poor in spirit is “the kingdom of heaven.” Now if you will examine each of the 8 blessings of the 8 beatitudes, you would agree that these blessings are not for some believers, but for all believers. Therefore, if all believers share these blessings, does it not stand to reason that all believers will share these virtues to a degree? (2) The language is very exclusive. “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” literally means “the kingdom of heaven belongs to them only.” To who? The poor in spirit. Who are the poor in spirit? Believers. Not just some believers because humility is an essential Christian virtue and all believers will possess the kingdom of heaven. (3) When Jesus changes in vv11-12 from saying “them” to saying “you,” he reveals exactly who he had in mind. He was talking to his disciples. He was talking about disciples.
2. “Blessed” are the Believers. The word for “blessed” literally means “happy.” It would be perfectly accurate to say “Happy are the humble.” Now these “blessings” are eternal, spiritual joys because they are things such as seeing God, being satisfied, etc. The thrust of the Beatitudes then is that God means for his people to be happy people! True lasting happiness is found ONLY in the Christian life. Happiness comes in direct opposite ways from the world’s promise of happiness and fulfillment. True happiness comes from following Christ!

The end of studying the Beatitudes should be believers who realign our hearts according to these virtues and find ourselves to be extremely happy in Jesus!

Book Review: The Weight of Glory

The Weight of Glory. By C.S. Lewis. San Francisco: HarperCollins. First HarperCollins ed., 2001.

The title, The Weight of Glory, is the first lecture that appears in this volume. Other speeches include “Learning in War-Time,” “Why I am Not a Pacifist,” “Transposition,” “Is Theology Poetry?” “The Inner Ring,” “Membership,” “On Forgiveness,” and “A Slip of the Tongue.”

I am not a C.S. Lewis expert by no means. Other than The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity, this is all of my exposure to Lewis. Therefore, I cannot say with any authority that this volume represents his best contributions. However, I can honestly say after reading this volume, I now know why Lewis is held in such high esteem by those who know him best!

There is no way to do justice to these talks without singling each one out and providing a full overview and critique. There is much here to meditate on for enrichment and absorption. I must, however, make a few remarks on “The Weight of Glory.”

The “Weight” referred to is the unimaginable reality that as children of God, we become part of God’s delight and pleasure as we discover and take joy in our greatest delight—God! Lewis takes his time and weaves an argument of sheer delight in order to reach that conclusion.

The first component of his argument is that in our God-given pursuit of joy, as sinners we easily succumb to far less than the glory we are meant to enjoy. In one of his most clear, effective statements, Lewis writes, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased” (p.26).

The second component of his argument is that our fundamental desire, that which we were created for and that which only can satisfy us, is that we are made for heaven. He writes, “Glory, as Christianity teaches me to hope for it, turns out to satisfy my original desire which I had not noticed. By ceasing for a moment to consider my own wants I have begun to learn better what I really wanted” (p.39).

The conclusion of his argument is that the filling of our innermost desire will be not only basking upon the glory of God, but united to it forevermore. “We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it” (p.42).

These are just a few highlights of a remarkable read. This is just one overview of the 9 lectures in this volume. This is one you will want to read, take time to meditate, and enjoy!

Holiness is NOT an Option!

This coming Saturday, I will be presenting a paper on the doctrine of sanctification where I argue that sanctification is indeed necessary in order to inherit eternal life. My argument is basically twofold. (1) As part of salvation itself, sanctification is necessary. (2) The NT writers speak of sanctification as part of salvation and as necessary. One can hold to the necessity of sanctification and avoid the errors of salvation by works and/or weakening the doctrine of justification by faith alone. The biblical evidence is overwhelming - if one does not live the Christian life, one has not had the Christian new birth!

You can read my article at www.sermonaudio.com/searchandsee and then click "eDocs"

*I would appreciate your prayers because I am sick...and nervous!

YOU'RE INVITED!!!!!

Make plans now to join us for our First Annual “Family Conference” to be held on April 23-25! The purpose of the Family Conference is to strengthen marriages, improve family relations, and encourage a return to family-centered homes through seeking biblical guidance, providing practical advice, and offering quality resources. We will have special guests for teaching and worship. A conference bookstore will be available with many helps. We will focus on the Bible’s wisdom in every area concerning the family!!

There will be something for everyone! Parents, spouses, and singles!!!!

Below is the schedule:

Fri:

6 - worship

7 - worship

Sat:

9 - worship

10 - worship

11 - Break-out session

12 - Lunch (presentation of family-oriented student ministry)

1 - Break-out session

2 - worship

3 - worship

Sun:

11 - Everyone is invited to attend our regular Sunday morning worship where our guest pastor, Rev. Josh Culbertson, will bring a message for the family.

THIS CONFERENCE IS FREE!

Please RSVP so that we can prepare for the Sat lunch.

606.789.3168

firstbaptistc72@bellsouth.net

If traveling from out of town, our local hotel is The Ramada Inn - 606.789.4242.

Hope to see you there!

Pastor Wil Owens

Senior Pastor, FBC, Paintsville

DIrector, Search And See Ministries

Even the Wind and Sea - Mark 4.35-41

This morning our church completed Mark 4 by studying the Mark’s account of Jesus stilling the storm. I began the sermon with a plead to resist the temptation of “checking out” mentally and spiritually due to familiarity. When we have heard a biblical story over and over, such as this one, we tend to think we know all there is to know and apply from it. We should never think this way when we approach the living, powerful, perfect Word of God!

1. The Point of the Story. (I learned this from my hero, Dr. SInclair Ferguson.) The point is not about the storm. It is often said that the point of this story is that we should know we are going to encounter storms in this life, and that Jesus is able to still the storm or to still us in the storm. Those things are true, but probably not the point of this story. The reaction of the disciples is what indicates this for us. The disciples didn’t breathe a sigh of relief when Jesus stilled the storm. The disciples didn’t conclude that they shouldn’t worry about storms as long as they are with Jesus. How did the disciples react? They were filled with great fear! The point of this story is that Jesus is indeed Almighty God - for even the wind and sea obey him!
2. A Lesson on Faith. It is often said that the disciples’ fault was not placing faith in Jesus’ words, “Let’s go to the other side.” That may be stretching it a bit. The fault of the disciples’ faith was that the storm had distracted their attention from the fact that they were with God! Whether they lost their lives or not, God was in the boat with them. His will would be done. The wind and the sea do not determine their deaths. God does. The lesson on faith is that our faith must be grounded in the person of Christ, not our circumstances or even the fellowship of believers.
3. A Lesson on Fear. The story opens with the disciples afraid and closes with the disciples afraid. One is misguided fear. The other is perfectly normal, healthy fear. One says, “God is nowhere around! We are going to perish!” The other says, “God is right here in this boat with us!” There is a fear that displays our lack of faith, and there is a fear that accompanies our faith! It is a joy to be in the presence of God. It is also terrifying! Godly fear accompanies the presence of God!

We worship Jesus Christ, for He is God Incarnate! Our faith is in him!

News from Chirala, India

The following is an update I recently received from our friends at Global Ark, India! Please remember them in prayer as they reach the poor with the Gospel!

“I am praising God for the salvation and water baptisms of these people where I have been ministering since 2 years. This is the village where people only work by cutting woods and no body like to go and talk to them because of their dirty standard living. God gave me the burden for them and love for them. The pictures in my email is the beleivers from the church where we recently started among them. The lady was delivered from the evil spirit and accepted God. And the man with a boy was redeamed from the drunkardness and he suffered with stomach ache when he came to the church and we prayed for him God healed him and he accepted Jesus as his Saviour. The boy is waiting for his dad while he is taking water baptism!!” Sudheera Ambati

Biblical Basis and Benefits of Elders

This past Sunday our church finished the study of Mark Dever’s “9 Marks of a Healthy Church” with a discussion on biblical church leadership. We observed the following main points.

1. The congregation has responsibility. This is known as congregationalism. The NT portrays the whole church as having responsibility in church discipline (Matt 18:15-17, 1 Cor 5), deacon selection (Acts 6), holding elders accountable to the Word (2 Tim 4:3), striving together for unity (Phil 2:1-3), trusting and following godly leaders (Heb 13:17), and esteeming godly leaders (1 Tim 5:17).
2. God has given the church two offices of leadership. (1) Deacons to serve the physical needs of the members and congregation. (2) Elders to oversee the spiritual guidance and nourishment of the flock through the teaching/preaching of the Word.
3. There are numerous benefits to a plurality of elders. (1) It is the biblical model and therefore cannot be improved upon (Acts 14:23, 16:4, 20:17, 21:18, Titus 1:5, James 5:14), it just makes sense that if you have more than one deacon you should have more than one pastor, the congregation benefits in being led by collective wisdom, in never being without a pastor, and in eliminating a domineering personality, and the pastor benefits in gaining multiple perspectives, gaining accountability, gaining wisdom and insight, and sharing the weight of spiritual oversight.
4. A Model of a plurality of elders would be a mixture of hired pastors and lay pastors who all have equal input and authority, are accountable to one another, and who all committed to the unity of the church and the integrity of the Word.

After studying the Scriptures and examining the numerous benefits, one would soon reach the conclusion that the biblical model is the best model. God’s design for the leadership of his church is the best plan!

The Vast Growth of the Kingdom - Mark 4:30-34

In our study through Mark, we examined the parable of the mustard seed and learned that not only is the Kingdom growing (vv 26-29) but it will grow beyond all expectation!

It is like a mustard seed in that its beginning seemed so small and insignificant. Jesus was born in a little-known place, in an animal shelter, in an animal trough, wrapped in scrap cloths! Not quite what one would imagine as the beginning of the Kingdom of God on earth! During his ministry he was homeless, rejected, hated, opposed, and killed! Not quite what one would imagine as the beginning of the Kingdom of God on earth. In his death, he was crucified, no one outside of Jerusalem even had a thought that the Son of God was dying, his disciples fled, one denied him, and one betrayed him! Not quite what one imagine for the beginning of the Kingdom of God on earth!

It is just like the mustard seed in that it was sown. Just as the mustard seed must be planted, so was the Kingdom in the Son! Jesus was buried, and the totally unexpected happened! He arose!

It is just like the mustard seed in that after being sown it will outgrow all other Kingdoms! The Kingdom of God exploded on the earth at Pentecost and continues to grow daily! The Kingdom grows even under persecution. The Kingdom grows through missions. The Kingdom will continue to grow until every tongue and every nation will sing of the salvation of God in Christ! (Psalm 67).

The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed!

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The Kingdom is Growing - Mark 4:26-29

For our Sunday morning worship, we continued our study through the Gospel of Mark examining 4:26-29. This is a parable that teaches us the Kingdom is growing. We observed the following three points from the text.

1. The Kingdom grows secretly. That is, the Kingdom grows, we know that it grows, but it does so in ways that we cannot explain! Just as the kernel grows in the ground. We cannot explain it, but it grows all the same. We may describe the growth with terms like “germination” but we do not actually know how germination happens. Life springs from death! The only answer is God! In the same way, the Kingdom grows secretly in our hearts. Although we have heard the Gospel dozens of times, all of a sudden it attaches to our hearts, convicts us, brings us to repentance, and faith springs up! We know not how. The only answer is God!
2. The Kingdom grows mysteriously. That is, the Kingdom grows and we do not see most of the growth! We do not see the seed breaking up under the soil and a sprouting up toward the soil, but it is happening! It is a marvelous, miraculous work that we do not see! In the same way, God’s work within other believers is often a hidden work convicting them and conforming them to Christ. God’s work around the world progresses every single day, and we do not see it! Yet, the Kingdom is growing.
3. Kingdom growth anticipates a harvest! As believers we are growing toward a glorious goal, namely, meeting our Savior! 1 John 3:2-3, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” Beyond the individual believer, the collective Body of Christ awaits a final harvest! Matt 24:30-31, “they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds.”

The Kingdom is growing! It grows secretly at times. It grows mysteriously at times. But it is always growing. The question is, “Are you ready for coming harvest?”