Shafter Church of Christ

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30 March: The 12 Apostles and Us!

Mark 3:13-19 “And He went up on the mountain and summoned those He wanted and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out the demons. And He appointed the twelve: Simon (who He named Peter), and …(the other 10) and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.”

What importance can be derived from Mark recording this information. In John 19:20 John tells us that he has recorded his information so that those who believe can receive eternal life. I have indicated numerous times that reading Scripture is important but studying and looking for application is even more important. So, in that frame of thought what can we gain from Luke’s recording of Jesus’ selection of His 12 special disciples?

When these disciples are called, they respond and come to Him. With regards to that, how are we doing with our calling?

I Peter 2:20,21 “…But if when you do what is right and suffer for it - you patiently endure it and this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” (cross carrying? 2 Tim 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Rom 8:17 ““Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”)
Eph 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” In OUR lives are we operating like the sheep and the Good Samaritan???)
2 Thess 1:11 “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power.” We may not have the power of healings, but do we show power in HELPING??? Have we served the kingdom of God just as the servants who were given 5 talents and 2 talents. Or have we been more like the one talent servant who did nothing with what the Master had given him?

Why were 12 chosen? In all likelihood He chose 12 in order for them to symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel and in them we will find the embodiment of what true Israel was supposed to be like. Like with historical Israel, they are definitely not perfect, but they fully fulfill their purpose: Mtt 28:19,20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo’, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Eph 4:22-24 “ in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Gal 2:20; 5:22 “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lies in me.” “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with it passions and desires.” The Lord sent them out into the world and as Acts 17:6 puts it: they have turned the world upside down. The question for us is – have we turned our world upside down and inside out. Have we crucified our selves and become the devoted and committed servants of Christ – serving Him and His kingdom with our lives?

The next question to think about is why has Mark (and Matthew 10) recorded the names of these 12? Maybe it was to highlight that Jesus used ordinary men for his extraordinary mission. None of the men listed came from nobility or the upper class. Aside from Matthew who had his own tax collection business these men were simply everyday tradesmen. They were not political or religious leaders before their calling. Acts 4:13 “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.” These men were simple everyday citizens yet under the tutelage of Jesus and with the conviction of the Holy Spirit these men spread the gospel to the whole world. Is there really any excuse that we could have which rids us of the responsibility of being the light to the world and bring the glory of God into the lives of those we interact with? We do not need any special training, education, power or a fluency to do God’s will in our lives!
Why might Peter be named first (and everywhere the list is given) and Judas last? Judas is named last because of his special significance in the story of Christ. In Jesus’ special prayer to the Father in John 17:11,12 He prays for the safekeeping of His chosen men except for “the son of perdition” to whom falls the purposed betrayal. We should keep in mind that Judas was chosen because of the heart that he had; remember he was the one who was stealing from the money box (John 12:6). So it is understandable that he stands apart from the rest of Jesus’ followers. Peter, on the other hand, was first and prominent in so many ways – and not always in a positive way. The question that may spring from this where do we fall in our lives? Consider:
1. Parable of Sower – rocks = desertion; weeds = fruitless; good soil = productive
2. Parable of talents – 5 talents = 5 more; 2 talents = 2 more; 1 = buried
3. Parables of found treasure and sold all to get it or Parable of rich man with his barns and/or the rich man with Lazarus
4. We should all be asking what are we doing with Jesus? 1 Thess 5:16-21 illustrates a life with the Holy Spirit and the love of God living within us:
  1. Rejoice always (half empty? Silver lining? Believe Rom 8:28)
  2. Pray without ceasing good and/or bad
  3. In everything give thanks “ Rom 8:28
  4. Do not quench the Spirit Sower
  5. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good 2Tim 3:16
  6. Abstain from every form of evil

Jesus’ Mission: Mark 3:13-19 “And He went up on the mountain and summoned those He wanted and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out the demons. And He appointed the twelve: Simon (who He named Peter), and …(the other 10) and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.”

Their Mission: “to Know and Learn: they could be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons.” So what is “OUR” mission??? Our mission is not to be the foundation of the church. Eph 2:19, 20 Paul speaks of Jesus as the “cornerstone” of the newly formed “household of God” which was “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” Paul writes in 2 Cor 2:12 “The signs of a true apostle were (shown) by signs and wonders and miracles.” That is what they did - not what we can do and did. This perhaps explains why the Great Commission does not include the command to heal sickness and cast out demons. It may also explain why when Paul writes about the qualifications for elders and deacons – he does not include the miraculous gifts. OUR Mission: Acts 8:4 “Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.” In the course of living their lives, Scripture shares what was most important about how they lived – they were ambassadors for God’s kingdom – 2 Cor 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us”.

Those who were scattered due to persecution “went about preaching the word.” None of those who scattered preached from a pulpit. They preached to their new neighbors. They preached to their fellow countrymen—unbelieving Jews. They preached in the marketplace as they sold their goods to Jews and Gentiles alike. They wanted the world to know the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ and shared this when and where they could!

23 March: The Gospels of Christ: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John And Hebrews

The first four books of the New Testament are often referred to as the Gospels. These four books are our core texts for knowing God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. They offer us the historical information which illustrates the spiritual information needed to know how to live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. In reading and studying the life of Christ - His birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension we come to know the ‘Good News’ because by His life He brings us salvation.

One additional book which we have been give is Hebrews. In the writing of this book the author covers the story of Christ, but instead of being written in chronological order we have been given Christ’s life-story in a more thematical fashion. Hebrews could be divided into four broad categories and reorganized to give us a very full picture of Christ’s mission and how He fulfilled it. This text provides us with the answers regarding (1) who He is, (2) what He did, (3) what He’s doing and (4)what He’s going to do.

1. Who Is He: Pre-incarnation – before ‘Human’ life: “And He (Christ) is the radiance of His (God) glory and the exact representation of His nature” (1:3) Some of the characteristics of God that He has (a) is receiving worship from angels and a seat on God’s throne (1: 3,6,13) (b) has Godly attributes – unchanging, eternal (1:11,12) (c) God’s names – God/Lord (1:8,10) (d) God’s deeds – creating/upholding all things (1:3.10-12)

2. What He did: Incarnation – His Human life form: “Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me.’” . (10:5) Because God was not pleased with animal sacrifices He prepared a body in human form for Christ

(a) Human Form: “Therefore, since (God’s) children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same…(2:14) By becoming man, the Son was “made . . . for a little while lower than the angels” (2:7,9) and finally, the author speaks of Christ’s time on earth as “the days of His flesh) (5:7)

(b) In His Human Form He Lived in Sinless Obedience: Jesus was “in every respect . . . tempted as we are, yet without sin.”(4:15) His sinlessness was a requirement for Him to become a perfect high priest – one who didn’t need to “offer sacrifices . . . for His own sins”. (7:27) His sinlessness was also necessary so that what He offered as high priest in heaven would be “without blemish”. (9:14) This sinlessness is achieved by His obedience. Christ came to do God’s will (10:7) and through His perfect obedience subjected Himself to the required suffering (5:8)

(c) In Human Form He Suffered: In the days of His flesh, Christ “suffered when tempted”, even offering up ‘prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears to His Father. (2:18; 5:7,8) He endured reproach “outside the gate” (13:12,13) and He “endured the cross, despising the shame” (12:2). It was “through suffering” that the Son was eventually “made perfect”. (2:10, 5:9) And it is because of His suffering that we have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses” (4:15)

(d) In Human Form He Redeemed Us in His Death: “by the grace of God he tasted death for everyone.” (2:9) He partook of His brothers and sisters flesh and blood: “that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death”. (2:14) It is His death that “redeems [us} from the transgressions committed under the first covenant”. (9:15) Just as a will only takes effect at death it’s Jesus’s death that established the new covenant (9:15-18) As a sacrificial victim, Christ has “been offered once” by His Father “to bear the sins of many”.(9:28) Every reference to Jesus’s blood is an implicit reference to His death (9:12,14, 13:12,20)

3) What He is Doing: Exalted – “Anointed/exalted . . . . above your companions” (1:9)

(a) Resurrected: When we are told that Jesus’s cries were “heard” this must have been a reference to His resurrection (5:7). After all, God clearly did not ‘save Him from death” by keeping Him from dying. Instead, we are told that “the God of peace . . . brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus” (13:20) Jesus’s priesthood was entered into after “being made perfect” (5:9, 8:4) Christ “has become a priest . . . by the power of and indestructible life”. (7:16) Jesus will never die in office. (7:24) Jesus’s resurrection allows Him to be “designated a priest forever – after the order of Melchizedek”. (5:10, 7:15-17)

b) Ascension: Sometime after His resurrection Jesus “passed through the heavens”. (4:14) This passing through the heavens is what marks the transition from “the days of His flesh (5:7) to His current priestly ministry in heaven. (8:4) It is also what brought Him to the place where He could make His once-for-all offering. (9:24,25)

c) Heavenly Self-Offering: Having ascended, “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing for us eternal redemption.” (9:11,12) Just as the high priest went once a year into the Most Holy Place on earth with blood not his own, Christ went into the Most Holy Place in heaven by means of His own blood. But where the high priest went in once a year, Christ has entered once for all time. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us”. (9:24)

d) Heavenly Activity: “After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”(1:3) [where] He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them (7:25) to appear in the presence of God for us”.(9:24)

4) What He is Going To Do: All Authority “And Jesus came up and spoke to the, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Mtt 28:18)

a) Second Coming: “So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. (9:28) “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thess 4:16,17)

b) Jesus Will Bring Justice: “But to which of the angels has He ever said, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies at footstool for your feet.” (Heb 1:13) For those who reject the name of Jesus there is nothing “but a terrifying expectation of judgement and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.” (10:27) “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” (John 15:6)

c) Jesus Will Rule Over the New World: Revelations 21 (summarized/paraphrased) “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first had passed away. I saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God and a loud voice said ‘Behold the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will swell among them, and they shall be His people. He will wipe away all tears and there will no longer be any death, mourning or pain. He who sits on the throne said, ‘I am making all things new. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will by my son. But for the unbelieving, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Hebrews does a good job of re-affirming or confirming the nature of the Lord’s life – here on earth and in the heavens. As we see the achievements of what the Lord accomplished, as expressed or illustrated in Hebrews, lets continue to commit our lives living for the Lord.

Rom 14:7,8 “For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”

Let us remember that James tells us that the demons believe and tremble; our faith must result in a faith that works – let us show that we love the Lord by using our talents which produces 30, 60, and 100 fold.