The Story of Jesus According to Mark, Pt 18: The Devil is in the Details

 

October 6, 2024     NOTES NOT EDITED
The Story of Jesus According to Mark: “The Devil is in the Details”
Mark 7:1-23

SIS – Religion nullifies the grace of God; or, a person can be devoutly religious down to the smallest detail and still miss heaven by a mile.

Have you ever heard the warning: READ THE FINE PRINT! This is very important when you are entering into any agreement or contract, or purchasing any product. The reason that warning is so important is because: THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS. This is a phrase in English meaning, “The details of any matter are the most problematic.” Consider a group of ladies at an office who are planning a vacation to the Island of Maui. They are all excited about the idea of such a trip. One of the ladies speaks up and says, “I agree that it'd be really fun to have a girl's trip to Maui. Just remember that the devil is in the details! We have to make sure our schedules line up and that everyone has enough Paid Time Off.”

If the Devil is in the Details regarding a trip to Hawaii, imagine how much more so he is involved in trying to disrupt your trip to heaven. One of the Devil’s best weapons is to “bind up our devotion to Jesus Christ with endless details of tradition and religion.”

If the Devil can keep us busy being religious, we won’t have time to truly serve Jesus by faith.  I’ve said it many times: heaven comes as a result of what Jesus has done for us, not what we do for Him! 

What Jesus did on the cross, dying on our behalf for our sins, provides the foundation for a relationship with Almighty God.  Human efforts—no matter how sincere or austere—can provide nothing more than a foundation for religion; and religion actually nullifies the Truth of God according to Jesus Christ in our text.

Religion is all about the “traditions of men” and Jesus said (v 7):

“You completely invalidate God’s command
in order to maintain your tradition!

The fact is that salvation is not a stairway or path of any kind, but, heaven is a “gate, a narrow gate.” You pass through in one moment in time as the mercy of God floods over you with irresistible grace.  We do nothing to earn salvation—in fact, we CAN do nothing to earn salvation. 

READING:  Mark 7:1-7.

Herein, lies the foundation for our text this morning:  the religious Jews of Jesus’ day believed that by keeping the minute details of the O.T. Law, including the hundreds of detailed laws they added, they felt they could be justified before God—that is, by their works.

Jesus said:  “You are hypocrites!  Even if you could keep the Law, which you can’t, you could never by the details of your self-righteous devotion inherit the Kingdom of God.”  The Lord spoke very harshly to the Pharisees in regard to the plethora of religious details they taught others to practice.

Paul echoed what Jesus taught about how to be righteous.  Paul said,

“Therefore since we have been DECLARED righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

Salvation is not the reward for our devotion, but the source of it.  It’s that “cart and horse thing.”  A tradition-driven, religious devotion puts the “cart of works before the horse of devotion,” and Jesus, Paul, and even James taught that it must be the other way around.

The old saying, “The Devil is in the Details,” refers to the fact that one might have a great idea for some grand venture, but unless one gets the “details” correct, success will be an illusive dream.

I’m going to turn that phrase on its head and say, “One can get every detail of one’s religion correct to the most precise degree and the grand venture of gaining heaven will remain an allusive dream. 

Religion—the devotion to ritualistic details—will nullify the grace of God that leads to salvation; that is, a person can execute every minute detail of religion precisely and still miss heaven by a mile.

The Devil is in the Details.  It is not what we do that gets us to heaven, but what Jesus has already done.  In fact, Jesus stresses in our text that a “devotion to religious details will pollute one’s soul and prevent one from gaining eternal life.  That’s scary thought.

We read earlier what Jesus said about the Devil being in the Details. Now, let’s take a closer look:

1.  The PROCESS by which tradition develop (1-5)

Traditions, by nature, take time.  They develop slowly, often with the best of intentions.  The harshest words Jesus speaks in the N.T. are directed at the “religious crowd,” especially the Pharisees.

How did the sect, or group called the Pharisees come about, and how did they come up with hundreds of new religious rules to put on the backs of people and enslave them in the chains of impotent religion?

The Pharisees developed during the time of the Exile in Babylon (7^th Century BC).  Prior to the Exile, the Temple and Priesthood was the center of Jewish life. During the Exile, without a Temple, the Law (O.T. writings) became the foundation for Israel’s identity as the People of God.  Pharisees were experts in the Law.  There emphasis was on “purity” which came from keeping the Law of the O.T. along with hundreds of additional rules, strictly enforced.  Additional religious experts, like the Scribes, came along a few centuries later and the “purity rules” (traditions of the elders) expanded even further.

These arduous, tedious, and exacting “purity rules” are targeted by Jesus with reference to “washing hands” (vv. 1-5), just one of many, many “purity practices” required by the Jewish religious leaders. This “hand washing had nothing to do with hygiene.” It was totally religious and the process was exacting.

Verse 2 uses the word, “koinais,” to describe the unwashed hands of the disciples. The word literally means, “common,” as opposed to “sacred.”  The HCSB correctly translates it “unclean” which means, ceremonially unclean.

Verse 3 uses one of the most unusual Greek words in the N.T.  It literally says that the Pharisees and religious Jews would not “eat unless they washed their hands with a fist.” The word for fist is, “pygmē” which sounds like the English word, “pygmy,” but there is no connection between the two.  The word comes from the same root word as the Latin word, “pugnare,” which means to “fight, or hit with the fist.”

This word occurs only here in the Bible.  It refers to the “exacting method” of washing one’s hand by rubbing the fist in the palm.  The Mishnas, or later Jewish writings describe the exacting way in which one must ceremonially remove worldly defilement that could be transferred from the hands to the food to the body and soul by way of the mouth. The entire process was proscribed dictating exactly when and how to pour the water—palms up, then palms down; and exactly how much water—until it ran down the elbows to the waist, and exactly how to scrub with the fist.  The process was exacting.

So important was ceremonial handwashing that according to Jewish tradition, eating without proper handwashing put you at risk of being possessed by the demon, Shipta. Shipta was the demon of poverty and destruction.  Following tradition was a serious matter.

Originally, the tradition of the elders, or prophets, based their practice of hand washing on the texts in the O.T. such as Exodus 30 and the Book of Leviticus which talk about various washings.  These texts were part of the holiness code of the temple ceremonies to serve as a reminder that a person is “unholy” and “unable” to approach a Holy God without dealing with the matter of sin. None of the O.T. ceremonial system of washings, sacrifices, and other parts of the Holiness Code were ever intended to be practiced indefinitely, nor were they intended to be an alternative to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ—the only sacrifice that could remove sin.

The Book of Hebrews says about all the ceremonial laws of the O.T.

Heb 10:1 Since the law has _⌊only_⌋ a shadow of the good things  to come, and not the actual form of those realities, it can never perfect the worshipers.

Paul further explained the purpose of the O.T. traditions in Gal. 3:24:

²⁴ The law, then, was our guardian [tutor] until Christ,  so that we could be justified by faith. ²⁵ But since that faith  has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

So, this is how traditions grow and gain power. It starts out with something good that is stretched far beyond what was intended and becomes an “end in itself,” rather than a “means to an end.”

ILLUS:  A young woman is getting ready to host her first big family gathering and wants to serve her grandmother’s “special recipe” roast. The woman calls her mother and asks for the recipe. The mother begins, “First you cut off both ends of the roast before placing it in the roasting pan. . .” The young woman inquires: why cut off the roast’s ends? To which the mother replies, “I’m not sure. That’s how my mother taught me.” The big day arrives and the young woman serves the roast. Her grandmother is at the gathering, so she inquires, “Grandma, what is it about cutting off the ends of the roast that makes it so tasty?” The grandmother replies, “It has nothing to do with the recipe. The reason I cut off the ends of my roast was because the roast was too big for my roasting pan.”

Almost everything we do in church we do because, “that’s the way Momma did it, Grandma did it, Great-grandma, did it, etc.” Jesus said that these kind of “traditions” were “traditions of men” and would “invalidate (nullify) the truth of God in regard to salvation.”  Such traditions Jesus condemn in the harshest terms.

That’s the process by which traditions develop. As one great preacher once wrote, “tradition is the power of the past reaching into the present to strangle the future” (Stedman, adapted).

Tradition is the folly of men now living blindly following the methods of men long dead and completely missing the message that gives eternal life.  Traditionalism is a very serious error with eternal consequences.  This is why Jesus is harsh and direct with His words.

That’s the process of how traditions grow and gain power. Now, look at the

2.  The PRODUCT that tradition produces (6-13)

In a word, “following traditions of men” (religion) produces, “hypocrites.”  Look at verses 6-7:

⁶ He answered them, “Isaiah  prophesied  correctly about you hypocrites,  as it is written: These people honor  Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. ⁷ They worship Me in vain,  teaching  as doctrines  the commands  of men.

 

Ouch! That is some straight-forward rebuking.  Jesus did not beat around the bush with the Pharasees—He beat the Pharisees with a good, old tongue-lashing as “Momma would say.”

You may have heard that the word, “hypocrite”comes from the Greek theater referring to actors donning different masks to play different parts.  It literally means to “act under” (hupo, under; krinō, act, decide).  The idea is a “false presentation.” Basically, a hypocrite is a liar who is playing a part superficially, but it has no substance.

One great scholar says this about a hypocrite:  “it is one whose whole life is a piece of acting without any sincerity behind it at all.”

Hypocrites do more than just, “say one thing and do another.”  That’s the common application of the word, referring to another lack of sincerity.  But, that is not primarily what is at issue here with the Pharisees—they were very sincere!  In fact, Jesus sort of praised the sincerity of the Pharisees when he said: (Mat. 5:20)

²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus was not praising them for being “righteous” in the sense of having a right relationship with God.  Jesus was referring to the exacting manner in which they practiced their religion.  It was all about the details, or the methodology. Like Grandma’s pot, the method is the same but the message has long been forgotten.

The problem with tradition is it produces “superficial Christians” who “do all the right things (and more) but for all the wrong reasons.”  Religion is like a mask that simply covers up the real person underneath.

All world religions have strict rules to follow that determine your standing or position in that religion. It’s all about the “details”—kissing the Pope’s ring, lighting candles, saying a rosary, making the sign of the cross, bowing toward Mecca, giving alms, wearing special underwear, or being married in a special temple, and on and on and on the list goes.  The focus with any religion is on the “details”—and Jesus is warning us here:  “The Devil is in the Details!”

So, if tradition corrupts the truth and becomes a substitute for true righteousness produces hypocrites, then what’s the solution?  Jesus teaches here that the solution to falling prey to the Devil in the Details, is to understand the

3.  The PRINCIPLE of True Faith (14-23)

NOTE: THE SOLAS. Sola Scriptura-Scripture Alone. Sola Christus. Christ Alone. Sola Fide. Faith Alone. Sola Gratia. Grace Alone. Soli Deo Gloria. For the Glory of God Alone. The key word is, Sola—alone, as in, with no help outside of God.

 In verses 14-23 Jesus completely demolishes the religion of the Pharisees that was based upon the external details of religion.  The basic foundation for the religion of the Pharisees focused on avoiding contact with anything that brought defilement.  They got this idea from the O.T., especially from Leviticus, but they stretched the teaching of the O.T. to be a foundation for righteousness rather than a teacher showing man’s utter inability to be righteous apart from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The Pharisees methods focused on keeping ceremonially clean, and Jesus demolished the very foundation of their religion by saying:

Don’t you realize that nothing going into a man from the outside can defile him? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach  and is eliminated.”  (As a result, He made all foods clean.  ^o) ²⁰ Then He said, “What comes out of a person—that defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities,  thefts, murders,  ²² adulteries,  greed,  evil actions, deceit,  promiscuity,  stinginess,  blasphemy,  pride,  and foolishness.  ²³ All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

This was like dropping a bomb on the religion of the Pharisees.  Without all the “external ceremonial details,” there was nothing of the religion of the Pharisees left.

Jesus was basically teaching what had been true all through the prophets and would continue with the teaching of the Apostles:  religion is about external details, but salvation is about a change of heart.  Religion is an outside job.  Salvation is an inside job.  Religion is all about the principle of “working for salvation, (whatever that particularly salvation looks like in any particular religion). Christianity is all about the principle of faith—faith is simply believing in your heart that Jesus is Lord and surrendering to Him so that He becomes your Savior.

You can adhere to every minute detail of the strictest religion and it will only lead you to the Devil—the Devil is in the Details.  Salvation is in the Deliverer, Jesus Christ.

By faith . . . is the term used throughout the 11^th chapter of Hebrews to demonstrate the true path to salvation.

By faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice; by faith Enoch was snatched alive into heaven; by faith Noah built an ark to save his family; by faith Abraham set out for a land he could not see to possess a reward he could not earn; by faith men and women have followed God and received the prize of heaven—by faith, not by traditions!

The Principle of Faith is diametrically opposed (the exact opposite) of the Traditions of Men.  The Principle of Faith is about something that happens “inside a person” not something external that a person does.

This has always been God’s plan.  Jeremiah, the Prophet, declared:

^31:31 “Look, the days are coming”—_⌊this is_⌋ the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant  with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. ³² _⌊This one will_⌋ not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke even though I had married them” —the Lord’s declaration. ³³ “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put My teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.

Paul reiterated this fundamental principle of salvation by faith:

^{2Cor. 3:3} It is clear that you are Christ’s letter,  produced  by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God —not on stone tablets  but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.

Sadly, most people follow the dead-end path of the Pharisees and seek salvation through religion which is concerned with issues like “ceremonial washing, lighting ceremonial candles, saying ceremonial prayers, or a plethora of other religious activities.”

Jesus taught the Principle of Faith:  believe in Your heart that He is Lord and you will be saved by what He HAS done—not anything that you can do.

Look at verse 19 and you see the Principle of Faith stated clearly,

. . . nothing going into a man from the outside can defile him? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach.

It used to be that the standard definition of “death” was when someone stopped breathing.  A doctor would hold a mirror up to the person’s face.  If the warm breath fogged up the mirror you were alive, if not, you were buried—case closed. Not a very accurate test.  Then, with more sophisticated tests, the definition of death was “when one’s heart stopped beating.”  That no longer works as a standard test because we can keep the heart beating almost indefinitely by artificial means.

But, the “definition of spiritual death remains the same”—a person is spiritually dead when one’s heart has not been changed by the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation.  It doesn’t matter whether one’s breath can fog a mirror if one’s physical heart is still beating, or one has “brain functions”—those are all just details.

The Devil is in the Details – Eternal Life is in a Relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Everybody in this room today is in one of two categories:  1) one, you are relying on religious notions or practices to gain favor with God and go to heaven when you die—basically, you are trusting that your good deeds (your religious traditions) will outweigh your bad deeds; or 2) two, you are Trusting in the Principle of Faith that causes a change in your heart and establishes an eternal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  There is no middle ground.  It is one or the other.

Doing the wrong thing never makes it right no matter how often you repeat it. I remember three hunters on an excursion to Alaska to hunt for elk. The each had two permits to bag two elk each. They were successful and bagged and tagged six elk. When they got the elk back to the bush plane for the flight back to their city, the pilot said, “I can only carry you and four elk.” One of the hunters protested, “But the plane that we used last year was exactly like yours. Same horsepower. The weather was the same. We have the same three hunters and same six elk. Hearing this, the pilot decided to load up the hunters and six elk and fly out. Sure enough, before the plane did not have enough power to climb out of the valley with all that weight. They crashed. Nobody was seriously hurt. As the hunters were stumbling out of the wreckage, one of them said to the other two, “do you guys know where we are?” One of the other hunters answered, “I’m not exactly sure but it looks like about a mile from where we crashed last year!”

Religion will surely lead to a catastrophic crash no matter how much you pay attention to the details. Only faith in what Jesus has already DONE will bring you salvation

Jesus spoke harshly against the Pharisees for putting an emphasis on the external religious details like “ceremonial handwashing.”  The Pharisees were “dead wrong” – eternally dead wrong. Don’t let the Devil defeat your devotion by entangling you in a web of religious details.

Stirring the Pot, Pt4: By Witnessing Boldly and Effectively

 

September 29, 2024        NOTES NOT EDITED
Go Get ‘Em Tiger
Acts 9:10-25

SIS—We can Stir The Pot and Aggravate the Devil By Sharing the Gospel Boldly and Effectively

INTRO: Many of you remember Jimmy Weldon. He died last year at the age of 99, in Paso Robles, California. Jimmy was a dear friend. He was also the “boldest” souls I have ever known. Beside “fearless” in the dictionary should be a picture of Jimmy Weldon. Born in Dale, Texas, Weldon served in Europe during World War II and was part of General Patton’s Third Army that liberated the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in April 1945. After returning home from the war, he began a career in radio that would expand into a full-blown Hollywood career. His most notable roll was as the longest-living cast member of the Yogi Bear Show. He was the voice of the little duck, Yakky Doodle. His signature line that endeared him to millions of fans was: “I don’t have no mama. Would you be my mama?”

Jimmy voiced many characters on T.V. and Big Screen.  He voiced Solomon Grundy on “Challenge of the Superfriends,” and appeared on shows such as “Popeye and Son” and “Tom & Jerry Kids Show,” among many others. Weldon’s work as an actor expanded into live roles as well – he appeared on such shows as “Dallas,” “Dragnet,” “The Waltons,” and “Diff’rent Strokes.”  Jimmy was a well-known motivational speaker and patriot. In fact he was still giving his, “I Am the Flag,” speech up into age 96. Here’s a picture. He also was a writer. I have a copy of his most popular book, “Go Get ‘Em Tiger—Becoming the Person You Want to Be.” That book is my inspiration for today’s message: “Go Get ‘Em Tiger! Becoming the Witness You Want to Be.”

I’ve never know a “true” Christian who did not feel he or she SHOULD be and COULD be a bolder, more effective witness of Jesus Christ. But, often we become less-than-bold, and even reluctant. We let “fear” sap us of courage and we become “spiritual POW’s” much like those Jimmy Weldon liberated at Buchenwald. Today, I want to “be liberated myself” and liberate you to become “BOLD, EFFECTIVE WITNESSES.” I want to encourage us all to GO GET ‘EM TIGER!

Here's the story of one witness that needed encouragement and guidance to raise the “tiger” of boldness in his heart:

Acts 9:10–25 (NASB95) 10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. 23 When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

1.  God has a mission with your name on it. (10-11)

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; 

God addressed Ananias “personally,” by name.  Let me clear up a misconception many people have about Christianity. I’ve heard people discourage the open sharing of one’s faith by saying, “salvation is a personal matter.”  That statement is absolutely true, depending upon how one defines “personal.”  The problem is that many use the word, ‘personal’, in an equivocal, or ambiguous way.  Yes, Christianity is “personal,” but it is NOT “private.” God’s agents are not “secret agents.”  Just like Ananias (and everyone else ever called by God in the Bible to have a relationship with Him, God has a mission and purpose in life with our name on it.

God called Ananias by name.  Ananias responded immediately and positively, and with great faith, “Here I am, Lord.”  There was zero hesitation or reluctance at first. 

Notice Ananias addresses God as, “Lord.”  The word, “lord, (GK. kurios”) refers to a person who exercises absolute control over another person.  The key word is, “absolute.” Kurios was used of Caesar, or any other powerful ruler who expected absolute obedience.  When used of God in the Hebrew O.T., it refers to Yahweh Who has eternal and absolute authority over all of creation. In fact, Jews would substitute the word, adonai, the Hebrew equivalent for the Greek word, kurios, anytime the Holy Name of God, Yahweh, appeared in the sacred text.  The Biblical use of kurios and adonai, carry the meaning of “Absolute, Eternal Lord God.” As our Lord, God deserves and demands absolute obedience to His commands. Or, as my Dad would say, “obedience with no if, ands, or buts!”

It is hard for most people, in the Western world especially, to grasp the idea of “Absolute Lordship.” A living example of “absolute Lordship” is the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un.  North Korea has been ruled by three men from one family since 1948.  The “Kims” demand absolute obedience and maintain absolute control.  For example, it is against the law to smile or even talk loudly on July 8^th.  This is the anniversary of the death of the first Kim to rule North Korea, Kim Ill-Sung who died on that date in 1994.   In 2015, the country's defense minister was publicly executed an anti-aircraft gun for falling asleep during one of Kim Jong-un's events, which was considered disrespectful. In 2013, the Supreme Leader of North Korea introduced a list of haircuts residents can have. There are reportedly 18 choices for women and ten for men.

In the same way that the Kims represent absolute “lordship” in N. Korea in a depraved, evil way, Jesus represents “absolute Lordship” in a benevolent, holy, righteous way.  But, make no mistake about it, the Lordship of Christ is also reflected in His absolute wrath upon all rebellion and unrighteousness.  When Ananias referred to Jesus as “Lord,” Ananias recognized God’s “absolute” control over every aspect of his life.  Ananias immediately responded in obedience, “Here I am, Lord” (v10). 

In a moment we will see that Ananias will become a bit more reluctant as the details unfold for the mission that God has planned for him, and with good reason.  Ananias, however, will end up on the right side of things, because Jesus is his “Lord.”

God had a mission with Ananias’ name on it.  He has a mission with your name on it also, if you have accepted the gift of salvation and have been filled with the Holy Spirit.  Second, we learn from Ananias

2.  Fear is Normal—Even Expected (13-14)

(NASB95) 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”

Now, after Ananias had a moment to think about it, his unwavering faith began to waver a bit.  Verse 1 describes the man, Saul, to whom the Jew, Ananias, was being sent to validate as a spokesman for Christianity.  Saul was a surprising choice to be such a spokesman:

Acts 9:1–2 (NASB95) 1 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

What God was asking Ananias to do is a bit like God asking you or I to go to Iran and preach on the street corner.  They would snatch you up, put you in jail, beat you mercilessly, and then cut off your head!  Muslim nations don’t take kindly to Christian street preachers. Sharia law declares that making converts to Christianity is a capital offense.

I’m not suggesting in any way that if God calls you to go preach on the street corner in Iran, that you refuse to go.  I’m just suggesting that it would be normal for you to experience a little fear.

Now, our situation of sharing with our neighbors is nothing like that of what Ananias was being asked to do—to go to someone “breathing out threats and murder,” but for most of us the call to the mission of sharing the gospel with our family and friends does conjure up feelings of fear and anxiety.  That is only normal.  Jesus said, “I send you as sheep out among wolves.”  (Mt. 10:16).  Of course a sheep is going to feel fear among wolves. That is quite natural. 

There are three sources for our fear that cause us to be reluctant to share the gospel.

a.  There’s an Infernal Source.  Simply stated, “The Devil hates God.”  The word, ‘hate,’ falls far short of how the Devil feels about God, but it’s the best word I have. Every time a follower of Christ shares the gospel and a person gets saved, the Devil loses a soul he once had.  This infuriates him.  He will unleash all the minions of hell to discourage a follower of Christ from seeking to be a soul-winner.  The Devil is an “Infernal Source” of fear in regard to witnessing.

b.  There’s an External Source for our fear.  Most people with whom we speak will reject the message of the gospel. They may reject the gospel with varying degrees of animosity, or perhaps reject it with no animosity at all.  But, the spirit of this world is the spirit of the Infernal Enemy of God, the Devil, and the deck is stacked against any believer who dares to “boldly go where no man has gone before”  and witness to the world.  The cultural animosity to the gospel in the United States increasingly marginalizes anyone who believes Jesus is the “only Way, the only Truth, and the Only Life.”  This external pressure to silence the witnesses of God will only increase as we approach the end times.  These “External Sources” cause fear and anxiety, especially if we spend time dwelling on them.

c.  There’s an Internal Source for our fear.  Pride in our own heart makes us reluctant to share the gospel.  This is a “biggy” when it comes to being a “Reluctant Witness.”  All of us naturally want to be liked. No one—at least no one who is normal—likes rejection.  Many more people will reject our witness than will accept it.  This hurts our ego.  We want to “fit in” to the world around us and this makes us reluctant to share the sometimes hard-hitting message of God’s Truth.

So, many factors contribute to our reluctance, or fear, in regard to sharing our faith with others.  Fear is normal, and even expected.  We can, however, overcome these fears even as Ananias overcame his fears by simply trusting that God is greater than any force or circumstance we may encounter.

This leads me to another lesson in our text showing us how we can overcome any and every reluctance to sharing the gospel:

3.  God has already worked out all the details (11-12; 15-19)

Acts 9:11–12 (NASB95) 11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”

……………………………………………….
(NASB95) 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,, 

Uncertainty naturally breeds fear and or reluctance, but, with God, nothing is uncertain. One of my favorite Bible verses, actually it is my life verse, comes from Jer. 29:11.  Israel was facing great uncertainty in their future.  The pagan nations were circling Israel like buzzards circling a dying antelope.  Israel was facing a great challenge for the nation.  Fear gripped the nation of Israel.  Jeremiah answered with these words of hope in face of a great challenge:

Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB95) 11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

The same God that spoke to Ananias had already spoken to Saul.  There would be no surprises.  God had a plan and God’s plans always work out—not some of the time, not most of the time, but all of the time.  Job, even as his life was one tangled mess of trouble cried out:

Job 42:2 (NASB95) 2 “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. 

There are no “accidental encounters” for God’s children.  Everyone you meet is a “divine appointment.”  The sovereignty of God does not cover “most” things in our lives, but it covers everything in our lives.  Look again at verse 17:

Acts 9:17 (NASB95) 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

God works both sides of the aisle.  God prepares those whom He sends and He also prepares those to whom we are sent.  But, wait, “I object,” you might say.  If God prepares every encounter then why do most people reject Him?  This is a very good question and one with a very good answer:  every divine appointment is not an appointment with grace.  Sometimes God sends us to give the Law and the warning of judgment to come.  In several places God declares that He has a different plan for each encounter.  James and Peter both declare (Jam. 4:6; 1Pet. 5:5):

James 4:6 (NASB95) 6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

Every divine encounter fulfills God’s divine plan, even though the outcomes vary. Ananias was not responsible for what Saul did or did not do.  Ananias was simply responsible to go and do as God directed.  God works out all the details and His plan always succeeds.

Never place our confidence in your ability to speak, or some clever “plan of salvation,” or anything else in this world.  Place all your confidence in God’s Holy Spirit directing and planning the divine encounters of your life. 

When you realize God has already worked out all the details, then your reluctance to share the gospel will melt like a snowball in the desert.

4.  Incredible things happen when we witness (20-22)

Of all the lessons we can glean from the life and witness of Ananias, I think this one is most important in regard to overcoming the reluctance we have when witnessing.  Look what the Bible says happened as a result of Ananias’ faithfulness:

²Acts 9:20–22 (NASB95) 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

The transforming power of the gospel is astonishing.  Here we have the testimony of Saul, first “breathing out threats and murders,” against the Christians and now he himself is the target of hatred and murder because of his “astounding and effective” preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  What a glorious transformation!  The gospel can transform lives like nothing else in the world.

The transforming power of the gospel is demonstrated literally millions upon millions of times throughout history. Almost everyone in the world has heard the hymn, “Amazing Grace” with the lyrics, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound // that saved a wretch like me.”  John Newton was that wretch. As the Captain of a slave-trading ship he trafficked in human flesh—the most vile commerce one could ever imagine. But, the grace of the gospel miraculously transformed John Newton from a slave-ship captain, to a slave of Jesus Christ preaching the transforming gospel.

The Book of Acts begins with 120 disciples in the Upper Room praying. Pentecost came and the population grew to 3000 in one day.  In Acts chapter 3 another 2000 were saved.  By chapter 5, “multitudes were being saved” (v 12).  By chapter 9, the most notorious persecutor of the church, Saul, was saved and gloriously transformed from the “arch enemy” of Jesus to his most ardent defender!  There is no—let me repeat it—there is no transforming power in all the world than the gospel. 

In only about 300 years from the birth of the church at Pentecost, the gospel would become so pervasive and so powerful that the Roman Emperor, Constantine, would have to embrace it, just so the Roman Empire could continue.  Today, Christianity is found in every corner of the globe.  There are now over 2 billion Christians world-wide. 

I wish I had kept a written record of all the lives I’ve seen “miraculously transformed” by the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Lives are radically changed in ways that cannot even be calculated this side of heaven.  About 30 years ago, the small church where I was the pastor had a revival. We were just about the same size as FBC now. God showed up in a mighty way. For the next five years over 365 people were saved! People were being baptized every Sunday. I’d never seen anything like it before, nor have I since. But this I am convinced of:   Incredible things happen when God’s people share the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Oh what a miraculous transformation would take place in our local communities if  every believer would enthusiastically and passionately preach the gospel to family, friends, and neighbors. As I’ve told you before, our nation is not going to experience a great transformation socially or politically, but, we can see a great harvest of souls if we overcome our reluctance and faithfully proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ananias was reluctant, even fearful, but he did as God asked anyway and launched the ministry of the Apostle Paul, perhaps the greatest witness in the history of the world.

FOR UNBELIEVERS:  Perhaps you are here this morning and you have NEVER BEEN SAVED. This morning we looked at the “gospel” from the perspective of the “witness” or speaker.  Everything that applies to the Witness also applies to the Listener.

❶ God has a mission with your name on it.  ❷ Fear is normal—even to be expected.  ❸ God has already worked out all the details of our encounters.  And, ❹ incredible things happen when we overcome our reluctance and share the gospel.

Perhaps you are here today and fearful of what God may ask you to do. Just say to the Lord, as Ananias did, “Here I am Lord.” God will take over from there.

There is a “Tiger of Faith” in you just waiting to be released. The Holy Spirit is saying to us all, “Go Get ‘Em Tiger!” Jimmy Weldon was a “Tiger.” The only thing that could stop him was death. In his book “Go Get ‘Em Tiger” he offers this bit of poetry:

“Life’s battles don’t always go // To the stronger of faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins / /Is the man who thinks he can!
I don’t THINK we can be bold and effective witnesses—I know we can!

So, let’s Stir the Pot and aggravate the Devil by witnessing boldly and effectively!