The supernatural good-news life

Paul and the Viper*

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 16:9-20

TO CHEW ON: " ' 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 will drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.' " Mark 16:17-18

What an incredible list of predictions Jesus makes here, of signs that will follow those who spread the gospel:

1. They will have power over the demonic realm (Mark 16:17).
Luke recounts an almost humorous incident showing the unique power that Jesus' followers have in this area. When some Jewish exorcists use the name of Jesus without the power of true faith in Him, the demon responds: "Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you?" Then the possessed man beats up the exorcists - Acts 19:13-16.


2, They will have new powers of communication: " ' … speak with new tongues' " (Mark 16:17).
I understand this promise to involve more than only the glossolalia of the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4). It is that for sure, i.e. the power to communicate in languages not learned. But I believe it is also the tongue used in private prayer and self-edification (1 Corinthians 14:2,4, 14-16). And, I would submit, we could also make a case for the new tongue including the tongue of boldness, so evident in the early Christians (Acts 4:31).

3. They will have remarkable protection (Mark 16:18).
The experience of Paul in the Island of Malta brings Jesus' words to life about protection from snakes (Acts 28:3-6). And to the protection stories from Acts we could add the testimony of Christians experiencing unusual protection through the centuries. In this department, I love the saying attributed to Henry Martyn: "I am immortal until God's work for me to do is done. The Lord reigns" (from Inspirational Quotes).

4. They will have unusual power to heal (Mark 16:18).
This comes true for the Apostles in Acts as we see them perform numerous healings, sometimes even raising people from the dead (Acts 3:7-11; 5:12-16; 9:3-9, 32-35, 39-42; Acts 14:8-18; 16:18; 20:8-12; 28:8-9).

The question I ask myself is, do these signs still follow the spread of the gospel today? Are these things our experience? Some have developed a hermeneutic which says the signs and wonders seen in Acts were only for that time. However the words we read today are attributed to Jesus. The evangelical church doesn't take His command to " ' preach the gospel to every creature' " as only for the apostolic time. So why do we often wave off the signs that confirm the gospel as meant exclusively for an earlier age?


PRAYER: Dear Lord, please confirm Your reality, power and word with signs and wonders again. Amen.

MORE: Modern prayer for spiritual awakening

Bible teacher Beth Moore has written an impassioned "Intercessory Prayer for Awakening." Read it HERE.

The Feast of St. Mark Evangelist.

Today the church celebrates the Feast of Mark the Evangelist, the author of the Gospel of Mark and today's Bible reading.

This Collect begins the day's liturgy:

 Almighty God, by the hand of Mark the evangelist you have given to your Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God: We thank you for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

* Illustration of "Paul and the Viper"
Illustration from Volume 10 of The Bible and its Story Taught by One Thousand Picture Lessons, edited by Charles F. Horne and Julius A. Bewer, published by Francis R. Niglutsch, New York, in 1910. Many of the original paintings were in color, but were published in this book in black and white.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Signs will follow

"Carry this Gospel to all the world"
by Harold Copping

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 16:9-20

TO CHEW ON: "'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 they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs." Mark 16:17-18, 20.

Christianity has divided itself roughly into two camps.
- Those who believe that these signs Jesus spoke of, which were promised to "confirm" the word have ceased (Cessasionists).

- Those who believe that signs legitimately continue till this day (Continuationists).

A footnote on this passage in my Bible defends the Continuationist position:

"The signs accredit the gospel message and cannot be limited to the apostolic age, any more than the Lord's commission to carry the gospel throughout the world. The signs, therefore, confirm the ministries of Christ's ambassadors in every generation" - J. Lyle Story, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1380.

This latter is what I believe (in other words, I am a continuationist). But if this promise applies to us, why don't we see more signs accompanying the preaching of the gospel?

Perhaps one reason is that we don't really desire them and so we don't ask (as the disciples did in Acts 4:29-30). John Piper, in an article on this topic, makes this observation (he is referring specifically to the spiritual gift signs referred to in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10):

"I wonder how many of us have said for years that we are open to God's moving in spiritual gifts, but have been disobedient to this command to earnestly desire them... I would ask all of us: are we so sure of our hermeneutical procedure for diminishing the gifts that we would risk walking in disobedience to a plain command of Scripture? "Earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy."

I have come to the point of seeing that the risk lies in the other direction. It would be a risk not to seek spiritual gifts for myself and my church. It would be a risk not to pray with the early church, "Grant your servants to speak your word with boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through your holy servant Jesus." Disobedience is always a greater risk than obedience" - John Piper "Signs and Wonders: Then and Now."

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for breaking through natural laws with supernatural acts when You were on earth, and since then throughout history. Help me to be more open to You working in and through my life in supernatural ways. Amen.

MORE: Feast of St. Mark

Today the church celebrates the Gospel writer Mark in the Feast of St. Mark. The day's liturgy begins with this collect:

Almighty God, by the hand of Mark the evangelist you have given to your Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God: We thank you for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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More on the two views mentioned above: 
Continuationism:

• Wikipedia article "Continuationism"
• Theopedia article Continuationism (with links to supporting articles)

Cessationism

• Wikipedia article "Cessationism"
• Theopedia article "Cessationism" (with links to supporting articles)

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Rebuked

"Jesus appears to the eleven"
Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 16:9-20

TO CHEW ON: "He appeared to the eleven as they sat at table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen." Mark 16:14

How sobering to be the object of Jesus' rebuke. This stern passage had me wondering about other times Jesus rebuked people. On doing a little study, I found at least six categories of rebukes (oneidizo: reproach, revile, suffer reproach, upbraid) that Jesus issued:

1. He rebuked the demonic. When a demon speaking through a demon-possessed man in the synagogue exposed and opposed Him, Jesus said, "Be quiet and come out of Him" - Mark 1:25.

2. He rebuked those who criticized the extravagant love showed to Him by others.

• During the incident of Mary anointing His head with oil at Simon's dinner, Jesus rebuked Simon and all those critical to Mary's lavish demonstration of love. (Mark 14:6-9, also Luke 7:44 and John 12:7).

• When Martha hosted Jesus in their Bethany home and complained that Mary wasn't helping, Jesus rebuked her for having chosen the wrong priorities  (Luke 10:41).

3. Jesus rebuked those who followed Him for selfish reasons:

• He rebuked the people who followed Him simply because He had fed them (Luke 6:26).

• He also rebuked a man who came to him trying to get his inheritance by having Jesus intervene on his behalf (Luke 12:14).

4. Jesus rebuked those (and these were His followers) whose weak faith made them powerless.

• He scolded the disciples, calling them a "faithless and perverse generation" when they couldn't cast out a demon from an oppressed boy (Luke 9:41).

• He also rebuked them when, in Gethsemane, they slept instead of watching and praying (Luke 22:46).

5. Jesus had many rebukes for those who didn't understand the part He played in God's plan. He rebuked His opponents for this:

• The Scribes and Pharisees because they couldn't read the signs of the times (Matthew 16:3).

• Those who questioned His authority to say, "Your sins are forgiven you..." to the paralyzed man (Mark 2:8).

• The synagogue ruler for being more concerned with following man-made Sabbath-keeping than the well-being of a woman He healed (Luke 13:15).

But His disciples didn't understand His role either. He was no less harsh in rebuking them.

• When Jesus prophesied His torture and death and Peter took Him aside, rebuking Jesus for saying those things, Jesus rebuked him right back, identifying the spirit behind Satan's words as satanic (Matthew 16:23, also Mark 8:33).

• Jesus rebuked His followers for not getting the connection between His life and fulfilled prophecy in Luke 24:25.

• Later when Peter tried to defend Him with a sword, Jesus rebuked Peter and healed the damaged ear (John 18:11).

• Our focus verse today (Mark 16:14) would be another rebuke in this category. His eleven disciples, who had been with Him for almost three years, and who had heard what He taught and been eye-witnesses to all that He did, still remained cynical of the reports of those who had seen Him after His resurrection.

In Revelation when the resurrected Jesus gives John messages for the early churches, He gives a reason for His rebukes. It's because of His love: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" (Revelation 3:19).

I ask myself, am I in any of the above categories? Haven't I been guilty of criticizing the extravagant worship of some?  Haven't I been weak-faithed and powerless to do the things Jesus said His disciples would do? Haven't I sometimes been a cynic when it comes to believing eye-witness miracle testimonies?

What about you?

Let's welcome Jesus' love shown through constructive rebuke, and ask Him for faith and courage to change our ways.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus I know that I am as vulnerable to rebuke as were the people in Bible days. Please forgive me and show me my real self so I can grow as Your disciple. Amen.


MORE: Feast of St. Mark

Today the church celebrates the writer of the Gospel of Mark, known as St. Mark the Evangelist. The day's liturgy begins with this collect:

Almighty God, by the hand of Mark the evangelist you have given to your Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God: We thank you for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.