June 1
2 Sam 18:1-19:10 | PS 119:153-176 | Prov 16:14-15 | John 20:1-31
The word for faith and belief in Hebrew is "Emunah", which literally means trust God. The world likes to say, "seeing is believing", but this is not the way of the people of God, for we know that we can be deceived by what we see. Truth is wrapped up in the Person of God, and not necessarily in the experiences of life. In life we can perceive things incorrectly. Faith in Scripture is defined for us in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." To trust means to place your full weight on something. This is not a matter of simple intellect in which the facts of one side seems more logical than the facts of the other side. When Jesus assembled His core group of followers, He did not first give them an I.Q. test to see which of them scored the highest. So it is with faith. With faith we get out of the way so that we can humble ourselves with the truth of who He is. It is time for us to stop seeking men, as we read in John 2:24-25, "But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,...for He knew what was in man." As Oswald Chambers put it, "Our Lord never put His trust in any man. Yet He never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God's grace could do for others. Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God."
People are fickle. Most live with the mindset of "what have you done for me lately". After all David had accomplished, it didn't take much for their hearts to leave him and be placed on Absalom. Now with Absalom defeated, we read in 2 Samuel 19:9-10, "Now all the people were in a dispute throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king saved us from the hand of our enemies, he delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, and now he has fled from the land because of Absalom. But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now therefore, why do you say nothing about bringing back the king?”" Many years later, Jesus walked with them, taught them, performed miracles, etc. He even forewarned them that He had to be delivered up, die, and rise again on multiple occasions, but it didn't fully sink in. While many of the others were quietly mourning the loss of Jesus, Mary Magdalene continued seeking, as we read in John 20:11-12, "But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." This is a beautiful picture of the Mercy Seat in the Tabernacle with the blood spattered seat which the High Priest sprinkles and two angels at the ends of the seat. In faith Mary wasn't listening to men, but continued to seek Him. Thomas on the other hand, refused to believe unless he literally was able to touch and see Jesus in his midst. Jesus indeed presented Himself to Thomas, and we see the response in 20:28-29, "And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”"
Two thousand years later, we don't have the luxury of literally walking with Jesus and sitting at His feet as His early followers did during Jesus' earthly ministry. But John writes in John 20:30-31, "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." How many times do we have to place our trust in anything or anyone else to realize that they can be untrustworthy. Family, friends, leaders, education, professors, programs, movements, etc., all can be touched in real time. All can seem so real, so authentic, only to be proven later to be false or misleading. Jesus is truth. He will never mislead you or let you down. His truth will extend from our time on earth and into eternity. His Word is perfect. He is worthy of placing our full weight and trust. "Emunah", trust God.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: