FAITH CULMINATION TO ETERNITY
By Pastor Paulus Budiono
Lemah Putro, Sunday, April 19, 2020
Shalom,
Some might think it’s strange to have a Sunday Service via live streaming but Jesus said that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is there in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20). After He went to Heaven, thousands of His people gathered together at times, so they did have worships at home. It grew afterward that churches were built for them to worship together. Likewise, now we worship together in our churches – as our comfort zone. Nevertheless, a pandemic of COVID-19 has happened all of sudden that forced us to have church service at our home. Surely, this is all still in God’s plan, and the most important thing is that what kind of service we have, we are still able to feel His presence and blessings.
We are still continuing the discussion about the Gospel of John. At school students will study weightier material as they go up to upper grade and the same applies to our spiritual growth. Faith that comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17) will show a progress in reaching eternity. Thus, we will feel more motivated and strengthened to learn more about the Word of God for we know where it ends.
What about the man whom Jesus healed from the disease he had for 38 years? What happened that day? In John 5: 1-2, 5-18, it is written, “After that there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches…Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ “Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” But the one was healed did not know who it was for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now and I have been working.” Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him because He not only broke the Sabbath but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”
Ironically, they wanted to kill Jesus despite the fact that He just healed a sick man. The conversation between Jesus and the sick man ended pretty quickly however He did a miracle of healing. At first, the man did not know who healed him and he knew it later when he met Jesus in the Temple of God.
Did Jesus make a mistake when he healed that man? Could the faith of the man increase if Jesus – the Word Himself – was killed by the Jews because He healed him? Why Jesus chose him among other sick people in Bethesda, didn’t Jesus love the others too? As the Creator of the world, He must love them all. Likewise, all servants of God are spreading His Word - although through Live Streaming – because they love the congregation and they need to strengthen their faith. However, every church or congregation has his own needs.
Further conversation happened between Jesus and the man who was healed to determine his faith. That man was reminded not to commit sin anymore. Jesus reprimanded that man’s faith, not others’. Strangely, instead of having faith in Jesus after hearing what He said, the people hated Him. It is the proof that everyone’s faith level is not the same.
How can our faith grow if we don’t follow His Word from chapter to chapter to know the continuance of the story. We shall not let our condition affect how we share the Word of God that we simply pick Bible verses that seemingly fit! That way, we treat the Bible like a Health Guidebook; as a result, we will look for the Word of God only when we are facing a trouble. Illustration: A doctor gives different prescription to different patients. They will not come back to see the doctor once they are healed. Do we follow Jesus just because of our disease or because we are out of job especially during this COVID-19 pandemic? This kind of faith will hinder our faith growth because there might be not only one issue we have in life, but more complex ones. The Lord wants us to have faith because He has sacrificed His life for us.
The man who was healed did not recognize Jesus in their second meeting; he just realized who He was when Jesus reminded him to sin no more. The purpose of Jesus to heal him was to enable him to do good deeds. Sadly, the Jews misunderstood Jesus’ help and sought to kill Him.
Introspection: What do we know about the Lord? He doesn’t want us to know Him only as our Helper. That is why let us not hold fast only to certain “golden” verses although they have been our strength and blessings.
The truth is the faith that leads to eternity is gained not by reading only parts of His Word but by enjoying the whole verses in the Bible. Do we realize that every chapter in it is connected to each other (there were no chapters and verses back then)? For example: John 5: 1 is started with “after this” which means that this story is related to the previous story of a woman of Samaria (John 4). Do we still have faith like the woman of Samaria who admitted that Jesus is the Savior of the World (verse 42)? Just like in chapter 6: 1; 7: 1 which start with “after that” meaning one occurrence after another kept happening. The Lord wants us to remember all previous events that have made our faith grow before we learn something new. Illustration: For a student to gain knowledge and to be able to pass with flying colors, he must learn all the materials from the beginning until the end without skipping even one chapter. This also goes to our faith that grows by listening to the Word of God; we shall not be picky and only listen to the verses said by Jesus then ignoring those said by Paul and others because we consider them unimportant.
What was Jesus’ response to the Jews who did not believe that He is the Son of God? John 5: 36-47 write, “…for the works which the Father has given Me to finish – the very works that I do – bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you – Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
The Bible of the Jews started with 5 Moses’ books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). It’s the fixed law and everyone has to read it orderly. Illustration: It is not possible for us to learn our grade 12’s materials before we learn our grade 10’s materials. The fact is we only love certain verses of the Bible. It goes the same with the Jews when they celebrated Passover by slaughtering a lamb to remember their journey from the slavery in Egypt to Canaan without linking it to salvation.
Furthermore, the Jews added other books that the Old Testament became 39 books in total. Besides that, they also used the Book of Talmud – the book of wisdom and great disclosure – the one that described the Book of Moses in detail. Unfortunately, they believed more in the Book of Talmud rather than the Bible. Beware! We shall not think that the preaching of the servant of God is greater than the Bible because the preaching can be influenced by the speaker’s circumstance and emotion. It is different from Jesus as He always said exactly what His Father told Him.
Jesus did not stop at the miracle of healing, but He continued by giving a reminder to the man so that he would sin no more. We shall not stop preaching about the miracle of healing, rather there should be a follow-up, meaning that our faith must keep growing. For example: Our faith will grow if we read the whole Gospel of John from chapter 1 to 21, not only few chapters then move to different Book while simply forgetting what happened in the Gospel of John. As we know, there is a connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament. For example: Genesis writes about the beginning of the creation when God Trinity worked – God Himself, preached – Jesus and hovered – the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of John 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus is the Word that became flesh (verse 14). Remember, God Trinity is never against each other; however, there are a lot of pastors who fight over the verses. Didn’t God use about 40 writers with different backgrounds, and they did not know each other in the period of 1.500 years but amazingly they could unite and created the Bible that was later canonized by the scholars during AD 3-4? Now the Bible is in our hands, why don’t we read it well?
We shall not act like the Jews who hated and even wanted to kill Jesus. Be cautious, a stagnant faith will get duller and can even drive us to “kill” the Word of God. We, as those who have faith, must be brave to face the consequences no matter what – to be joyful in every trial that tests our faith with fire (1 Peter 1: 5-7). It is clear that our faith must not be something temporary. For example: Does our faith that we gain by listening to the preaching in church stand strong when we are outside the church facing so many troubles? Faith that is tested with different trials is just like the Gold Lampstand forged with fire to create a beautiful shape. For our faith to grow, we shall sin no more; that is why we need to be filled and be one with the victorious Word of God. If our faith reaches the top, we will be glorified together with Him when He comes for the second time.
The Book of Exodus tells us about the freedom of the Israelites from the slavery in Egypt and it continues to the Book of Leviticus that writes about how we should serve and worship Him. In the Gospel of John 4: 21-24 Jesus explained how to do the right service without being limited with space and to worship the Father in spirit and truth.
The Book of Numbers recorded that before entering Canaan, the Israelites population was counted twice. Are we, as the soldiers of Christ, included in the count to enter the New Jerusalem or not?
Now we understand that our faith will reach the peak only when we learn about the Bible – the Word of God – from cover to cover (from Genesis to Revelation). For that, we need to be ready to be tested in every trial which will purify our faith until it culminates at Jesus’ second coming. He will come to make us His Bride and live together with Him in the New Jerusalem for eternity. Amen.
This worship video can be listened to at Ibadah Minggu Raya - 19 April 2020 - Pdt. Paulus Budiono