Emptied to Be Filled:

The Whole Truth

     A small boy was on the witness stand in an important trial.  The prosecuting attorney cross-examined him, then delivered, he thought, a crushing blow to the testimony—“Your father has been telling you how to testify, hasn’t he?”  “Yes,” the boy replied, with no hesitation.  “Now,” said the lawyer triumphantly, “just tell us how your father told you to testify.”  “Well,” the boy said quietly, “Father told me the lawyers would try to tangle me in my testimony, but if I would just tell the truth—the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I could repeat the same thing every time.”  As Father’s Day approaches, it would do us all good to remember this Dad’s advice—be about nothing but the whole truth.

     So what is the whole truth?  Last month, we turned to Mark 16 and the immense amount of unbelief with which the resurrection of Jesus Christ was met.  Our focus was on Mary Magdalene, but that was only part of the story—there were many who needed to be emptied of something in order to be filled with Him.  Before we move on, do you remember what Jesus told her?   “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father.” (John 20:17a)  In the Greek, “touch” means “to connect or bind, to apply oneself to, and to handle an object in such a way as to exert influence upon it.”  In other words, Jesus was now saying, “Mary, don’t try to mold me into a savior of your own understanding—I AM THAT I AM.  It isn’t open for debate or private interpretation.”  Once Mary was dealt with, she ran to tell the others.  Luke 24:11-12 tells us, “And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.  Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.”  In the Greek, it means that Peter was simply marveling and was struck with admiration.  Jesus, however, is looking for far more in His people than that they be impressed with Him.  Peter would need to be emptied of this, to which end God intended to use the lifeless grave clothes.  Grave clothes?  Yes—whether it was the angel or Jesus Himself, someone took the time to position the grave clothes to make a point.  John 20:7 tells us that they saw “the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.”  The cloth that had been about His head was separate from the cloth that had been about His body.  I believe it was intended to present a spiritual picture to all who saw them—all of this unbelief was causing the Body of Christ, His Church, to be in a separate place than the Head, namely Himself.  This disconnection needed to go—the Church needed to be emptied.

     That same afternoon, two of Jesus’ followers embarked on a six-mile journey to the town of Emmaus.  Why?  Luke 24:15 reveals the answer: “And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them.”  In the Greek, this “reasoning” means “to investigate jointly, to controvert, to argue against and to question.”  They were not just on a Sunday afternoon walk in the park—they were running away in unbelief, arguing against the fact of the resurrection.  From verse 21, we learn that they had had certain expectations of Him, and He didn’t pan out to be what they wanted Him to be—they didn’t really understand.  Yes, they had a “made up” Jesus, but this would soon be emptied.  As the three of them sat down to eat in Emmaus, He was recognized in the breaking of bread.  They, too, were broken of trying to box Jesus in.  Praise God, two more were now emptied in order to be filled.

     But Jesus wasn’t done yet.   The disciples, who had gathered in fear of the Jews—sadly, not in fear of the Lord—did not believe these two.  So Jesus appeared and asked them why they were so terrified and why they were insisting to think their own thoughts concerning Him.  Jesus added, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see.” (Luke 24:39a)  Now, that seems odd, doesn’t it?  He had told Mary to not touch Him and now He tells the others to touch Him.  Double standard?  Lapse of memory?  Of course not, the answer is found in the fact that these are two different Greek words.  He had told Mary not to squeeze and shape Him by her own understanding, molding Him into what she wanted Him to be.  The disciples are now being told to touch Him softly, studying Him through His Word in order to learn of His composition, instead of pushing, shoving, and insisting on composing Him.

     Perhaps the most famous case of unbelief concerns Thomas, also known as Didymus.  In the Greek, this second name means “twain, twin, or double.”  It certainly presents a powerful spiritual picture of torn allegiances, the result of double-mindedness.  James 1:8 tells us, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”  This instability is due to not being settled on one thing.  We see this clearly in Thomas—he didn’t see the need to be settled in gathering with the others right after the resurrection…He missed receiving the peace that Jesus gave…He missed receiving the Holy Spirit as Jesus breathed on the others who were there…He missed being born-again under the New Covenant, and put himself in a place of crippling unbelief for another week.  But John 20:26a tells the whole story: “And after eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them…” Oh, the tragedy of being “without” when you could be “within.”  Jesus appeared again that night and emptied Thomas of his faithlessness.  His response?  “My Lord and my God.”  Literally, in the Greek, it means, “the Lord of me and the God of me.”  His double-mindedness was gone—one focus would now take him to his dying day—Jesus, Lord and God. 

     What an immense amount of unbelief!  But let’s not just look back there, for it is rampant, as well, today.  Many people, pastors, church boards, and, yes, even denominations, are claiming belief, but in reality, are living in a great deal of unbelief.  Many are insisting on exerting their own influence upon Him—molding Him into just a miracle worker, whose ultimate goal is to make us all healthy and wealthy, ignoring totally the necessity of suffering with Christ.  Many today are simply impressed by Him, insisting that His death and resurrection already saved everyone and there is no need for repentance or surrendering to His rule in their lives.  Many today have turned the Scriptures into an intellectual battleground, arguing against the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit—the only true interpreter of the Word.  Many hop from church to church to hear what they want to hear, and thereby, have their sin condoned.  Many today, while mentally assenting to the resurrection of Jesus, are actually running away from the whole truth of it—the resurrected life of Jesus being lived within each one.  In reality, the Body of Christ often sets itself at odds with its Head.  What blasphemy!

     The Church would do well today to reach out gently—handle Him His way—and learn of His composition, instead of being consumed in all of this foolishness.  At the ascension, the angel told the early Church to quit standing around and staring—it was time to get to Jerusalem, the City of peace and true reconciliation with a Holy God, and seek to be emptied in order to be filled.  We hear the rest of the story in Acts 2—“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”  No more running away from the truth…No more insisting on their own versions of Jesus…No more double mindedness—the day of Pentecost had fully come, and all those who wanted to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, were.  All those who wanted to be emptied of “self” and filled with His heart, were. Yes, Pentecost happened almost 2,000 years ago, but it is also a living reality today, for as Hebrews 4:9-10 tells us, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God, for he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His.  Let us labour therefore to enter that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of unbelief.”  Many can say they believe this, but they show their unbelief when they remain in control.   Be emptied of your own control and be filled with His.  Yes—this is the whole truth!

 

Throughout the year 2001, we will be providing you with Bible readings from Genesis to Revelation to help you know Him as the whole Truth.

June 1     Proverbs 21-24                      16            Isaiah 29-32

2              Proverbs 25-28                      17            Isaiah 33-36

3              Proverbs 29-31                      18            Isaiah 37-40

4              Ecclesiastes 1-4                    19            Isaiah 41-44

5              Ecclesiastes 5-8                    20            Isaiah 45-48

6              Ecclesiastes 9-12                  21            Isaiah 49-52

7              Song of Solomon 1-4           22            Isaiah 53-56

8              Song of Solomon 5-8           23            Isaiah 57-60

9              Isaiah 1-4                               24            Isaiah 61-64

10            Isaiah 5-8                               25            Isaiah 65-66

11            Isaiah 9-12                             26            Jeremiah 1-4

12            Isaiah 13-16                           27            Jeremiah 5-8

13            Isaiah 17-20                           28            Jeremiah 9-12

14            Isaiah 21-24                           29            Jeremiah 13-16

15            Isaiah 25-28                           30            Jeremiah 17-20

 

July 1      Jeremiah 21-24                      3              Jeremiah 29-32

2              Jeremiah 25-28                      4              Jeremiah 33-36