KNOWN ONLY TO FAITH

Mark 5:36

Morning Meditation 7/11/13

"As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe."

A little girl had died. The ruler of the synagogue had hoped for her recovery through the healing power of Christ. An urgent message came that she had died. They said, "Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further."

Mark 5:36 says, "As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe."

Jesus addressed His words to faith. When Jesus came into the house where the little girl was lying we are told in Mark 5:41-42, "And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment."

Let's notice some things that can only be known to faith:

1. 2 Corinthians 5:11, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." Men do not believe in hell. They do not like to retain God in their knowledge. Paul said, "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Rom. 3:18).

The unsaved world have no idea that they are going to have to face a Holy God and give an account of every sinful thought and deed. If they believed this, they would turn from their sins and be saved. So Paul appeals to the Christians in Corinth to be faithful witnesses. We know the fear of the Lord. The saved know they have been rescued from eternal punishment. The only burden most lost people will ever have is for believers to be faithful witnesses of the judgment from which they have been saved.

2. The blindness of the human heart to sin and death is illustrated in Adam and Eve. God told them they could eat of every tree in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Satan came with his temptation and succeeded in getting them to eat. What happened when they did eat? First, they felt guilt for the first time in their lives.. Second, they thought they could hide from God by making clothes of fig leaves. It is the first time in their lives that they felt the need to cover their nakedness. God had told Adam in Genesis 2:16-17, "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

The Word of God is clear on this. He said, "for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Well, he ate of the tree and he didn't die physically. In fact he lived to be 930 years of age. What about "the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die?" We learn here that there is more than one kind of death. There is spiritual death and physical death. Adam and Eve died the day they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil just as God had said.

If you would walk up to a man and say, "You are a dead man." He would look you over, get something to defend himself, or grab his hat and head for safety. Those words are not life threatening. They simply tell the truth about the man who is alive in body and dead in spirit.

3. One more brief statement. If we worship, it will be worshiping by faith in an unseen God. John 4:23, "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshiper shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." God is real. But it is not easy to convince a person that God is real when He never appears in a form that would convince a person. Man is walking by sight and lives in unbelief.

God appears, walks with, and communes with the man who will walk by faith. May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White