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The continuation of lesson 30 of the Discipleship Making process, where in part one of this lesson we found Jesus introducing the subject of “Offenses” to His disciples.
In summary of the last lesson, we learned a few key points, the first, to guard against becoming easily offended by fellow believers, the second, that unless we convert and become like children, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven, thirdly, whoever receives one, as a child, in Christ’s name receives Christ, and lastly, he who is least among you, this is the one who is great. It is with this mindset that we pick-up where we left off last, where we find the apostle John approaching Jesus:
Read: Mark 9:38-41, Luke 9:49-50
Again, we see Jesus not taking offense with this other man, but instead explaining to His disciples, “He who is not against us is for us,” and therefore, “not to hinder him.”
Being able to identify whether someone is for or against Christ is invaluable for Christians (ex. 2 Corinthians 6:14-15). How then can Christians determine whether someone they do not know is for Christ or against Him? Jesus gave his disciples two signs to look for:
- Gifts of the Holy Spirit, which is the power of God, used in conjunction with the name of Jesus and . . .
- Fruit of the Spirit, which is the love of God, used in conjunction with the name of Jesus.
Jesus knew that it was the Holy Spirit who delivers or saves people and went so far as to say that speaking against the Holy Spirit was the unpardonable sin (Matthew 12:30-32). Therefore, when the disciples came to Jesus saying they saw someone casting out demons in His name, He realized that it was the Holy Spirit working through him.
Some people use the name of Jesus to work a miracle, but if they don’t belong to Him it has no effect (Acts 19:13-17).
The second indicator or sign that a person is a believer in Jesus Christ is when they evidence the fruit of the Spirit or the love of God (John 13:35). This can be observed when someone does an act of kindness to another because they are a fellow Christian (Mark 9:41).
The point of the lesson is that those who operate in the power of God, with the love of God, are not against God, but for Him, and His Son Jesus Christ.
With that, allow me to leave you with this question to consider, along with a little homework assignment until my next posting:
What are some ways that you can cause a believer to stumble?
. . . and the homework assignment . . .
Take a few minutes to reflect on what Jesus had to say, and ask yourself these two questions:
- What qualities do children have that adults tend to lack?
- What childlike quality do you need to recapture?
Until next time . . . Godspeed!
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