The speaker is Jesus Christ Himself, well-knowing He is soon to depart His bodily presence. He has informed His disciples of His betrayal by one of them and His denial by another. He knows the persecutions forthcoming. Also, their frailty by their very nature, He begins to undergird them with higher views of Himself and their experiential union with Him. They were already members of His visible body and still without enough knowledge of Christ’s own sufficiency to effectively keep them from sinful fear. In this state, they are prone to be challenged by such a trouble of soul, that it would be considered by Christ as sinful fear. He would have them to know experientially moving forward, nothing BELOW Him would afford any comfort to a troubled soul.
We hear Him speak to the matter in His exhortation: “Let not your heart be troubled.” According to John 13:1, the disciples present were “His own which were in the world.” With them, he had just shared a meal and washed their feet. They carried the same baptism He carried having been baptized into His mystical body and were members of the First Baptist Church on this earth. They were possessed by Christ Who had always been their head and in Whom their very “life is hidden” according to Col. 3:3. It was to them and all like kind ONLY, to whom this exhortation was made. If this is so for those already inside His visible Gospel Kingdom, how much more those dear sheep not yet brought into His heavenly sheepfold and watered garden?
There are at least two classic examples of this type of sinful fear based on a lack of knowledge of the person and work of Jesus Christ in the daily lives of His dear sheep. They are found in Matt. 6:20-30 and Luke 8:22-25.
In Matthew six the disciples were obviously thinking too much about themselves, i.e., their “treasures” in verse 20, their “life…what (they would) eat” or what they would “drink” in verse 25. It appears they harbored the vain idea that they themselves could in fact “add one cubit” to their personal “stature” in verse 27. This being so, Christ rebuked them gently with these words: “Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you? Oh, YE OF LITTLE FAITH?”
In Luke 8:22, Christ spoke to the disciples and said, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” But the storm was up, and the disciples were frightened, not knowing the sufficiency of Christ to take them where He was going to the other side. They were full of fear thinking they would “perish,” Luke 8:24. Christ then stilled the wind and stopped the waves and asked this searching question: “WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?” The rest of the verse reads: “And they, BEING AFRAID, wondered, saying one to another (no response to Christ!) what manner of man is this! For He commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey Him.”
Notice please: They were afraid when the storm “of wind…came down on the lake” thinking they would “perish,” and they were still afraid after it was calmed down by Christ at His command. All because they could not answer their own question, “What manner of man is this.” They had faith in Christ before they got into the boat based on how they perceived Him to be as to Who He was, being of a certain manner as a man. Even Christ confessed they had faith. The issue was the OBJECT of their faith. Hence, “WHERE IS YOUR FAITH (focused)?” Is it your personal ability to master a ship in rough water? Is it your ability to command the wind and the water to stand still? Is it your ability to see yourself on the other side through the power of your positive mental attitude? Hear Christ’s reply: “WHERE IS YOUR FAITH” if your trust and confidence is not “IN ME?” Either before or after the storm they were still “being afraid.” Their faith was not on the “manner of man” Christ proved Himself to be by demonstration. Rather, as they had perceived Him to be, which was a “man” only, like unto themselves!
The lesson learned: All trouble of the soul based on fear, is a sin against Christ Himself arising from an ignorance of WHO He is in fact, and what His “manner” is toward those whom He has an interest in from everlasting by virtue of Eternal Vital Union. Here then is the matter spoken of which is His exhortation, “Let not your heart be troubled.” Next lesson we hope to be blessed to dive deeper into the INSTRUCTION of Christ, “ye believe in God, believe also IN ME.”
Where is your faith? Where is the object of it? How do you perceive Christ to be toward you, right now? Is your faith in your faith? Is your faith in your “manner” of methodically ordering your life around religious habits, both public and private? Is your faith in God’s acts upon you, within you, or both? Is your faith in your acts of repentance and faith or even your love for Him as you perceive Him to be? Where is your faith, if it is not in Him Who hath said, “WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING,” John 15:5?
May the Prophet, Priest, and King of the saints be pleased, according to His eternal purpose, to teach us, by making Himself known in a vital way, WHO He really is. May He be pleased to reveal His “manner” toward us, as “The way, the truth, and the life” of our life, if we indeed be His. Let us pray to that end, if so blessed to do.
Dan O’Dell, only a sinner with a reason to hope, if I am not deceived.
There are at least two classic examples of this type of sinful fear based on a lack of knowledge of the person and work of Jesus Christ in the daily lives of His dear sheep. They are found in Matt. 6:20-30 and Luke 8:22-25.
In Matthew six the disciples were obviously thinking too much about themselves, i.e., their “treasures” in verse 20, their “life…what (they would) eat” or what they would “drink” in verse 25. It appears they harbored the vain idea that they themselves could in fact “add one cubit” to their personal “stature” in verse 27. This being so, Christ rebuked them gently with these words: “Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you? Oh, YE OF LITTLE FAITH?”
In Luke 8:22, Christ spoke to the disciples and said, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” But the storm was up, and the disciples were frightened, not knowing the sufficiency of Christ to take them where He was going to the other side. They were full of fear thinking they would “perish,” Luke 8:24. Christ then stilled the wind and stopped the waves and asked this searching question: “WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?” The rest of the verse reads: “And they, BEING AFRAID, wondered, saying one to another (no response to Christ!) what manner of man is this! For He commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey Him.”
Notice please: They were afraid when the storm “of wind…came down on the lake” thinking they would “perish,” and they were still afraid after it was calmed down by Christ at His command. All because they could not answer their own question, “What manner of man is this.” They had faith in Christ before they got into the boat based on how they perceived Him to be as to Who He was, being of a certain manner as a man. Even Christ confessed they had faith. The issue was the OBJECT of their faith. Hence, “WHERE IS YOUR FAITH (focused)?” Is it your personal ability to master a ship in rough water? Is it your ability to command the wind and the water to stand still? Is it your ability to see yourself on the other side through the power of your positive mental attitude? Hear Christ’s reply: “WHERE IS YOUR FAITH” if your trust and confidence is not “IN ME?” Either before or after the storm they were still “being afraid.” Their faith was not on the “manner of man” Christ proved Himself to be by demonstration. Rather, as they had perceived Him to be, which was a “man” only, like unto themselves!
The lesson learned: All trouble of the soul based on fear, is a sin against Christ Himself arising from an ignorance of WHO He is in fact, and what His “manner” is toward those whom He has an interest in from everlasting by virtue of Eternal Vital Union. Here then is the matter spoken of which is His exhortation, “Let not your heart be troubled.” Next lesson we hope to be blessed to dive deeper into the INSTRUCTION of Christ, “ye believe in God, believe also IN ME.”
Where is your faith? Where is the object of it? How do you perceive Christ to be toward you, right now? Is your faith in your faith? Is your faith in your “manner” of methodically ordering your life around religious habits, both public and private? Is your faith in God’s acts upon you, within you, or both? Is your faith in your acts of repentance and faith or even your love for Him as you perceive Him to be? Where is your faith, if it is not in Him Who hath said, “WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING,” John 15:5?
May the Prophet, Priest, and King of the saints be pleased, according to His eternal purpose, to teach us, by making Himself known in a vital way, WHO He really is. May He be pleased to reveal His “manner” toward us, as “The way, the truth, and the life” of our life, if we indeed be His. Let us pray to that end, if so blessed to do.
Dan O’Dell, only a sinner with a reason to hope, if I am not deceived.
Weslaco, TX. Jan. 22, 2024.
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