WITNESS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
RESPONSES TO THE GOSPEL
© Hubert Krause
The Church of God in Williamstown
Web Site: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~sanhub/index_.htm
INTRODUCTION
I would like to consider today human responses both to God’s revelation of Himself and to the proclamation of the Gospel message. The Scriptures reveal that God expects more of mankind than we may have previously imagined, and even more is demanded of those who have received the testimony of the Gospel. Yet the sad lesson of biblical history is that man too often chooses to reject God’s revelation. We, as recipients of His precious truth, the truths of the faith "once for all delivered" (Jude 3), have heard and accepted. Yet are our lives a living response to the testimony we continue to receive? Are we faithful witnesses to God and to His Word? And what can we learn from the biblical record of mankind’s resistance to the witness of God to help us comprehend more fully our obligations to live the message of the Gospel?
Let’s begin by tracing the scriptural teaching on God’s expectations of mankind.
INEXCUSABLE IGNORANCE OF GOD
In God’s courtroom, every human being is liable, accountable. We are told in Ro 3:19 that "every mouth [will] be silenced and the whole world"—this vast planet whose majority professes ignorance of or disbelief in the God of the Bible—will be "held accountable to God." In past history, at least western history, nobler generations of men more readily professed belief in and worship of God, and even felt a correct sense of accountability to Him for decisions made in this life, yet it seems that this end-time age has strayed far away from even any acknowledgement of the Creator. However, for this there is no excuse we are told, for God has revealed Himself not only in the pages of Scripture, but also in the book of Nature:
Ps 19:1-4 (NIV) The heavens [as visible to the naked eye, here understood] declare the glory [the majesty, the power, wisdom, skill] of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day [it’s a perpetual witness!] they pour forth speech [or "words"—they teach about God, if one has eyes to see] night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard [the heavens speak to all mankind, in a universal language]. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words [and the lessons and truths they convey] to the ends of the world. …..
The sun by day (cf. Ps 136:8), the moon and the stars by night (Ps 136:9) provide a continual, non-verbal, universal testimony to the splendour and power of God, and so David could utter those often-quoted verses:
Ps 8:3-4 (NIV) When I consider your heavens [when there is a contemplation, as there should be, by all men, of the handiwork of God], the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
In the Old Testament, God not infrequently appeals to the starry heavens as proof of His existence, of His power and His perfection:
Isa 40:26 (NIV) Lift your eyes and look to the heavens [and contemplate the wonders of God]: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
We note a similar theme in the New Testament, in the Book of Acts:
Acts 14:15-17 [the apostles Barnabas and Paul are speaking] and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? [the crowd was preparing to acclaim the two of them as gods!] We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, 16 who in bygone generations [before the advent of the Gospel] allowed all [gentile] nations to walk in their own ways [Why did He ‘allow’ this?]. 17 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness [even though there may have been no direct revelation from Him], in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."
Even with no direct revelation or testimony in pagan lands, God’s goodness in providing these needs of mankind has been a constant witness to His being and to His providence, Paul and Barnabas were telling this crowd of Greeks—who should then have turned from their worship of hollow vanities to that of the living Creator God, whose handiwork all could see. But very few, even after they had received this apostolic message, became believers (v 34). The heart of man resists the revelation of God.
This purpose of God for man is reaffirmed by the apostle Paul in Acts 17, as he spoke in the city of Athens:
Acts 17:24-31 "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things [gifts of His providence]. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings."
Paul then expresses God’s intent for human beings to whom He has been so gracious:
27 "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope [Gk: ‘touch, handle’: the word here used means ‘to ascertain the qualities of an object by the sense of touch’; the sense is to search diligently and accurately for God] for Him and find Him [become acquainted with His character], though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in [or ‘by’] Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’"
So, again, God’s intention is that man should consider His beneficence, contemplate His works and come to see His existence, His wisdom, goodness and character through them—and so find Him!
29 "Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance [again, the pre-Gospel age] God overlooked [there was no direct judgment], but now [through the message of the Gospel, God] commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."
However, instead of turning to God, the gentile mind denied Him. Paul also outlines this process of retrogression.
Ro 1:18-25,28,32 (NRSV) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress [or "keep back, restrain"] the truth.
Paul is here telling us that through their wickedness men have suppressed and do suppress the truth of God—what can readily be known about God, in respect to His nature and character—in themselves and in its witness to others. As an instance, in Ro 2:23-24, he speaks of Jews who boasted in the law, yet who dishonoured and blasphemed God among the Gentiles through their violation of the same law about which they boasted. Truth is always held back by sin!
19 For what can be known about God [there are things about God man cannot know, but there are also many things that are "knowable", that can be ascertained—enough to provide man with no excuse for sin, as we’ll see] is plain to them, because God has shown it to them [so it is not God’s fault that knowledge of His existence is absent! Mankind has been endowed with the faculties to uncover God from the evidence He has provided]. 20 Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are [to the natural human senses], have been understood and seen [NEB: "have been visible ….. to the eye of reason"] through the things he has made. So they are without excuse [for their ignorance, for their idolatry and their iniquity; NEB: "There is therefore no possible defence for their conduct"].
We are told that God has shown enough of Himself—a part of Himself to human beings—in the natural world for men (and remember, Paul is referencing the gentile world of His day) to be unable to plead ignorance of His existence and sovereignty. Thinking man may ‘see’ His unseen power and deity in His works, past and present. The trouble, especially today, when the glories of God in the natural realm are so much more observable for scrutiny and evaluation, is that human beings seldom, if ever, stop to think about God as He would have them. Could we also be afflicted with this same malady?
21 for though they knew God [they were witnesses to the excellency of the divine mind], they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him [they refused to carry out their responsibility to glorify God as God with appropriate reverence; man has an obligation to be thankful to God for His goodness and His mercy], but [and because of this] they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened [as a consequence, they were then no longer even able to perceive and comprehend the truth about God].
A mind not attuned to God fixes its affection on the things of the world.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools; 23 and they exchanged [in their thinking] the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.
And notice God’s judgment because of this:
24 Therefore God gave them up [NIV: "gave them over"] in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
And the penalty reaped for the practice of this idolatry?
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. [Some examples of this were that] Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves [physically and mentally] the due penalty [literally the ‘corresponding penalty’; NEB: "fitting wage"] for their perversion.
Does this mean that there is no place for compassion, for empathy, sympathy or mercy? No. Yet God says that the punishment here fits the crime.
28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
Rejecting the evidence before them, men substituted self-will and their own irrational ideas about God for a right use of reason that could have led them to an acknowledgement of the great Creator, so God gave them over to their fate, as a form of punishment.
Paul then describes the end process of all this: an inexcusable stifling of the conscience, where evil is accepted as good:
32 (NIV) Although they know [or are capable of knowing, via the conscience, as we’ll see] God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practise them.
….which ought not to be:
Ro 2:14-16 for when Gentiles [even Gentiles!], who do not have the law [as do the Jews; or any revealed law], by nature [by applying proper reasoning, by responding to their consciences, by maintaining a correct sense of right and wrong] do the things [required] in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing [if their actions are evil] or else excusing them) 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men [1Co 4:5] by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
So the Gospel declares that God will judge the secrets of men. Yet if ignorance of the existence and sovereignty of God is inexcusable, how much more so is wilful ignorance, disregard or rejection of that Gospel by those to whom it is given in witness? There is a warning here for us today. The record of the Gentiles reveals their failure to consider the works of God before their eyes, and so they lapsed into idolatry. But is this true only for the Gentiles?
ISRAEL’S ACCOUNTABILITY
What single nation has been the recipient of God’s revealed truth as was ancient Israel? But did it make any difference?
Ps 147:19-20 (NIV) He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. 20 He has done this for no other nation; [but] they do not know his laws. Praise the LORD.
How can it be, if God revealed His laws to the nation, that they still did not ‘know’ Him? Through the prophet Hosea, God likewise bemoaned His people’s lack of knowledge of Him—and provides the answer to this question:
Hos 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge [so the knowledge was obviously there to be had. You can’t reject something that is inaccessible to you], I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten [through negligence, as a deliberate choice of the mind, the will] the law of your God, I also will forget your children."
God declared through the prophet Jeremiah that "My people are fools; they do not know me…they have no understanding (Jer 4:22)" and that "through deceit they refuse to know Me" (Jer 9:6). The knowledge was available, but it was not taken up. Pride and self-will caused them to also stumble. God’s revelation to the Israel of God, to us today, is likewise unique; but do we know Him as we should?
God then charges His people Israel; they are answerable for their rejection of the testimony they have heard and seen:
Jer 2:5-11 (NIV) This is what the LORD says: "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. 6 They did not ask [there was no consideration], ‘Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’ 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. 8 The priests [who are supposed to represent God] did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols."
He therefore lodges a formal complaint, a call to the nation to answer the case before witnesses—but the charge is unanswerable:
9 "Therefore I bring charges against you again," declares the LORD. "And I will bring charges against your children’s children. 10 Cross over to the coasts of Kittim and look, send to Kedar and observe closely; see if there has ever been anything like this: 11 Has a nation [even a Gentile nation] ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols."
No pagan nation anywhere would ever have done what Israel had done! They did not consider the works of God in their lives.
Ps 106:7,13 (NIV) When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to [NRSV: "did not consider"] your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
These miracles—many miracles—manifestations of God’s kindness, were meant to help engender faith. Do we always remember God’s kindnesses to us?
13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel.
So God handed Israel over to the nations (Ps 106:41), just as He gave over the Gentiles to their fate (Ro 1:24), as we have noted. Israel’s experience therefore mirrored that of the Gentile world.
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul expounds upon the faithlessness of Israel, and more specifically the Jews, to God:
Ro 10:16-21 But they have not all obeyed [although they all heard] the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report [Gk: "hearing"—the message that should have been not only heard but also believed; but just as it was for Isaiah, so was it for the apostles: the proclamation of the Gospel met with little response among their fellow-Jews]?" 17 So then faith comes by hearing [hearing and believing], and hearing by the word of God [the message purposely sent by God Himself].
Then note verse 18:
18 But I say, have they [Israel, as well as the Gentiles] not heard? Yes indeed: "Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."
Paul is quoting from Ps 19:1-4, which we considered at the beginning, to make the point that just as the glory of God pervades the infinite heavens, so also did the apostolic testimony of the Gospel, from God’s perspective, permeate every corner of the then known world. Israel had ample opportunity to know, to understand and to accept the witness it was given.
19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: "I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation [cf. Dt 32:21: the Gentiles], I will move you to anger by a foolish nation [from among this foolish people (cf. Ro 2:20), many would understand]." 20 But Isaiah is very bold and says: "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me." 21 But to Israel he says: "All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people."
Israel’s record is one of obstinate disobedience in the face of God’s repeated appeals. They chose not to know. Could we ever be guilty of this? Claiming to be enlightened, could we in fact become ignorant of God?
1Co 15:34 (NRSV) Come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more; for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
Again, why is this so, when God makes knowledge available? People still choose to reject the Gospel message even when it is attested to by the most powerful of miracles, as the ministry of Jesus Christ amply demonstrates!
CHRIST’S MINISTRY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Let’s consider the response of those who received the witness of the Gospel from the very Son of God.
Mt 11:20-24 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent [v 25 may be an allusion to the inhabitants’ so-called wisdom and learning being a stumbling-block to their repentance]: 21 "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon [pagan cities though they were], they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you [because they would have less to answer for in terms of accountability than these cities which had received such a great witness]. 23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven [some of Christ’s chief miracles were performed in this city in which He lived; yet it was also in Capernaum that He later declined to perform any more great miracles, so great was the offence of the city against Him (Mt 13:57-8; Mk 6:5-6) ], will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom [which was destroyed because of its licentiousness], it would have remained until this day [because, as corrupt as it was, repentance would have been the response of this city to Christ’s preaching of the Gospel]. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."
Notice Christ’s further denunciation of a generation which both heard and saw but which failed to respond:
Mt 12:41-42 "The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they [these ignorant and wicked pagans] repented at the preaching of Jonah [a man of God who preached of impending physical punishment]; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here [the very Son of God]. 42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon [and she delighted in what she heard and saw (1Kg 10:1-9)]; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here [whose wisdom, however, was rejected by most of those who were exposed to it]."
Through Christ’s commissioning of His disciples we also note the responsibility of the hearers of the Gospel to respond appropriately to those sent by God to proclaim it.
Mt 10:11-15 (NIV) "Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home [the family] is deserving, [what would make it "deserving, we wonder"? Perhaps a readiness to show hospitality, a willingness to at least hear the message, to receive the messengers as true disciples] let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you [as one sent by God; so even before a witness has been proclaimed!] or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet ["as a testimony against them" (Mk 6:11; Lk 9:5); probably related to the mention of Sodom and Gomorrah: everything connected with the place then carried a curse, and they were free from any guilt—these people were now to be considered as Gentiles] when you leave that home or town [so it was possible for a whole town to reject them!]. 15 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment [and, remember, Christ had proclaimed the fact that Sodom would have been receptive to His words and repentant!] than for that town."
It is a sobering thing to close the heart to the message of the Gospel! God takes it personally!
DENYING THE WITNESS
The record of Judaism, like that of ancient Israel, is that people will nonetheless still reject the witness, miracles and mighty works notwithstanding, when they ought to have accepted it. John’s Gospel has many examples of this.
Through the ministry of Christ, even the spiritually-dull had impetus to believe:
Jn 10:38 (NRSV) "But if I do them [the miracles, the works], even though you do not believe me [although it was acknowledged that no-one had ever been heard to speak as Christ spoke (Jn 7:46); many believed through His words alone (Jn 8:30)], believe the works [because miracles are supposed to help engender belief; God is very fair!], so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." (v 25; 5:36; 15:24)
We may note the confession of Nicodemus, one of the leaders of the Jews, and then Christ’s words back to him, for through him He spoke to all those Jews who were rejecting His ministry:
Jn 3:2 (NIV) He [Nicodemus] came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know [ie, "I know, as do those with whom I am connected"] you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
The unmistakable uniqueness of Christ’s ministry, accompanied as it was with miracles, wonders and mighty works, had compelled who knows how many of these leaders of Judaism to secretly come to the only unavoidable, correct conclusion amongst themselves—that Christ was indeed sent by God and that His message was God’s witness to them. But did this make any difference in terms of their response to the Son of God?
Jn 3:10-11 (NIV) "You are Israel’s teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things [His teaching about being ‘born again’]? 11 I tell you the truth, we [perhaps referring to all those who both accepted and comprehended the work of the Spirit in the Son] speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony."
And what did Christ say of those who wilfully rejected this testimony?
Jn 12:48 (NIV) "There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words [with or without the miracles]; that very word which I spoke [and which the conscience has rejected] will condemn him at the last day."
In Jn 8:43-44, Christ’s condemnation of Judaism lay in the fact that it did not want to accept His words. Indeed, this unwillingness to believe the testimony of the Gospel was the fulfillment of prophecy:
Jn 12:37-40 (NIV) Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill [once again] the word of Isaiah the prophet: "Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed [the divine power of Christ, the "Arm of the Lord", was indeed revealed to many, but it was not seen and heard to be accepted and understood]?" 39 For this reason they could not believe [for they would not believe (v 37)—because they had closed their hearts], because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 40 "He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts [because they rejected the message], nor turn—and I would heal them."
They were just like their ancestors, who also had "eyes to see", if they had really wanted to, "but do not see and ears to hear", if they were so willing, "but do not hear" (Ezk 12:2).
What more powerful a witness could have been given, accompanied as it was by mighty miracles? Christ testified against them that:
Jn 15:22,24 (NIV) "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin [including the sin of rejecting the witness before them]. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.
24 "If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father."
Once the heart, although it knows better, resolves to resist the testimony of the Gospel, all manner of evil can follow:
Jn 12:9-10 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus [the truth of the resurrection could be attested to in Lazarus].
Such is the sobering documentation of the evil heart of man prepared to reject the witness of God. Do we take it to heart?
THE APOSTOLIC WITNESS OF THE GOSPEL
Let us consider the record of the apostolic proclamation of the Gospel, for instance, Paul’s preaching in Corinth:
Acts 18:5-6 (NIV) When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6 But when the Jews opposed Paul [not just rejecting his message, but setting themselves against his person] and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! [cf. Ezk 33:4,9] I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles [which of course did not mean that he never again witnessed to the Jews]."
Do we note Paul’s terminology, akin to Ezekiel’s warning about failing to heed the warning trumpet of the watchman? They henceforth were responsible for their own destruction, and that of their nation. There is an accountability when the words of truth are heard and purposefully rejected—even more so when the messenger has been sent directly by God.
Similarly, in Pisidian Antioch. Note once again the language used by Paul:
Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first [as one of God’s acts of kindness]; but since you reject it [the sense is that it has been treated contemptuously], and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles."
They were personally answerable for their rejection of this solemn testimony, Paul was warning them. Their action was tantamount to a rejection of eternal life! They had passed sentence upon themselves! Notice further:
Acts 28:23-28 (NIV) They [the Jews in Rome] arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. 24 Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. 25 They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: "The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet:
Paul then reiterates the words of Christ we read earlier (Jn 12:40; see also Mt 13:14-15):
26 ‘Go to this people and say, "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving." 27 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ 28 Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen! [the Greek signifies not only listening, but also obedience]"
The Jews had resisted the strivings of the Holy Spirit, just as their fathers before them had, and just as the nation of Israel had. Stephen verified this in his witness before the Sanhedrin—which cost him his life!
Acts 7:51-53 (NIV) "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him—53 you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."
Thankfully, the news is not all bad; not everyone resists the Spirit of God and the witness of the Gospel:
Acts 9:33-35 There he [Peter] found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralysed. 34 And Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed." Then he arose immediately. 35 So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
While this may well be a relative term—all whose hearts were opened—the picture nonetheless is one of mass conversion. This miracle witnessed to the power behind the Gospel message, and helped to evoke faith, as miracles are meant to do.
The Word of God was recognised, received and honoured, as it ought to be, as coming directly from God. Do we so ‘honour the word of the Lord’ in our lives, or do we too often take it for granted?
PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Let there be no misunderstanding. God is merciful and longsuffering, desiring all men to come to repentance and to be saved. He has long overlooked the ignorance of men (Acts 17:30), but there is an accountability for His witness to mankind. Yes it is true that to most in this age it is not given to understand the Plan of God. Yet the sad testimony of the Scriptures is that human beings continue to repel God’s revelation of Himself, even the very message of the Gospel—accompanied though it may be by miracles—when they ought not to. This was true of Adam and Eve, and it will be true of the final generation of the Millennium which turns against Christ, whose multitudes are symbolised by Gog and Magog. It is the story of the hardness of the heart of man against God.
Paul tells us that Christ will take vengeance "on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (2Th 1:8-9). It is a sobering consideration. We, who have received and accepted the Gospel, need to be ever mindful of our own obligation to live it. "The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable", we are told in Ro 11:29. We have been called and we have been given much (Lk 12:47-48) and so "….each of us", we are warned in Ro 14:12, "will be accountable to God." For us, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear, there are lessons and warnings. From the experiences and failures of the Gentiles:
Eph 4:17-20 (NRSV) Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live [as the world lives], in the futility of their minds [minds, as we noted, which have wilfully rejected the evidences of God]. 18 They are darkened in their understanding [as a result], alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart [a self-willed hardening of the heart, a wilful ignorance]. 19 They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 That is not the way you learned Christ! [and it is very much a matter of learning from what we have heard and continue to hear] (see also 1Pe 4:1-5)
It is a warning that we must take seriously the message of the Gospel and strive to internalise it in our lives or we too can one day end up ceasing to care, and default again to the world.
There are warnings for us also in the experiences and failures of ancient Israel:
Heb 4:1-2 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them [it didn’t transform their lives for the better], not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
We today face the same real peril: the danger of unbelief.
HEARING AND DOING
We are accountable for the witness of the Gospel we continue to receive. We can never plead ignorance. What are we doing with what has been given and continues to be given to us? How conscious are we of the reality of our accountability to God? The writer of the Book of Hebrews focuses our attention upon it. We observe again the reference back to the record of Israel’s failures:
Heb 2:1-3 (NRSV) Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard [and to what we continue to hear], so that we do not drift away from it [an alternative rendering may be, that we do not allow it to ‘flow out of our minds’ because of neglect].
We must never forget, never take for granted, never be indifferent to the words of life that are being proclaimed to us.
2 For if the message [the Gospel] declared [to Israel of old] through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty [under the First Covenant], 3 how can we escape if we neglect [if we do not wholeheartedly embrace] so great a salvation?
Heb 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief [but the Greek means more than mere unbelief, rather disbelief—a refusal to believe when we ought to] in departing from the living God.
Could we ever harden our hearts to the words of life of the Gospel? Let’s revisit Hebrews 4:
Heb 4:6-7 (NIV) It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached [the reference again is to ancient Israel] to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts (cf. Ps 95:8-11)."
We must learn from Israel’s failings. It is the hard, impenitent heart (Ro 2:5) that rejects the truth and follows evil (Ro 2:8), so said the apostle Paul. By contrast, "the seed on good soil", Christ tells us, "stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, [but not only hear it, but also] retain it, and by persevering produce a crop (Mk 4:20: who bear fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold or a hundredfold) (Lk 8:15, NIV).
Heb 12:25-26,29 (NRSV) See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking [ie, refuse to hear and heed; how does God speak to us today?]; for if they [Israel] did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth [at Mt. Sinai], how much less will we escape [the accountability is even greater!] if we reject the one who warns from heaven! 26 At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven."
29 for indeed our God is a consuming fire [Dt 4:24].
God continues to address us today just as Christ addressed the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Israel heard, but didn’t do. So let us ask ourselves: How are we hearing? Christ proclaimed in Lk 11:28 that "those who hear the word of God and obey it" are those who are blessed by God. Paul tells us in Ro 2:13 that "it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified". Israel heard only. We must be different:
Jas 1:21 (NIV) Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly [with a mind and heart always receptive to instruction] accept the word planted in you [the seed that should continue to be sown in our hearts, as in the parable of the sower in Mt 13]], which can save you.
We are recipients of the same Word implanted within us. How do we accept it? How deeply rooted is it? Are we practitioners of the Word, or mere hearers, as James goes on to explain:
Jas 1:22-25 (NRSV) But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget [because they are careless and indifferent, just like the careless listener] what they were like [and they may have indeed seen a true reflection]. 25 But those who look [closely, in opposition to verse 24] into [gaze into, peer into] the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.
The word of God should be our divine mirror which reveals to us our shortcomings; but we will only profit if we are earnest to act upon what continues to be revealed to us about ourselves.
Mt 7:24-27 (NIV) "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand [Lk 6:49 shows we are to understand light soil rather than literal sand]. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
Are we as receptive to the Word of God as the Thessalonians were?
1Th 2:13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed [the Greek word is used also of welcoming a guest] it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
The Word of God should be welcomed by its hearers; they should look forward to its company. Such a welcome results in it becoming a powerful force that ‘goes on working’ in those who ‘go on believing’. Can we say this of ourselves individually. Do we hear gladly in order to obey?
CONCLUSION
The lesson of God’s interaction with and witness to mankind is that His testimony and revelation are all too often rejected. We have all received, and continue to receive, a witness, a testimony—each time we hear, each time we read, each time we experience the hand of God. Do we wholeheartedly accept it? Do we live our lives day by day in good conscience before God, mindful that we are always accountable to Him? Or, like the Church reprimanded in Hebrews 5, are we becoming "dull of hearing" (Heb 5:11)?
We’ll conclude, again, in the Book of Hebrews, again in chapter 4:
Heb 4:11-13 (NIV) Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their [Israel’s] example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God [the Word which continues to witness to us] is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Let us make sure that on that Day we can do so with joy and not with sorrow.