What does this command mean in 2023?
It is important to consciously and purposefully bring someone to HIM, and not simply to a program or to a natural solution. Click To Tweet
Unlike the disciples in Mark 9:16-25, we cannot bring someone needing healing ,deliverance, or counsel to the physical Person of Jesus Christ. But we certainly can – and do – bring people to Him in 2023 in other ways! We bring someone to Him in prayer at the Throne of Grace, where He’s seated at the Right Hand of the Father, ever interceding for us. Or when we bring a friend to the local assembly for a service – where there is sound doctrine taught and Body life – we are bringing that person to Jesus, because where there are two or more gathered together in His Nature there He is in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20). We bring someone to Him when we surround them with a couple of or many Spirit-filled believers (e.g., pastors or mature believers) who through death to self as a way of life are really “as He is in this present evil world”. In all of these cases it is important to consciously and purposefully bring the person or persons to HIM, and not simply to a program or to a natural solution. And, in so doing, what will this person discover about Jesus?
What is the One like in Mark 9:19 Who issued this command to the disciples?
He IS Love and changes lives from the inside out, and when manifested, destroys the works of the devil (I John 3:8). Click To Tweet
He is meek, humble, and lowly of heart; and He longs to give rest to the souls of men and to introduce to them HIS yoke, which is not “harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant” (Matthew 11:30, Amplified). In Isaiah 9:6 we read that He is called “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”. He is GOD, Who does all things well (Mark 7:37), including directing my smallest steps as well as holding the entire universe together by the Word of His power! This One alone knows all the thoughts of a person, even the ones they have not thought yet (Psalm 139:2); and HIS thoughts toward us are precious and cannot be numbered (verses 17,18). They are “thoughts of peace and not of evil” (Jeremiah 29:11). Furthermore – and perhaps most importantly – this Great God is Love (I John 4:8,16). This is a Love that endures long, is patient and kind, is never overbearing or rude, never takes into account any wrong done to it, bears with us in everything that happens in our lives, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, endures everything without weakening – and It never fails. ( I Corinthians 13:4-8) This Love is a love that changes lives from the inside out; and when it is manifested it destroys the works of the devil (I John 3:8).
Manifesting this Love and fulfilling Jesus’ command in Mark 9:19 …
How is this command fulfilled in our individual and corporate lives? Bringing petitions for specific people and particular problems is one means, remembering that we are making our requests known to the One Who ever lives to make intercession for us, and Who is “Omni-understanding”. Another way to bring loved ones and needs to Him is by lifting Him up in our communication – through words or actions. Jesus promised in John 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me.” HE does the drawing to Himself if we exalt Him, and make Hm the most important thing in our exchanges with people. In I Thessalonians 5:24 we have a further promise of HIM drawing people to Himself: “Faithful is He Who is calling you to Himself and utterly trustworthy …. ” (Amplified).
Behind effective “bringing to Him” is studying Him.
We study the Lord Jesus to learn what He's like so we can describe and manifest Him accurately to others. Click To Tweet
We study the Lord Jesus to learn what He’s like so we can describe and manifest Him accurately to others. Here are some examples of what we will discover about Him: (1) The Shulammite woman in Song of Solomon tells those around her: “His mouth and speech are exceedingly sweet” (SS 5:16). David likewise says in Psalm 45:2 “Grace is poured upon His lips.”. These statements tell us that ALL of His communication to us is GRACE, no matter what form the words may take. This is the God of all Grace Who cannot speak to us outside of Grace. (2) In studying Him we learn and cannot help but declare what His Nature is: “The Lord! The Lord! a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and Truth, keeping mercy and lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin … ” (Exodus 34:6,7) (3) We affirm that everything He has said He will do, that His Word, His promises, are absolutely true (e.g. “I will never leave you nor forsake you”; “I have loved you with an everlasting Love”; “I will remember your sins no more”). (4) He loves us. He knows us inside and out, each one of us, and He loves us! This is why we so love Him (I John 4:10). (5) Paul, who so diligently studied the Lord, the Word of God Himself (Rev.19:13), declared in II Corinthians 1:3, “He’s the God of all comfort, the Father of mercies.” and in Romans 15:5, “He is the God patience and comfort.” (6) Peter likewise knew Him intimately and with unchanging conviction affirmed that “He is the God of all Grace”. (I Peter 5:10)
Me first!
Before I can effectively fulfill this command to bring someone to Him, I must first hear and obey His request to me personally: “Come unto Me …” (Matthew 11:28). By His Grace, I become so established in His Love for me, so secure in the “sweet, satisfying companionship of the Lord” (Psalm 25:14a), so stabilized by His thoughts of peace toward me (Jer.29:11), that I can make Him manifest to someone with the result that he/she wants to come to Him, too, just as the Shulammite woman did in Song of Solomon 5 and 6. Then I, we, can bring someone to the Lord with the result that this person is healed and God is glorified (Matthew 9:2-8)! Even masses could possibly come to Him as we read in Acts 5:12-16 where “believers were increasingly added to the Lord, and the sick were healed.” as the disciples proclaimed to the crowds Who Jesus was and what He was like. Also Paul in Athens gathered together the philosophers in the synagogue to expound to them the Person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ – so effectively that some of them brought him to a larger place, the Aeropagus, where there was a greater audience. Result? Some believed and joined him. In brief, Paul first came to the Lord Jesus, learned to rest in His Love, then was constra,ined by Christ’s Love for him (II Cor.5:14) to launch out, with much Grace in faith, to bring others to Him.
- “Bring him to Me.” - May 10, 2023
- With JOY Draw Water from the Wells! - April 11, 2023
- Who is our Beloved? - March 4, 2023
