FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING Larry W Peebles March 20, 2020 20.09
“There’s a first time for everything.” my Dad would say. It was his predictable reply to any new challenge I faced in my formative years at home. If it was my first time to ride a bike, to swim, or play team sports, Dad’s approach was this- in your life you will continually face new challenges. It does not matter what they are-what matters is the attitude with which you approach them. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Develop the confidence to try difficult things. You may not succeed the first time, but keep on trying until you do succeed.
His advice and support served me well. There was the first time to drive and the first time to buy a car. The first time came to graduate from high school, and the first time to graduate from college. There was getting married, getting the first job, and having our first child. He was right–life was full of “first-times”. There was the first time I came to know God was real. Our first grandchild came, and finally retirement. Now my wife and I travel to the nations together for the first time to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and spread His love. Our goal is to bring encouragement to the pastors and churches in foreign lands, and aid to the hurting and needy. This has proven to be quite exciting, and my prediction is there will be still more first-times.
There is a spiritual lesson in this. Most are familiar with Matthew 28:18-20, where Jesus says- “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” These words were spoken after Jesus’ death and resurrection as final instruction to His disciples. They close the Book of Matthew, and stand today as instruction for all believers. This passage is commonly known as the Great Commission.
There has to be first time for everything. If these words were His final and greatest instructions for His followers, what were His first or initial instructions to His disciples? They might be His words in Matthew 10: 6-8- “Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” This is quite a commission for the first time the twelve disciples were sent out.
Scholars estimate the timing is the second year of Jesus’ ministry. The disciples had been together for about one year. They had seen some of His miracles and heard some of His teaching, but were nowhere near the end of all they would hear and see during His 3+ years of ministry. Jesus blood was not yet shed on the cross for their sins. The Holy Spirit had not yet been given to live in the hearts of men (Pentecost). In Matthew 10:1, we read that Jesus did give them power (the Holy Spirit) “over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and disease.” This would be akin to the Old Testament, where the power of the Holy Spirit came upon men, as opposed to living in them. So without being fully trained, without being cleansed from sin, and without the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were sent out for the first time to heal the sick, cast out demons, cleanse the lepers, and raise the dead.
How could Jesus, the Son of God, set such high expectations for the first time out? It is because he had shown them it was possible. Jesus was both the Son of God, and the Son of Man. He was fully God, and fully man. While on the earth, He chose to function as a man. The life he led, and the sinless example he set, were done as a man. The teachings he gave, and the miracles of His ministry, were done as a man. Several scriptures confirm this. Philippians 2:5-8- “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” He emptied Himself of reputation [as God], and lived, suffered and died as a man.
By becoming totally dependent on the Father, and allowing the Holy Spirit to move through Him, He gave us the perfect example of what man should seek to become. John 5:19- “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do.” “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent me.” (v.30) “Whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak.” (John12:50). Though He was fully God, while on the earth He operated fully as a man. He depended on and allowed the Father to direct Him and flow through Him. He was training His disciples to do the same. It was good they would hear more of His teaching, and see more of His miracles. It was good they would feel His compassion for the people. But the secret was in their surrender of themselves, emptying themselves to the point of total submission to the Father. In losing themselves, they would find the greatest fulfillment of their God-given destiny.
Bill Johnson, Bethel Church, says it this way- “If Jesus did His miracles as God, they are wonderful miracles full of purpose, but I am a spectator. If Jesus did His miracles as a man, then I am compelled to follow the example of Jesus to see if I can demonstrate Jesus to the world by emptying myself out and submitting to the Father.”
The apostle Paul understood this and wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5- “My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
What were the results of the twelve disciples going out for the first time, perhaps unprepared by conventional standards? Two of the other Gospels tell us. Mark 6:13- “And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.” Luke 9:6- “So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”
Two additional points become apparent in the study of this topic. First, Jesus did not send them far away on their first journey. He told them to stay around Israel, and visit the cities close to home. He said in Matthew 10:23- “You will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” In other words, Jesus encouraged the disciples that He would be out with them, checking on them and lending support. They were not going alone.
Second, Jesus and His miracles are inseparable. If one finds Jesus, they will find His miracles, and if they find His miracles, they will find Jesus. If we are not seeing the miraculous, we need to move. If we cannot see the movie in a theatre, we will shift in our seat, or get up and change seats until we can see. Luke 19:1-10 tells the story of Zacchaeus, a man of short stature, who climbed into a sycamore tree to see Jesus. Though he was a rich corrupt tax collector, he was desperate to see the One he had heard about. His efforts were rewarded when Jesus saw him and called him to come down. Jesus came as a guest to his house. Zacchaeus made atonement for his corruption, and Jesus declared he and his house received salvation that day.
When Jesus came to a city on one side of the lake, the people from the other side came to see. The crowds followed Jesus. Miracles followed Jesus. If we wait to see if Jesus will come to us, He may come by. If we hear He is in the area, better to go to where He is, and position ourselves to see Him.
Miracles are not the main objective, but when we see miracles, it grows our faith, and we believe for more of the miraculous. When we see miracles, we learn more of the character and power of God. We see His compassion for the hurting, and of His interest in the details of the lives of His children. God becomes more real, because a miracle is simply something that occurs in the natural world that can only be explained in terms of the super (Gr.-supra-above) natural. When the supernatural collides with the natural world, the supernatural wins every time. We are in this [natural] world, but we are not of this world. We are created in the image of God.
When we empty ourselves and allow God to flow through us, we will see the miraculous. How can one be sure of this? A Man said so- “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do because I go to my Father.” (John 14:12) When Jesus left the earth, he left the Holy Spirit and the authority to do works in His name. These are the power tools for the coming greatest revival the world has ever seen, and the ultimate fulfilment of the Great Commission.
