Essay Four
The Yoke of Sign Seeking
How many sincere and well intentioned evangelical ministers seek signs from members of their congregation that they have given their hearts to Christ, rather than preaching the gospel of reconciliation in Jesus Christ?
If Thou be the Christ tell us Plainly
We piously censure the Jews when we read in John 10:24, “If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly?” In our hearts we wonder, didn’t those Jews know the scriptures which testify of Christ? Yet, do we not ask the same faithless question of our brethren? If you’re a Christian, tell us plainly? Don’t the scriptures teach us that our sonship was settled by God before the foundations of the world were laid? (Ephesians 1:4-5), and as promised to our fathers and the prophets in Genesis 17:7 and Hosea 1:10, and fulfilled by Jesus Christ in sealing the new covenant with his blood at Calvary? In John 10:25 we read, “Jesus answered them, I told you and you believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.” Is not this how Jesus said we could identify his sheep? “Ye shall know them by their fruit.” (Matthew 7:16)
There Shall No Sign be given this Generation
In Mark 8:11-12, “The Pharisees came forth, and began to question him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith. Why does this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.” Do we not grieve the Spirit of God when we seek a sign from the Christ indwelling the heart of the believer? Or worse yet, do we imply that the sign is a condition of becoming a Christian? By the upraised hand have your sins forgiven, by the upraised hand receive eternal life, by the upraised hand become a child of God. Such nonsense!
The Sign of Circumcision
The apostles had to contend with those seeking signs in the days of the early church. In Acts 15:1-2 we read, “And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.” Now we know that circumcision was a sign or a token of the unconditional covenant which God made with Abraham. In Romans 4:11 we read, “And he (Abraham) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also.”
Why tempt God to put a Yoke on the Neck of the Disciples
In Acts 15:10, Peter speaking on this matter says, “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” Are we not reverting back to the yoke of the conditional old covenant when we ask the people to give us a sign of their faith. At the sealing of the old covenant the people said in Exodus 24:7, “All that the Lord hath said will we do,” At the sealing of the new covenant, the people remained silent, and the Spirit of God descended upon them to speak the words of the prophets concerning the grace of Christ. (Acts 2:4& 16-39)
We are Children of the Promise
In Galatians 4:28-31 Paul tells us to cast out the bondwoman (the old covenant) with all of its vestiges, and to stake our faith on the unconditional new covenant which frees us from all dependence on the flesh. “Now we brethren, as Issac was, are the children of promise. . . Cast out the bondwoman and her son (old covenant): for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman (new covenant). So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.”
God has broken the yoke upon his people that teaches we are saved by works, a teaching which prevailed until the time of Martin Luther. God must, and will, break the yoke that teaches we are saved by signs. Many of God’s children have borne this burden of trusting in signs of the flesh, and not trusting wholly in the finished work of Christ. Indeed it is too heavy a burden.
That They may Glory in Your Flesh
In Galatians 6:12 Paul says, “As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised: only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.” Unfortunately, if you teach that Christ finished the work for man’s salvation on the cross, independent of the will of man, you’re going to be persecuted, as were the apostles. Paul goes on in Galatians 6:13, “For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.”
How many ministers judge the success of their ministry by the number of signs of upraised hands, or responses to altar calls? In Galatians 6:14 we read, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”
These Signs shall Follow Them that Believe
The Lord has given us the ordinance of baptism as a token or sign (not a condition) that we are God’s workmanship. “That he might sanctify and cleanse it (the Church) with the washing of water by the word.” (Ephesians 5:26) In Mark 16:17-18 Christ says, “And these signs shall follow them that believe.”
“In my name they shall cast out devils.” This includes devilish doctrines as spoken of in I Timothy 4:1, “In the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”
“They will speak with new tongues.” In John 8:28 Jesus said, “but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.” Even so, we must speak the words of God and not our own.
“They shall take up serpents.” Luke 10:19 says, “behold I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing by any means shall hurt you.” In Matthew 23:33, Christ identifies these serpents as religious unbelievers.
“And if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them.” Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 20:23, “Ye shall drink indeed of my cup,” and so they did, caring not about those who could destroy the body, but not the spirit.
That Ye Break Every Yoke
In Isaiah 58:6 we read, “Is not the fast which I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?”