March 1, 2026
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Every Sunday evening, Nancy and I put out the garbage near the street. Ok, let me be honest about it. Nancy is the vigilant one – I could live with it if we missed a week, but I help her to avoid feeling guilty about her doing it alone. The kids and I used to call her the “garbage czar” back in the day. She simply does not want to be around garbage any longer than she must.
This week in Mark 5, I found that Jesus had a similar attitude toward the spirit of unbelief. He felt it needed to be put out as soon as possible.
Faith and Unbelief Contrasted
Mark 5:
21 ¶ And when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered about Him; and He stayed by the seashore.
22 And one of the synagogue officials named Jairus *came up, and upon seeing Him, *fell at His feet,
23 and *entreated Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; [please] come and lay Your hands on her, that she may get well and live.”
24 And He went off with him; and a great multitude was following Him and pressing in on Him.
25 And a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years,
26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse,
27 after hearing about Jesus, came up in the crowd behind [Him,] and touched His cloak.
28 For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I shall get well.”
29 And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
30 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power [proceeding] from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?”
31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”
32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth.
34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”
35 ¶ While He was still speaking, they *came from the [house of] the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?”
36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid [any longer,] only believe.”
This passage draws an important distinction between faith and the spirit of unbelief. The power to heal manifested in a tangible way when the woman exercised her faith and touched Jesus’ garment. So strong was the move of God that Jesus felt the power going out from Him, and He told her: “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”
What interests me here is that as soon as this miracle took place, and while Jesus was reinforcing the woman’s faith, the spirit of unbelief arose. People from the synagogue came and told Jairus that his was daughter was dead and there was no longer any reason to bother Jesus with the matter. Verse 36 showed that Jesus discerned the unbelief and encouraged Jairus: “Do not be afraid…only believe.”
The Garbage of Unbelief
The importance of putting out the garbage of unbelief in our lives is shown by Jesus’ actions in the next verses of Mark 5.
Mark 5:
37 And He allowed no one to follow with Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James.
38 And they *came to the house of the synagogue official; and He *beheld a commotion, and [people] loudly weeping and wailing.
39 And entering in, He *said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.”
40 And they [began] laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered [the room] where the child was.
41 And taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”).
42 And immediately the girl rose and [began] to walk; for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded.
43 And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this; and He said that [something] should be given her to eat. (NASB)
Jesus did two things to put out the garbage of unbelief from his sight. First, He allowed only Peter, James, and John to follow Him. He did not want the unbelieving “death” crowd to follow Him. He wanted to be surrounded by the spirit of belief.
Secondly, when He arrived at Jairus’ house, He again encountered such unbelief that verse 40 tells us He began by “…putting them all out…” He went into the room with only Peter, James, John, and the girl’s parents. Again, He wanted the spirit of faith in the room, not the fear of unbelief.
So, we can see that, in just this one example, Jesus had to walk through all kinds of unbelief to get to a place of faith, which is necessary for healing and other miraculous moves of God. The same is true for us in our walk with Him. We must navigate our way through the unbelief and get to a place of faith. We need to put the unbelief out from us like the Sunday night garbage.
Will Jesus Find Faith When He Comes?
In the parable of the unrighteous judge, Jesus encourages us to be persistent in our faith.
Luke 18:
1 ¶ Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,
2 saying, “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, and did not respect man.
3 “And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’
4 “And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,
5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, lest by continually coming she wear me out.’”
6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge *said;
7 now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?
8 “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Jesus is saying if an unrighteous judge responds to persistence, imagine how much more justice and mercy are available from the Righteous Judge. But notice that Jesus asks a serious question in verse 8: will He find faith in the earth when He comes again?
Will Only a Remnant Be Raptured?
Luke 18:8 raises an important question concerning the Rapture. Will the spirit of unbelief draw many away from the faith, leaving only a remnant of believers at the Rapture? This was apparently on Jesus’ mind in Luke 18:8 and in other passages of scripture where He marveled at the people’s unbelief.
Mark 6 is one such example involving Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth.
Mark 6:
4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his home town and among his [own] relatives and in his [own] household.”
5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them.
6 And He wondered at their unbelief. And He was going around the villages teaching.
We can find other evidence in the scripture that there will be only a remnant at the Rapture.
1st Timothy 4:
1 ¶ But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
Last time we talked about 1st John 4:1-3, which warns that false prophets are being sent into the world by the spirit of the antichrist. Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24, verses 11 and 24 that these false prophets would mislead many with their deceptions. This is already happening today and sets the stage for a potential falling away from the faith. Paul prophesied as much to Timothy and, in 2nd Thessalonians 2, we will see that he connected it to the timing of the end of the age.
2nd Thessalonians 2:
1 ¶ Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him,
2 that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
3 ¶ Let no one in any way deceive you, for [it will not come] unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains [will do so] until he is taken out of the way.
8 And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
9 [that is,] the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false,
12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
Paul is describing several end-of-the age events here: the apostasy, the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Abomination of Desolation by the antichrist, and finally the Second Coming of Jesus at the Battle of Armageddon. The word “apostasy” means a falling away from the faith, or a defection from the truth. Paul does not explicitly say the apostasy will occur before the Rapture but verses 7-8 set the timing of lawlessness (which could mean apostasy) first, removal of the restrainer second, then the revealing of the antichrist, and finally the slaying of the antichrist by Jesus at the Second Coming. The removal of the restraining force refers to the Holy Spirit and the Church, thus implying that the Rapture will occur just in the nick of time because the revealing of the antichrist will coincide with the mid-point of the Tribulation.
Rather than argue about timing, just take under advisement that the apostasy is an end times event that we must be vigilant of, and not get sucked into. We are seeing increased lawlessness in the world today, and compromise of the word of God in our churches. We are also seeing an increase of antisemitism in the world, which is a sign of a falling away from the word of God. All of that sounds like apostasy to me, so just be advised and ask the Lord to keep you from falling victim to the spirit of unbelief.
Further, in 1st Thessalonians 4, Paul discussed the Rapture using words whose Greek meanings indicate only a remnant will be snatched up in the nick of time from danger of the Tribulation.
1st Thessalonians 4:
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of [the] archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.
According to Rick Renner, in his book, “The Rapture, The Antichrist, and the Tribulation,” the Greek meaning of the word “alive” conveys more than being physically alive. It conveys someone who is spiritually living, spiritually robust, spiritually thriving, spiritually vibrant, and spiritually vigorous. The word “remain” in the Greek refers to a remnant, or a smaller part that is left over from a larger piece. And the idea of the Rapture occurring just in the nick of time comes from verse 16 which describes the Lord’s shout, the voice of an archangel, and the sound of the trumpet of God, which are all calls to war, indicating that the Lord is rescuing His Church and declaring war on the principalities and forces of darkness. Finally, the expression “caught up” in verse 17 comes from the Greek word “harpadzo” which indicates a forcible snatching of someone out of a dangerous situation just in the nick of time.[i]
Closing
And so, as believers, we are called to be vigilant as Jesus was, against the spirit of unbelief that is in our world. Jesus navigated this earth and put out from His presence those who did not believe. We must do the same to preserve our faith and endure to the end.
Matthew 24:
10 “And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another.
11 “And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.
12 “And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.
13 “But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.
In closing, be encouraged by the words of Jude, the half-brother of Jesus who did not come to the Lord until after the Resurrection.
Jude 1:
17 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,
18 that they were saying to you, “In the last time there shall be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.”
19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit;
21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting;
23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, [be] glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Let us pray.
Father God, we pray for the discernment of the Holy Spirit, that we would be vigilant and recognize the spirit of unbelief in our lives. Help us to follow Jesus’ lead and put unbelief away from us, just as we do with the garbage in the natural realm. Help us to endure to the end in faith, so that we will be among the remnant at the Rapture, obeying the war cry and meeting the Lord in the air as He rescues us. We pray for those among us who are doubting. Keep us in the love of God and help us to snatch them out of the fire, as You have done for us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
[i] Rick Renner, The Rapture, The Antichrist, and the Tribulation (Shippensburg, PA: Harrison House Publishers, 2025) pp.10-37.
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