Book: Mark

A Chance to Go All In

In this sermon, missionary Brian Shortmeier looks at the account of the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-31 to challenge you as to whether you really are going “all in” as a follower of Jesus. Brian also takes some time to explain his current ministry with Ethnos360 and how you can be a part.

Full Transcript:

Good morning. I was thinking, as we were singing, oh, this is nice. I want to just settle in here and listen to the speaker. Oh, it’s me!

My wife wishes she could be here. We’ve had some family issues at the moment, and our son needed some additional help. We said, hey, we’re going to do what we can. She’s with him right now up in Schenectady, and I’ll be going up there tomorrow and get her and bring her back down here. We’ll be in this area for about a week, and then we’ll be back up to Schenectady again. That’ll be my fifth time up there in a few weeks. So, it’s been back and forth.

Before I forget, because I always do, there are some handouts there on the back table if you’re interested in finding out more about ethnos360. Looking for an opportunity to serve in some way on short-term mission trips, volunteering, and various things. Please help yourself. Well, it’s back there.

With the verses that we read this morning, you might think, oh, I’m waiting to talk about that and explain that one. Or what about that? You probably won’t get that. I think my take on this is maybe a little different here. So, if I miss your favorite part or didn’t explain something that you’ve thought, I’ve always wanted someone to explain that one. That’s probably why I left it out.

I have a question for you. Would you like to have seen Jesus face-to-face and sat under His teaching? I’m not sure I would’ve liked that. I’m afraid that I would have naturally gravitated to either the Pharisees or the scribes. I wonder, would I recognize Jesus for who He is? What would I have done about it? In that era, would I have been rich or poor? Would it have made a difference? Well, throughout history, the rich had more opportunities available to them. They heard more things.

We have a story in the Gospels of a young man who found himself in that situation. As far as you know, he was not a Pharisee, a Sadducee, a scribe, a tax collector, or a zealot. He had not been caught in some compromising situation.

He was a young man who apparently inherited a great deal of wealth at a young age. From what we can read, we can assume he’d been instructed in the scriptures and had a heart inclined toward God. As Jesus’s notoriety and popularity grew, we’re guessing he heard a lot about Jesus, and then an opportunity presented itself.

Mark 10:17,

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

The first thing I want you to notice is that this man ran up to Jesus. This is not something that the rich ordinarily do. They expect you to come to them. You come to their office, and you wait on them. Obviously, this person had been looking for Jesus and didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

He had heard about Jesus, and I think he believed what he’d heard. He believed Jesus had truth, and he wanted to know that truth. He was serious about eternal life, and he knew he needed to know God’s perspective, not his own.

I thought, was his question like many of the other questions posed to Jesus during His ministry? And I had to answer to myself, no, it wasn’t. So many others tried to catch Jesus in something that they could trap Him in and turn the crowds against Him. He wasn’t challenging Jesus. In fact, he fell on his knees in humility, honoring Jesus.

Throughout the Gospels, many people addressed Jesus as teacher, master, and rabbi. This man went further. He was the only one, you can look through the Gospels, who called Jesus good teacher. This man was sincere.

Mark 10:18,

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good–except God alone.

Now Jesus’s response is interesting. Have you ever pondered it? I do not believe Jesus was challenging the use of the word good. Good was a very appropriate word. I believe Jesus was trying to get the man to think. What was it in Jesus that made that word appropriate?

Jesus wanted the man to connect the dots. Jesus stated clearly that only God is good. Therefore, if Jesus is also good, then what could you conclude about Jesus? If the man could realize who he was really talking to, then he would stand a better chance at being able to understand what was going to be behind Jesus’s answer and able to follow through in response. Whether the man had a chance to stop and think about that or not, we don’t know.

Jesus continued His answer with a list from the ten commandments. Mark 10:19,

You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.”

Have you wondered why Jesus gave the man that list? I mean, He knew better than anyone that following the law could never earn eternal life. In fact, Jesus was asked another time about what work is it that I need to do in order to be saved? How did Jesus answer? In John 6:28-29, Jesus replied that the only way appropriate work is to believe.

What was Jesus doing here in this conversation? Jesus was challenging his thinking. In doing so, quite honestly, Jesus was challenging the entire mindset of the Jews and the prevailing culture.

When the young ruler heard the list, I don’t know if that encouraged or discouraged him. I mean, if he felt that he was already doing his best to observe all these instructions, then Jesus’s answer might’ve been encouraging. Or he might’ve thought, hey, wait a minute, I’ve been obeying those laws, and so far, it hasn’t given me any assurance, or I wouldn’t have asked the question.

In Mark 10:20,

“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

You know, whatever was going through his mind at that moment, he declared that he had been trying to keep those commandments since he was a boy.

In Matthew’s account of this same meeting, he writes that the young man then asked, what was it he still lacked? Which makes me think that, in his heart, he knew keeping the commandments was not enough. The thing that we know for certain is that Jesus knew this man’s heart. Jesus could sense his desire to know the truth, the desire to be certain, and the desire to please God. But the man was still bound by his own culture and probably by his own desire for comfort.

What about us? How often, if ever, do we think about how we might be bound by our own culture? How much are we bound by our own desire for comfort, to get rid of any of those things that might be unpleasant? Anything that might cause us doubt. Like, will we have enough to pay this or to do that? We just want everything to go smoothly.

Do we critically examine each purpose, or each expectation, or each interaction in light of scripture? In light of what God wants in this world? Or do we just go about acting and behaving all the way our Christian friends around us are acting and behaving because it’s what we do?

In Mark 10:21, we read that Jesus looked at him and loved him. So, Jesus went further because the battle wasn’t over. Jesus was still sowing truth into this young man, and there was more that needed to be confronted.

If you all notice, Jesus left out one of the Ten Commandments in the previous list He had given to the young ruler. Did anybody catch it? The commandment about coveting.

At least one commentator feels that the coveting was the main issue in this young ruler’s life. If it was, and maybe it wasn’t, in the conversation, Jesus is now going to challenge him to go all in.

Finishing the rest of verse 21,

“One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Jesus told the young man to sell all of his possession, and give everything to the poor, which would result in him having treasure in heaven as opposed to having treasure on earth. But He didn’t stop there. There was more to this invitation. He also said the young ruler could come along with Jesus.

Let’s back up. Just giving away all you own does not earn one a place in heaven. Jesus knew that. No one could work their way to heaven, so what was Jesus doing? Jesus was offering this young man a chance to grow in understanding and faith. He was actually offering him an opportunity to be one of His disciples and to eventually earn or hear about the way of salvation. Far more of an opportunity this man had asked for.

The conversation with the young man finishes with verse 22,

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

At hearing what Jesus said, this man became sad and went away. It says because he had great wealth. Obviously, this implies that he wasn’t willing to give up that wealth. Does that mean he wasn’t saved? Well, my guess is he wasn’t, at least not at this point.

You’ve got to ask yourself. How many of the other disciples do you think were saved at this point in the ministry? I think maybe none of them. They were on a journey, and there was a lot they didn’t understand, at least not yet.

That the disciples didn’t understand either is obvious from what the response to what Jesus said next. Mark 10:23-26,

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

Look at this next sentence.

²⁴The disciples were amazed at his words.

Why would they have been amazed? It’s their culture.

But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eyes of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

You know, when Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, what was the disciple’s response? Then who can be saved? Does this indicate despair on their part?

It was a common belief in the Jewish culture that material blessing was a sign of God’s favor on a life. Jesus had a lot of correctional teaching to do, and we know that the Holy Spirit had to continue that correctional teaching even after the resurrection.

I doubt that Nicodemus was saved when he heard what we’ve referred to as John 3:16. Yes, he was saved eventually, but I’m guessing that took a while.

I wondered if this rich young ruler eventually understood what Jesus was talking about and got saved in the early days after the resurrection or after the day of Pentecost. We know that all of the disciples, except for Judas Iscariot, were saved eventually. But like it is for all of us, it was a process. I thank God He doesn’t give up on us in the middle of the process.

Think about the Parable of the pearl of great price. Giving away all you have to secure the most valuable thing in the world? Obviously, Jesus was not talking about trading our earthly goods for salvation. No, that Parable and this story of the Rich Young Ruler both challenge us to consider what we would do if we were given the chance, or the opportunity, to be a part of the greatest thing heaven could offer us.

As Christians, we’ve already been given the gift of eternal life, bought by the blood of Christ. So, salvation isn’t the issue, not for us. The issue is the degree of commitment. Jesus was giving the rich young ruler more than he asked for.

I’ll tell you, which is better, to be a fan of a team or to be on the team? Jesus was giving him a chance to become one of His disciples, to be on the team that was going to turn the world upside down.

In verse 21. Jesus’s answer, the one thing you lack. This implies that look, you want to be perfect, mature, and complete, which is what that means, and if you want to be all in, then set aside all other distractions and join with Him.

Now, all of the disciples’ thinking was still fuzzy in a lot of areas, and they were still bound by the same culture as the rich young ruler. They caught the implication of being all in. On behalf of all of the disciples, in Matthew 19:27,

Peter answered him, “we have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

Back in Mark 10:29-31, Jesus sought to assure the suddenly worried disciples by telling them, look, God will care for them in this life, and they will have eternal life in the age to come. But even then, after saying that, He ended it with: But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. I am sure this left the disciples shaking their hands again. We thought we were with you, and then He ended on that.

Are you all in? It’s a question those who follow Jesus need to answer. Jesus gave other examples of the necessity of being all in. We know that following Jesus can cost a lot. Following Jesus very closely can cost you a lot more. It’s as true now as it was then.

To the rich young ruler, it meant giving up a comfortable life. That’s what his riches were going to give him—a comfortable life. He wasn’t willing to do that. He had great wealth that he wasn’t willing to give up in order to be all in.

You know, the pivotal factor for each one of us can be different. Wealth is just one example of something the Lord might be asking you to give up. It could be a great education. It could be a great job. It could be a great reputation, or a great family life.

I remember reading biographies of Christians in previous centuries who gave up all of those things to serve the Lord full-time. I don’t think God sees decades and centuries in the same way we do. You think, oh yes, I’ve read some of those biographies too, but that was a different time, and God doesn’t act the same way today. I don’t know about that. We’ve been given so, so very much in this country. Unfortunately, so much of it we spend on ourselves.

Back then, many gave up great wealth, education, power, or fame. And just like I believe that God hasn’t changed, that the word of God hasn’t changed, the opportunity that God is offering His people has not changed.

How close do you want to be to Jesus? How involved do you want to be in the way He is working in this world? How closely do you want to be identified with Him? He might ask you, what are you willing to give up? His Spirit will prompt your soul in some way, and it isn’t the same for everyone. What He asks us to do doesn’t look the same for everyone.

You know what? His promise to each of us is the same. Everyone who’s left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or fields, or farms for My sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

My wife became a believer when she was about five. I didn’t become a believer until after I graduated from Rutgers at 22. Wanting to be all in, to do whatever Jesus was leading us towards, we both took steps toward that. We had no idea where that would lead us, but we knew Who we were following. We wanted to join a team that would bring the life-saving message of the Gospel to people groups who had never heard it.

For sixteen years, we served at a school for missionaries’ children, followed by ten years in administration for New Tribes Mission in Papua New Guinea, which was followed by eleven years in administration for New Tribes Mission USA here in the U.S. In the middle of that time in 2017, New Tribes Mission changed its name to Ethnos 360. And in 2020, I volunteered to add to my ministry, which no one else was willing to do, to take over the leadership of the homes of Ethnos 360. I was able to step down from my position as Chief Administrative Officer of Ethnos 360 USA and concentrated on the ministry at the homes retirement community just last December.

You might say, wait a minute, you’re talking about reaching tribes overseas. You know, giving all in. What has that got to do with the retirement community?

Fair question. We have a retirement community because in the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and even into the early 80s, missionaries went into the fields as fast as they could with the encouragement of local churches, sometimes with hardly enough support to live on, let alone save for retirement. I could remember in the early 80s, you didn’t dare mention the idea that you were saving for retirement to a church. They thought that you have enough money already if you could save for retirement. It wasn’t something you did.

Realizing that many of these missionaries would eventually return permanently to the United States, our mission leadership decided to build a retirement community to provide affordable and efficient housing for Ethnos 360 personnel to at least return dignity. The whole team from beginning to end. We’ve taken it upon ourselves to provide a nurturing and caring environment to attempt to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of our residents within the staff, facility, and state licensing capabilities. The majority of our residents are in their 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s.

Now two years ago, right after I started the position of the director of the home, I did a little research. I discovered that, not including our staff, and just including our retired missionaries within the property, our 130 missionaries at the time represented over 5,000 man-years of active missionary service, averaging over 39 years per missionary. 5,000 man-years from those 130 residents.

To help you understand what it is, I’d like to show you a quick presentation to give you an idea of our ministry at the homes of Ethnos 360. We’ll be coming back to the message here.

We work at the homes here, a community for retired missionaries of Ethnos 360. Well-maintained and very inviting. We’ve got 102 private residences for retirees. We also have 10 single family homes for staff and maintenance buildings. A facility in the middle of the property for those needing extra care, an RV court, and landscape grounds and property.

The 102 residences for retirees are built in side-by-side duplexes. Most of those duplexes are on cul-de-sacs. Most of them have two bedrooms, a laundry area, a living room, a bathroom, a kitchen, a dining room, a screen porch, and a covered car porch. Sometimes your neighbors are people you served with on the field.

There’s plenty of shade, which is really nice in Florida in the Summer. When taking walks, there’s plenty of landscaping for beauty. Many flowers and trees bloom year-round. Our chapel was the last section to be built and our main facility. Our chapel comfortably seats over 400 people. Our industrial kitchen with the Florida department of health.

We have 18 private rooms for those who can live independently, and another 8 rooms registered as an assisted living facility. There’s a large lounge for sitting with a fireplace. Tables for work projects and a pool table.

The smaller lounge, connected with the ALF, works well for sing-a-longs, birthday parties, and for playing games. We even have a screening gazebo for events during the Fall, Winter, and Spring.

We have an exercise room. A no-judgment zone, which doesn’t get much use as it should. We have a library. We have a nurse’s station, and we have a beauty parlor. There are offices for administration, and our chapel is where we have our prayer services.

We encourage our elderly residents to walk as much as possible, and we try to provide extra care for those needed, such as taking residents to doctor’s appointments and shopping with them as they wish.

The far end of the property is our RV court, next to our maintenance buildings. One of which contains a clubhouse with showers, laundry machines, a stove, and refrigerators for our snowbirds. We couldn’t exist, we wouldn’t be able to exist, without our snowbirds who come from all over the country. Some stay for a week, and some stay for four months. Some paint, some help with outdoor fixtures, and some do electrical work.

We always seem to have a lot of projects going on, some of which are extensive and some of which don’t require any particular training. We use mechanics, seamstresses, those experienced with concrete, and lots of general laborers. One of our big projects was building a back gate for the back of the property, primarily used for exiting and not for entering.

Throughout the Winter, we have special days of fun, like our Country Game Day. We play shuffleboard, ping-pong, cornhole, horseshoes, and other games. We also have an annual staff/volunteer picnic at a local park. We also have an annual volunteer appreciation night. We have other visitors, too, from time to time, but as long as you keep your eyes posted, you watch where you walk and watch where you fish, the vultures won’t get you.

Many residents ride around the property on their bicycles or just take a daily walk. They enjoy the scenery and the palm trees.

We have our own website for those interested in learning more and possibly coming down to volunteer for a bit. You say, you went through all of that? Yes, because as much as I am looking for people to go overseas and work in tribes, we also need volunteers. We probably have less than half the staff we need.

It’s not a very sought-after position to work in the U.S. It’s not a very sought-after position by churches to want to support missionaries who work in the U.S. The only way we keep functioning every year is by all those volunteers who come on down. They bring their RV, set up in our RV court, and we’ve got complete hookups and everything. You know what, there’s not a lot I can do, but I can help. And we get two-thirds of our yearly work done during the three and four months of the winter when all of our snowbirds come down.

So, if you’ve ever thought about that, actually, you might not want to come to Florida during August and October because there’s these nasty things called hurricanes that show up. But January, February, March is a great time to come. So, come on down.

After telling His disciples how difficult it will be to live the Christian life in this world, Jesus gives some more of those all-in statements that I referred to earlier. He then talks about the team in a way never expressed before. Matthew 10:37-42,

“Anyone who loves his father and mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ⁴⁰“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. ⁴¹Anyone who receives a prophet because is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward,

You got to wonder, what are they thinking here? What is He getting to?

and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴²And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

There are a lot of different parts of a team, and they’re all needed. The number of missionaries being sent by this country has been decreasing rapidly in the last ten years. Yeah, we can blame a lot of things on the baby-boomer generation, but they’re not getting replaced. There are not many from the generations that follow them that want to go overseas. There’s some, praise the Lord, but there’s less and less all of the time. Those willing to work here and be in full-time ministry are less and less all the time.

I mentioned this during the Sunday School class, but there are not that many Christian parents anymore who say to their children, man, I hope at least one or two of you want to enter into full-time service as a missionary or as a pastor. It’s just not common. What’s common among Christian parents is, look, I want you to walk the straight and narrow. I want you to get good grades in school and buckle down so that you can go to a good college and get a great education and have a good job when you get out. It kind of sounds to me like maybe the parents of the Rich Young Ruler.

They want to make sure their kids have a comfortable life. There’s nothing wrong with being comfortable, nothing wrong with being rich. Jesus and the disciples depended upon some women with means to support their ministry while they were here when they were doing their ministry for those three years and afterward. But if God is calling you to something else, or calling your children, don’t hold them back. Don’t hold yourself back.

God promises to reward every act of service. He remembers and rewards every one. He’s calling members to join His team here and be all in. I want to thank you for being part of our team. You, too, will share in the rewards of the church planting efforts that Susan and I have supported.

In the 39 years that Susan and I have been members of the New Tribes Mission, and then Ethnos 360, we’ve had no salary. Now that’s not a plea for help or a point of begging or bragging. It’s just simply a fact.

We have depended upon the Lord to give us what we need when we needed it. He did that faithfully in a number of ways, and one of the ways is through the sacrificial giving of this church. Your gifts and prayers have provided for our needs and help to sustain us through our own trials, discouragements, and times of rejoicing. But the point is, I say that because of what He’s done for us, He’ll do for everyone who trusts Him for it. He’ll do it for others. He’ll do it for you.

If God has ever prompted you about going all in full-time, don’t rationalize it. Don’t say okay, after or when the time is right because if He’s prompting you, then there’s a reason. Don’t be afraid to go all in.

Parents, don’t be afraid for your children to go all in. Yeah, it might mean that you won’t get to see them as much. You might not get to see your grandchildren as much. Could they have any better life?

Church, don’t be afraid for some of your people here that say, maybe, I am thinking about going all in. See, yeah, but we need you here. I’ve heard that from churches, too. Yeah, God, take one of those people—they don’t do much, but don’t take them because we need them here. I don’t think that’s the way the team is supposed to work.

I don’t want you to mistake this for a farewell speech. We’re not done. We’re still going on. But we never know when the Lord will call any of us home. Therefore, we want to take the opportunity to say, as Paul said to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 1:11. I’ve got this in the Bible in Basic English. It says,

You at the same time helping together by your prayer for us; so that for what has been given to us through a number of persons, praise may go up to God for us from all of them.

Please think, God has so many things to do here in this area, and if you’re staying here, be involved in every bit of it. Sharing the Gospel, being a part of building up the body of Christ here, but at the same time, challenging each other and others as to who it is God might be prompting to leave here and go elsewhere because the work is not done.

Remember, at the end of the age, what does He say about the Church? The bride hath made herself ready. I ask you, how does the bride make herself ready? She’s clothed in the righteousness of Christ. That’s not it. Can’t do anything to make herself worthy.

Well, Jesus gave one command to the Church when He left the bride. Go into all the world, preaching the Gospel, baptize them, teaching them all that I have taught you. Right? That’s how the bride makes herself ready. That’s how the Church finishes the job through the power of God.

Again, we thank you. If you want to know more about any of it, then I’ll be glad to share with you. We thank you. And if you disliked anything that I had to say today, then it’s my wife’s fault because she’s not here.

Let’s pray. Lord, I thank You so much that Your offers to us, Your offers to Your church, have never changed. Lord, there are so many things that You’re wanting to do through us, but first, in us. We thank You for that. We thank You for Your faithful to always reward acts of service and to always be there with every grace, everything that’s needed, for us to do what You want us to do. Lord, again, we thank You for this church. I pray that You just continue to guide them, bless them, and use them to be a light on a hill, a lamp set on a lampstand, for all to see in this area. Lord, I pray especially that you will raise up two or three more people from this church in the next five years to enter into full-time service as a pastor or a missionary, Lord, not afraid to follow You. Lord, we love You, and we praise You. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

October 23, 2022
The Christian’s Obligation for Resistance, Part 7

In this sermon Pastor Babij teaches on the seventh way to resist the enemy: prayer and fasting. Pastor Babij specifically answers four questions about fasting:

1) What is it?
2) What is its purpose?
3) How to fast?
4) When to fast?

Pastor concludes with admonishment to practice fasting from time to time to win against intractable sins.

Full Transcript:

In 1 Peter 5:9, I’m going to be looking at the seventh way to resist the enemy. We’ve been looking at the Christian’s obligation for resistance. 1 Peter 5:9 says:

But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

Part of the suffering we may be entering into could be that satan has his fingerprints all over it, so we have to be ready to resist. As Christians, it is our obligation to resist.

So far, we have been looking at other reasons why we are to resist in the faith, which means the body of doctrine given to us from the word of God. Secondly, to resist by discerning our strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies towards sin, and then fighting against them with the word of God. Thirdly, to resist the antagonist by maintaining a sanctified imagination.

Fourthly, to resist the adversary by putting off sin and putting on righteousness. Then, to resist by putting on Christ. Lastly, we resist by warfare praying. In 1 Peter 4:7, it says:

The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

Prayer becomes a very vital part of the Christian life. Perhaps, the most battle that we will ever have is the battle for prayer and to make sure it stays within our life. It’s not only to keep awake and alert with all our faculties under control, but also to pray with the gathered assembly and also the private prayer we offer up all throughout the day.

As a believer, we are to be thanking Him, asking Him, petitioning Him, and interceding for other people. Last time, I ended with this quote:

The chief concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He laughs at our toils. He mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.

In a sense, when we pray, we’re in the control room of God. We have a new and living way into His presence, so there’s nothing blocking us from going into God’s presence for prayer. When we are there, Satan trembles the most because he knows that the effective prayer of a righteous person can accomplish much. A praying believer, who is genuinely praying before God, has incredible power before the enemy to resist him.

In this seventh way, we are to resist by prayer and fasting. I want to examine the spiritual discipline that has virtually disappeared from almost all of modern Christianity. Fasting is a discipline, which most of us know little about, and even less practically experience its effects and benefits.

Yet, when we read Scripture, fasting is mentioned here. It’s not mentioned all the time, but when it is mentioned, it’s a significant reason why the people fasting and praying are doing that. So, on this Lord’s day, I would like to blow the dust off the cover of this subject and reintroduce it to us because it is a most helpful discipline that you and I may ever encounter in our Christian experience.

I would like to examine the subject by attempting to answer four questions. The first question is: what exactly is fasting? By way of definition, it says that this term

nestia

means fasting or abstention from food. It is one who’s not eaten or is empty. It is abstention from food for some religious purpose.

However, fasting should not be confined to food or drink. Fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some spiritual purpose. Of course to back that definition, we have to look at some Scripture. Before I do that, let’s pray:

Lord, as I come before You, before Your people, and as we look at Your word concerning this important subject, I pray that after today we would be more cognizant of what fasting is, and throughout our life, we would practice it from time to time, especially, Lord, since we see that there is a need for it today. Lord, help us to recognize when those needs come up before us and in our life. I pray this in Your name, Amen.

There are some Old Testament and some New Testament passages that I want to look up. The first one is 1 Corinthians 7:5. In the meantime, I want to bring out to you some of the differences in the translations that we have. I’m using the New American Standard Bible, the 1995 version. Some people have the new King James Bible they like to use, which is a good translation. Some people have the English Standard Version, which is also a good translation and perhaps the most popular today in our churches. I want to bring out some differences in those translations, so as we do that 1 Corinthians 7:5 says:

Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

The New King James Bible adds something to the verse:

Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

The other translations do not add it in because the shortest text is decisively supported by all the early manuscripts. The earlier manuscripts would not include that. However, the King James version Scripture or later manuscripts that would include it.

Nonetheless, the stress is still in the context that this is more than just praying here. This is serious praying. In the text, it says that there’s an important spiritual matter going on. There is an importance to come apart from something in order to focus more completely on the spiritual discipline of seeking the face of God.

In this passage, the husband and the wife break away from sexual union just for an agreed amount of time for the purpose of some spiritual matter in which they are engaged in fasting and prayer. There’s something that is heavy upon the heart of the husband or the wife and they are separating themselves for short agreed amount of time for the purpose of seeking God’s face about a particular matter in that person’s life

In the Gospel of Mark 9:15-29, we see that Jesus is going to talk to His disciples, and His disciples just failed in their mission. Remember, Jesus sent them out in the fields to heal the sick, to preach the gospel, and even to cast out demons:

Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him. ¹⁶And He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?” ¹⁷And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; ¹⁸and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” ¹⁹And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” ²⁰They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. ²¹And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²²“It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” ²³And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” ²⁴Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” ²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.” ²⁶After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up. ²⁸When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?” ²⁹And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

In the New King James, Mark 9:29 reads:

So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

In this passage of Scripture, Jesus is not saying some demon exorcism prayer is required. Rather, he is saying that whatever we take to the spiritual battlefield in our own strength, our own pride, and our own self sufficiency, we have already lost the battle before it began.

Unbelief carries a danger with it that can severely handicapped a believer, leaving them with a powerless and ineffective life. If you want to maintain influence, power, and overcome your enemy and your weaknesses, you must pray. Without complete dependence on Jesus, the able One, you can have no power at all. Thus, prayer and faith testify that spiritual power is not in oneself, but in God alone.

The solution to their failure was a deeper and more consistent prayer life where prayer turns faith into action. Prayer maintains effectiveness in power, and continual contact with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, maintains effectiveness in power in life and Ministry. It could be that you don’t see great things in your personal life and in your church life because of lack of prayer. Matthew 17:21 says:

“But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

The New King James also adds that into the text. However, the ESV does not even insert this passage. Personally, that’s why I have a disagreement with ESV. They should just leave it there because the King James set a standard that we should keep those verses.

However, the point is that there is a stress on prayer that is connected with fasting is with doing something in our life that is bringing us to a place where we are seriously morning in our heart about something. We have a serious issue that is coming to our life and it seems like nothing is working. Nothing is taking care of this issue. You’ve prayed about it, you have asked other people to pray about it, yet there seems to be nothing moving here. Then, that becomes a time where we have to step back and break away. It’s a time where we not only pray, but fast.

In Daniel 10:1-3, Daniel is very heavy in his heart. He is disquieted in the spirit. He’s very anxious in the spirit. In this section of Daniel, there’s two reasons why he is anxious in the spirit. Daniel’s concern had to do with the returning exiles from after the Babylonian captivity. They were going to come back to Jerusalem, and they were going to have to build the walls of Jerusalem and reestablish the temple. As Daniel saw about fifty thousand people come back to Jerusalem, he’s realizing that they’re not going to be able to do the job without the help of God. They don’t have anything, they were just in exile, and they’re coming back to Jerusalem.

He’s realizing that the job to rebuild the temple is not going to be an easy task. In fact, the prophet Ezra 4:24 says:

Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

The work to rebuild God’s house was stopped in 536 B.C. and it resumed in 520 B.C. resulting in a delay of sixteen years. However, we know that right on schedule, God finished the temple and 515 B.C.

Now, maybe Daniel was wondering why things had to be so hard and heavy. Daniel said the message was true and one of great conflict. In fact, in the context of Daniel, it could refer to a great earthly war, it could refer to spiritual warfare, and it also would include the forces between God and Satan that go on behind the scenes.

It goes to show that all true endeavors for the Lord will meet with some level of opposition and struggle. Brethren, don’t be discouraged and don’t think it’s a strange thing that the Christian Life is a life of tussle and continual battle it is that’s the kind of life it is.

There’s a second reason for the disquieted spirit within Daniel, which drove him to ask God for more understanding about what’s going to happen to the people of Israel in the future. At the time, he was eighty-five years old, and he wanted to find out more about what will be in store for Israel, so Daniel prayed three times. However, this time he takes the cannon out, which fasting. Daniel 10:1-3 says:

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar; and the message was true and one of great conflict, but he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision. ²In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. ³I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed.

From this passage of Scripture, we know that Daniel was engaged in fasting and prayer for twenty-one days. Daniel had access to the official reports coming back to the government about the conditions of the first arrivals to Jerusalem, the people coming, and the progress reports on the building projects. Most of the news deeply concerned him

In Daniel 10:2 the Hebrew verb gives us a sense of the depth of Daniel’s concern over the condition of the Jews, who had return to Palestine. Daniel kept himself continually morning for three weeks and was deeply concerned to the point where he didn’t eat any tasty food, meat, or wine.

This looks like all the earmarks of a bread and water fast coupled with no attention to personal grooming. Until the end of the three weeks, he did not use any ointment, so you can see the weight of his heart. The practice of fasting is a discipline that should be taken up from time to time, especially if there is a situation in your life that is weighty, and it brings a mournful feeling to your soul. That can only be brought before God at the exclusion of all the regular functions of like food, like drink, like bathing, and personal hygiene.

Sometimes, you have to pull yourself apart. Secondly, fasting is voluntary. It’s not required, forced, or motivated by self-seeking or self-interest. Also, fasting is a personal matter between an individual and God, so that means that fasting must be done unto God before the eye of the father. So then, what is the purpose of fasting?

As we move on, the purpose would be for prayer and meditation. A specific prayer intention is in mind. For example, in Acts 13:2-4, prayer and fasting are offered up to God for a specific reason:

While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. ⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

When people are set apart for some work God has them to do in the world like a mission project – short or long – their Church came together, and they prayed and fasted.

When people are set apart for some work God has them to do in the world like a mission project – short or long – their Church came together, and they prayed and fasted, so the right people would go out and the people would be ready to go out. They would always have the intention of the church and the thought of the church that they were going to go out with the prayer of that church.

Thus, they set them apart by fasting and prayer. Then again, in Acts 14:23, they were setting apart elders in the church, and they were identifying them and then ordaining them:

When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

In that case, they were setting apart the elders of a church and they did that by pray and fasting. The elders and leaders of a church is a serious matter, and they must be qualified men. They have to be men who are really full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit, so they are the ones that are going to be part of leading the congregation, so the congregation gets together in praise and they fast for who’s going to be the next the next elders.

Then, it would be that of just seeking God. In 2 Samuel 12:21-22, Bathsheba had a son, who grows ill and is ready to die, so David sought God:

Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” ²²He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the LORD may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’

He knew that fasting and prayer got the attention of God. If God was going to save the child, then that was his last resort. He prayed, but God did not say the child. That child died because of the result of his own sin of committing adultery with Bathsheba and committing Uriah, her husband, to the hottest part of a battle, in which he died and lost his life.

Though, we see that fasting was part of the mindset of the people of God to get a hold of God and to seek out his face. Then, there is the story of Esther when the degree was sent out to slaughter the Israelites throughout all the regions and provinces. As a result, she gets everyone to fast and pray. Because of that, the people were saved, and God delivered them in that particular case. Esther 4:16-17 says:

Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” ¹⁷So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.

In this case, God did deliver, so the Jews were allowed to fight on their behalf and reverse the curse that would come upon them by slaughtering all the Jews. In Ezra 8:21-23, this is for an acknowledgement of our entire submission and dependence upon God. In this case, it would be asking God for protection and for a safe trip:

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. ²²For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him.” ²³So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty.

God listened to them. Meaning, fasting manifests our dependence, humility, and devotion on the living God giving him full time at a particular point in our life.

This leads me to another question: how do we fast? Fasting for the sake of just doing it would be wrong to do. Also fasting for direct, immediate results as if fasting was some kind of magical thing we do. We should never think of it in a magical way like rubbing up a magic bottle. That’s not the point and that would be a wrong way to do it.

Then, fasting for the physical and confusing with the spiritual when it is really a motive to lose weight and cleanse the body. You know for sure those are some selfish or carnal reasons. That may be a benefit of a fasting, but that’s not the motive that drives you to do it. Rather, it’s a mournful and heavy heart that drives you to do it.

Lastly, another wrong way to do is fasting to show yourself more spiritual than others with no heart devotion, like the Pharisees in Matthew 6, only to be seen by men. You don’t want to draw attention to yourself in that way. In fact, in Matthew 6:16-17, we see there is a right way too fast, and it should be as unsuspecting as possible:

Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ¹⁷“But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face.

In other words, this fast is unsuspecting. People don’t know you’re doing it, and only you know you’re doing it. Maybe some people close to you may know you’re doing it. I you know when your wife says, “well how come you’re not eating today?” Then, you have to say your fasting. You can tell her, but it’s not like you put it in the church bulletin or prayer sheet. No, it’s between you and the Lord, so you’re breaking away from things, so you can fast.

Secondly, the right way to do it would be with honorable motives. Again, Matthew 6:16 says:

…for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting.

We want to have honorable motives that we’re not doing it for anyone. We don’t do it to feel or to appear more spiritual, so our motives are clean before the Lord. A third way to do it correctly is as secret as possible. It’s between you and the Lord. It’s between you and no one else, so you are bringing your request to the Lord and maybe no one else may know what those requests are. This is the thing that God would want you to do to break away from all the distractions of life in there. Definitely, you have to leave your phone somewhere and your computers shut off because all those distractions are over the top when it comes to focusing your attention on anything.

In continuation, keeping it as secret as possible. Matthew 6:18 says:

so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Your Father in heaven knows that you are in this position, that you want to get His attention, and he sees that’s the most important part of fasting. Lastly, you forget yourself and you give yourself entirely to God. Leading me to the last question: when should you fast?

Well, when you are compelled or led by a spiritual reason. You want to detach yourself from the world of the material so that your thinking becomes rightly focused upon God. If you have ever fasted before for a spiritual reason, one thing that happens about after the second day when your stomach stops grumbling and wanting food, you start not desiring food. Your attention span almost gets so precise and focused about what you’re doing that you just kind of get pulled into it.

Actually, you begin to forget some of the things that are going on in your life for the sake of getting a hold of God. One man said this about fasting:

God’s chosen fast is the fast which he has appointed. It’s what you set apart for Him, to minister to Him, and to honor and glorify Him. It’s that which is designed to accomplish His sovereign will.

Many times the spirit of God may bring it up on us to seek God out for the sake of God’s will being done in our life concerning a particular matter. A second reason for when to fast is when your soul is burdened in the battle against spiritual wickedness, and you are aware it is the Lord that you must intervene with. Your soul is burning.

Remember, battle is a wearying time, especially spiritual battle where you’re battling against your own sin, the sin of someone else, and the mindset of the world. Also, you’re battling against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Lastly, you should fast when you need to express mourning for your sins and gain self-control and spiritual discipline to run the race and accomplish God’s work. That you are going to discipline yourself and your body because you want to run the race better.

We know, from Scripture, that some things we have to lay aside in our life is not always sin. I’m going to put away the things that are not profitable to me. Actually, they are a disadvantage to me, but they’re not sinful. They just hinder me from running the race. They hinder me from spiritual maturity. They hinder me from going forward. In fact, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27:

Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; ²⁷but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Too many people are slaves of their bodies. Their bodies tell their minds when to eat, how much to eat, when to sleep, when to get up and so on. Instead of your body being in control, your mind needs to be in control of your body.

The spirit of God needs to be in control of you. In fact, part of the fruit of the spirit is self-control. I can actually say no to things that I once always said yes to. Instead, Christians need to run to win and that means self-renunciation and self-discipline, so that God is glorified in our bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says:

For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

In conclusion, fasting is a season of spiritual, earnest, and elevated devotion of the entire being upon God. It is set apart to a special task or objective. It is accompanied by a soul deeply lowered before God, fervently engaged, and pleading for His blessing whether it is occasional or a special blessing.

There’s really only one application for this message: it’s about time to seriously consider, from time-to-time, to implement this very powerful and spiritual weapon. It is a cannon. It is more than just praying, which we do to seriously seek out the face of God concerning a particular matter. This is definitely a way that we resist the enemy. Fasting would be one of those pieces of armor that we put on that really can send Satan running from us and giving God the glory and victory over a particular thing in our life.

As mentioned, it is not required to do this. This is not commanded in Scripture. This is something we voluntarily do from time to time, but I just want you to be aware that this. This is in Your arsenal. This is in your weapons bag against the enemy. Once in a while, take it out and use it, especially if there’s something going on in your life hat’s heavy and there doesn’t seem to be a change. Even if it’s for victory over a particular sin that’s kept you in bondage for many months and years. Then, it would be a time to say:

Lord, I’m tired of this thing controlling my life. I want to come before you in this time of prayer and fasting. Please give me victory over this thing, so I can put it to death and put it away from me forever. That I may go on and live for you with all my heart, mind, soul and strength.

There are going to be times where you and the Lord get together and accomplish something in the time of prayer and fasting. I know that I’ve done it before and it is an incredible time in your Christian walk and life. It is a very beneficial time. I would say that almost every time I’ve done it, I’ve gained victory over the things that were burdening me in my life at that time, and never have they returned again. Let’s pray:

Lord, thank You for Your people and for the word of God. Lord, for the instruction in the Scripture that we looked at on how prayer and fasting go together and how they are such a useful weapon before the enemy, before the flesh, and before the world. Lord, I pray as Your people, we would take more seriously than ever the admonition to take on this particular weapon, so we can resist the enemy, overcome the flesh, and give You glory in something that has been burning us in our life. That we can put to death the sin that has been keeping us in bondage. Lord, so we can be freed up more than ever to worship and serve You with the time You give us and the time we have left on this Earth. I pray that for us, Lord, not only individually, but as a church body. I ask You this in Christ’s name, Amen.

October 21, 2018
Responding to Jesus

Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 2 Lesson 12

This week in Sunday school, we conclude our look at Jesus’ public ministry in the Gospels by considering the proper response to Jesus. Jesus clearly displayed His Messianic authority in both his miracles and in his teaching, but how did people respond to Him? Did those who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah all believe with eternally saving faith? And what about us? Who do we say Jesus is? And is our confession supported or betrayed by how we live?

Our main text for this lesson is Mark 8:27-38.

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all right we’re going to begin welcome greetings from California let’s begin Sunday school we are nearing the end of our second quarter and the third year with the answers viable curriculum and our theme for this quarter has been the authority of Jesus we’ve seen Jesus Authority displayed in his miracles and his actions and his teaching and today is kind of like a conclusion to that a summary I sum up in some ways it’s kind of like the review date before we hit the review day we’re gonna see a lot of the things we’ve been talking about repeated in some ways in this class but also with a concluding sort of emphasis so that means next week when we know when we have our review day scheduled less than 13 I want to do something a little different this time I’d like you to send me questions do like a more question and answer type day questions that can be related to sunday school things we’ve talked about things we’ve learned but also things maybe that we haven’t talked about things other other aspects the Gospels or even things that are not in the New Testament but in the Old Testament we have an application biblical application how to live the Christian life I’d like you to send those questions any and all those questions to my email address you should be getting my emails if you’re part of the Calvary email list should have my email address there you send me those questions before Sunday school next week so I can prepare an answer and that we can talk about it and be edified during Sunday school next week so again that could be on anything I think that’ll be a useful time not only talking about what we’ve learned but also on you messing the things that are that you’ve been wondering about or that are going on in your lives we’re doing that because this week is kind of like a review week next week I would like to do a question and answer type day but today we’re talking about responding to Jesus and live everything we’ve seen how much one respond to Jesus let’s pray before we continue my god our god I paid it you it make your word clear to us and it would have its perfect effect that your people would be built up in Jesus name Amen one of the most crucial questions in the gospel is probably the most crucial question in the gospel the four gospel is given in the New Testament really the most crucial question in all of life is who is Jesus who is Jesus it’s interesting that the structure of the three synoptic Gospels literally hinges on that question if you go to Matthew Mark or Luke you can see that there’s a build-up to a moment where Jesus asks the disciples that question and then there’s exactly a bill down but that that’s like the first mini culmination and then the next one comes at his crucifixion their Gospels lead up to that question and then lead from it so that’s the question I want to talk about together with you today who is Jesus we’re gonna look at mark’s version of that question that jesus asks to his disciples who do people say that I am who do you say that I am so open your Bibles to mark chapter eight this question is the most crucial question we want to see how Jesus framed it for his disciples what their response was and then what Jesus said in addition to that so mark chapter eight is where we’re going to be mark eight verses 27 to 38 we’ll get the context for where we are mark 8 at this point Jesus has thoroughly demonstrated his authority in this public ministry the people have seen his miracles the disciples have seen his miracles they’ve the crowds have heard his teaching Jesus has spoken both plainly and in parables he’s confronted the scribes and Pharisees and dealt with their questions many times and then we arrived at this moment now each synoptic gospel follows a similar sequence in reporting this this time where Jesus asks his disciples of who he really is and just to show you how similar they are in Luke 9 the sequence of events plays out like this there’s the feeding of five thousand-plus people miraculously then Jesus poses the question to his disciples who do they say who do people say that I am and who do you say I am he then teaches them the cost of following him and that’s followed by an account of Jesus’s Transfiguration that’s Luke’s account Matthew’s account and Matthew 16 is extremely similar we have an account of the four thousand plus people fed miraculously there’s a warning about the teaching of the Pharisees then Jesus asked the question his disciples about his identity he teaches on the cost of discipleship and then there’s an account of Jesus Transfiguration now consider mark sequence which begins at the beginning of chapter 8 we again have this report of Jesus miraculously feeding four thousand plus people there’s a warning about the Pharisees then there’s a healing healing of a blind man Jesus asked the question about its identity is it teaching on the cost of discipleship and then there’s a count of the Transfiguration so you can see that each gospel writer has included a sequence of events that’s extremely similar because they’re and they’re all important it’s all important to those things be reported around this question that Jesus asked his disciples but you may have noticed just from my quick a little rundown that Mark includes something that neither the other two synoptic Gospels do which is this healing of a blind man and this is one of the strangest healings in the entire tyre Bible really but in the Gospels for sure look at Luke mark 8 verse 22 let’s just read this short account it’s a couple verses and see why this healing is so strange mark 8 verses 22 to 26 and they came to Bethsaida and they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored him to touch him taking the blind man by the hand he brought him out to the village and after spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on him he asked him do you see anything he looked up and said I see men for I see them like trees walking around then again he laid his hands on his eyes and he looked intently and was restored and began to see everything clearly he’s and he sent him home and he sent him to his home saying do not even enter the village now thinking about Jesus other miracles what’s so strange about this one what happens here that doesn’t happen with any mother Jesus Jesus’s miracles well it is private though he does do that at other times – not all the time but this is a private miracle that’s not the most unique aspect that takes two steps now it is true not Jesus does heal people in different ways sometimes he speaks the word sometimes he touches a person sometimes he says oh you may remember the one time he makes spittle puts it on the man’s eyes and then says go and anoint yourself so Jesus can’t do it different ways but and no other instance is there a partial healing and then a full healing here we have the first stage this man he can see but he can’t see clearly or correctly he says men look like trees and then the second stage he sees everything clearly this is the only miracle like this and mark is the only one who records it and he records it here why the two stages was there some sort of divine glitch in the miracle like Jesus meant to heal the man all the way didn’t work and he had to redo it and then why did mark conclude this miracle why this partial and then full healing of the man’s sight now this is not random this is quite purposeful from mark and from our Lord and the context is key for understanding why this miracle is reported here and the most important aspect of that context is our main passage today so now let’s actually look at that mark eight verses 27 to 38 follow along with me as I read verse 27 Jesus went out along with his disciples to the village of Caesarea Philippi on the way he questioned his disciples saying to them who do people say that I am they told him saying John the Baptist another say Elijah but others one of the prophets and he continued by questioning them but who do you say that I am Peter answered and said to him you are the Christ and he warned them no one about him and he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again and he was stating the matter plainly and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him but turning around and seeing his disciples he rebuked Peter and said get behind me Satan for you were not setting your mind on God’s interests but man’s and he’s some of the crowd with his disciples and said to them if anyone wishes to come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it but what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul for what will a man give in exchange for his soul for whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation the son of man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his father with the Holy Angels that’s where Jesus teaching ends so now we’ve read this passage we want to make basic observations on it consider interpretation questions and then conclude with application what we want to do with each section of Scripture we start with observations we see that the disciples are on the way to Caesarea Philippi where’s that well think of the sea a galley and then go northeast and that’s where you’re gonna run into this Caesarea Philippi we’re talking about the towns around it this would be in the Golan Heights today which it i think is not in Israel’s borders it would be in syria today for this city is what we’re looking at the towns around it on the way Jesus asks his disciples a question who do the people say that I am and we’re given three answers first John the Baptist and how is it possible that Jesus could be John the Baptist I hope those two different people what were people thinking why didn’t anyone think that Jesus was John the Baptist because at this point oh go ahead Steve exactly at this point John the Baptist is dead and for some reason some people are not thinking about that Jesus was with John the Baptist earlier some people didn’t know that and John the Baptist was considered by many to be a prophet and he was killed by Herod in a in a tyrannical way and Herod thought for sure that Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead and that’s why Herod concluded miraculous powers were at work in Jesus he’s come back supernaturally and he’s got these miraculous powers apparently other people thought the same thing who didn’t know any better other people say that Jesus is Elijah now that’s not the first time we’ve encountered this concept of Elijah what Old Testament scripture prophesied the coming of Elijah one that we looked at together last book of the Old Testament Malachi concludes with a promise from God I am going to send Elijah before the great day of the Lord that’s Malachi 4:5 this Elijah is the same as described in Isaiah the forerunner to Messiah and we see if the New Testament that they actual fulfillment of Elijah was John the Baptist but some people thought that Jesus was the Elijah he would be the forerunner of Messiah that’s another opinion but people also say that Jesus is one of the prophets notice not the profit not the Deuteronomy prophet the one that Moses prophesied about but one of the prophets and indeed Jesus does seem to fit the description of one of the Old Testament prophets does miracles proclaims God’s message urges the people to repentance people say he’s just another one of those prophets now with these the only opinions about Jesus identity in the New Testament or even to the Gospels they’re not the only ones you can probably think have yourselves what are some other things that people said about Jesus regarding who he was what’s something someone else said about who Jesus was yeah Roy that’s right Jesus actually says you may remember in our lesson last week they’ve called the head of the household Beals evil they basically say I’m Satan I’m the lord of the demons yeah that was the opinion of the scribes and Pharisees what else the people say you can think back to Jesus conversation with Nicodemus Nicodemus said you are a teacher from God it’s obvious because no one could do the miraculous things that you do unless God was with him that was from John 3 in John chapter 7 we hear a lot of the the crowds discussing Jesus they mentioned different opinions some say he’s a good man some say he’s a deceiver of the people some say he is the Prophet that Moses spoke about others even say he is the Christ and they weren’t alone many individuals and the Gospels also do also declared Jesus to be Messiah in Christ John the Baptist testified of that Nathanael testified of that when he first saw Jesus the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 she recognized Jesus as Messiah her whole town did this town of Samaritans often healed people recognized Jesus to be Messiah especially the blind ones the blind people who are healed in the scripture and the Gospels who often have the most clear insight into who Jesus is but the crowd also said that Jesus was demon-possessed the Pharisees and scribes agreed they thought he was empowered by saying the Sanhedrin considered Jesus to be a revolutionary leader the scribes and Pharisees even some of the common people consider Jesus a blasphemer one who even considered himself equal with God and the scribes and Pharisees further said that Jesus was a lawbreaker he did not keep the Sabbath so there’s a diversity opinions about Jesus and it’s the same as today’s and not as people who Jesus was or who Jesus is and look at the diversity of opinions along these same lines there some would also claim that Jesus never existed but really the same thing he’s a deceiver he’s a good man he’s a he’s a good teacher he was someone from God he was one of the prophets he was Messiah but we don’t get all those opinions and the disciples answers they just mentioned three which means these probably the most popular opinions we have this backdrop established with his first question from Jesus then then he proceeds to another question he says but who do you say that I am and here it’s Peter who specifically answers he asked the disciples before now it’s Peter stepping forward probably answering on behalf of disciples which he often would do and Peter says you are the Christ remember Christ us equals Messiah messiahs Hebrew crisis Greek they mean the same thing now that’s the correct answer we’ve seen by now that Jesus is the Messiah he has demonstrated his messianic Authority he is from God He is God good job Peter you got the right answer in fact in Matthews account to this event Jesus even says to me to Peter blessed are you simon barjona but he also mentions jesus also mentions this truth was not something you came up with it was revealed to you from heaven that’s why you’re blessed God revealed this truth to you we don’t have that mention here by Mark in fact what mark then mentions next is quite surprising in verse 30 right after Peter gives the right answer Jesus instructs his disciples to tell no one about him what that doesn’t make any sense if you’re the Messiah don’t you want people to know that you’re the Messiah this is fair enough there’s then a shift in the next verse mark 831 and each gospel features this each synoptic gospel this is the first time fine after the disciples confess him to be who he truly is this is the first time in each where Jesus foretells plainly his own suffering death and resurrection action and we see that exactly here right I’m gonna go I’m gonna be rejected by the scribes the Pharisees the chief priests I’m going to be killed I’m gonna be raised in the third day he says the Son of Man but we know by now that’s a that’s a title that Jesus uses for himself it’s a messianic title it’s also as an allusion to Jesus divinity now this is not the first time Jesus has mentioned his coming death but it wasn’t so straightforward before he has alluded to it saying things like the Son of Man must be lifted up destroy this temple in three days I will I will raise it up so the first time Jesus mentioned what was coming it’s the first time he stated it plainly and as soon as he does well Peter acts Peter takes his rabbi takes the Lord aside and rebukes it that’s some gumption you’re gonna rebuke the one that you just confessed to be the Messiah there’s a reason he does though and we’ll see that later on it’s funny how the text though our translation says he began to rebuke him so he started it but then this action is cut short somewhat quickly so Jesus turns around he sees the other disciples and then he counter rebukes Peter and it’s a very strong rebuke from Jesus Jesus says first get behind me that is stop opposing me get out of the way you stumbling block and then he says Satan get behind me Satan now Satan’s a word from the Old Testament that’s a Hebrew word meaning adversary or opponent whenever it’s used in the New Testament it’s always used as a title or a name that is for the evil one the one that we refer to as Satan but here Jesus calls Peter Satan get behind me Satan and then there’s a reason given for that you see it in the word for you say this often in Sunday school but whenever you see the word for it’s an important transition word it means it Jesus is about to give a reason for what he just said what’s the reason Jesus says get behind me Satan for you are not setting your mind on God’s interest but man you’re thinking what man wants not what God wants how so well we’ll come back to that in our interpretation step just observing right now follow up to this rebuke it’s very purposeful Jesus then begins to teach and he draws the crowds back to himself he was just talking to his disciples traveling with his disciples but now he draws the crowds to him again and he starts with a conditional statement and much of the teaching of this passage will sound familiar to us because similar word to what Jesus said earlier in his ministry we saw this last week in Matthew 10 but Jesus first says if you want to come after me if you want to be my true disciple you must be willing to do certain things what are those things you got first deny yourself this word this greek verb you translated deny and it’s used elsewhere in the New Testament to with the idea of refusing to recognize or acknowledge you refuse to it to recognize something or to acknowledge it either because it’s not true or because you just don’t recognize it same verb used from when Peter denies Jesus I refuse to recognize my association with them Jesus says you got to deny you got to refuse to recognize you got to totally give up yourself if you want to be my disciple he also says you must take up your cross we saw that phrase last time this is not about bearing burdens in your life this is about taking up a method the method of your own execution be willing to follow Jesus unto shameful prolonged painful death Luke adds and his version of this account you must take up your cross daily it is a continual act you are constantly giving yourself up for execution every day and then lastly you must follow me let’s go where your Lord goes must be like him you must learn from him obey Him follow his example Jesus gives for for doing so and what comes next and some of them come in the form of questions so let’s look at each one of those reasons he first says he seeks to save his life will lose it but he loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it that’s interesting my sake and the gospel mark is unique in that expression but you see there’s a connection between Jesus and what he said Jesus and the message of salvation he brings and you can see the way that this sentence is inverted that helps to draw out the contrast also present a certain sort of irony if you try to save your life cling to it hold to it you’re gonna lose it but if you lose it you actually gain it and then you ask the question this is the second reason what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul this is a rhetorical question because the answer should be obvious there’s no profit even if you gain the whole world if you have to forfeit your soul actually it’s a tragic waste that’s a very misguided exchange because the world however great however much you have in it it’s all temporary but the soul is forever where your soul be where your soul will be is forever what a terrible exchange to only have the world which passes away and lose your soul and Jesus says further and this is a third reason what can a man give in exchange for his soul that’s also a rhetorical question what’s the answer I think I can’t give anything to exchange for his soul there’s nothing he can obtain in this world that he could exchange with God there’s no way he can make that exchange later no amount of money and no goods no fame no influence no whatever it is worth Wow none of it is useful even if you gave the whole world to God it wouldn’t be enough to redeem your soul after all the word the world belongs to God and everything in it does so all that you might gain in this life he’ll be worthless for you when you need to have your soul redeemed then Jesus brings up one more reason he says he was ashamed of me now I’m gonna be ashamed of him later notice that he the way he phrases this this further sort of inversion he was ashamed of me and my words just like before there’s an intimate connection between who Jesus is and what he says he is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation Jesus talking about the current state of Israel they weren’t unbelieving people they were a sinful people but is this still true today do we live in a adulterous and sinful generation of course we did that is there’s been the predominant state of our world it’s certainly true in America just like the people of Israel our generation does not like or take to heart Jesus or his words you might say well I thought a lot of people respect you this they talk about him positively well maybe so but is it really Jesus who they’re talking about the real Jesus are they not contemptuous or ignorant or ashamed of Jesus’s words if so how could they be respecting Jesus when Jesus refers to his coming he says at the future when Jesus will be ashamed of those who have shamed at him he says when he comes in the glory of his father that’s an interesting phrase Jesus sing I’ll have the glory of the Father with me we know from other scriptures Jesus indeed has that glory now he’s about to be transfigured actually and you’ll see his glory unveiled the disciples see his glory unveil Jesus says I’m gonna come with that glory the same glory as the father because he’s one with the father he’s God it’s not displayed now in his first coming but it will be displayed when he comes again and he’s gonna come with his holy angels no what’s the function of angels in scriptures what do they do they are messengers what we could say more generally their servants and one of the ways that they often serve God especially the Old Testament is that they are warriors we see angels destroying striking down God’s enemies but they do whatever God needs them to do sometimes they’re also worshiping the Lord but they are servants their messengers their soldiers Jesus says I’m coming with angels I’m coming again in glory I’m coming victoriously and I’m coming in judgment with my angels so do does anyone want to be ashamed of Jesus then when he comes with such power and glory of course again this is all about to be manifest in a very visual way that Jesus Transfiguration so there’s a reason that that comes next in the near so we’ve made our observations in the text just looking at the different details now let’s look at the interpretation step well we asked some questions that are not explicitly answered in the passage but ones that we want to answer based on the details that do exist in the passage first this is probably one of the most important questions here do Peter and the disciples really understand who Jesus is where do you think that’s a perfect answer yes and no why would we say the answer is yes yeah okay that’s a good explanation Rob yes most obviously because to get the correct answer about its identity you are the Christ and in other parts of his ministry they see his power they see him as a redeemer they see him as a as the king that’s all correct and Jesus has been leading them up to this moment they would understand that and they do but you’re also right to point out Rahab that they don’t fully understand because soon as Jesus mentions the suffering aspect of his ministry they don’t know they don’t get it and Peter feels like he has to rebuke Jesus a suffering and dying Messiah one who’s rejected by his people that doesn’t compute so Peter feels like he has to go rebuke Jesus Peter we don’t get the content of his rebuke but surely it was along the lines of that’s not what Messiah is supposed to be Messiah is going to be one accepted by his people and bring about this new kingdom of prosperity and deliver Israel from its enemies remember some of those things and really those things that Peter says they are true but they neglect other aspects of who Messiah really is Jesus will destroy as the Messiah he will destroy the enemies of God Israel’s enemies one day but that’s only after Israel is repentant and saved and something has to happen for Israel to be changed like that Jesus has to correct and refine the disciples thinking about who Messiah is and not just who Messiah is and what his work consists of but also what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and you can see that the misunderstanding of Messiah directly translates to a misunderstanding of what it means to follow Messiah consider the disciples throughout Jesus they often get in arguments with each other and what are they arguing about who is the greatest who’s the greatest disciple of Jesus it all sounds comical whenever we hear that we’re like what’s wrong with these people but think about their understanding of Messiah Messiah is going to bring about this glorious Kingdom he’s gonna reign in power we’re all thinking about greatness here so what about us which one of us is the greatest which one of us will be the greatest when it comes into Jesus Kingdom they’re only thinking about the exaltation part of Messiah and therefore they only think about the exaltation part of themselves as followers of Messiah so Jesus must correct both of these things needs to correct there everyone is thinking complete they’re thinking about what it who Messiah is he’s the suffering servant he’s the king sacrificed himself for his people he is the God who humbled himself so that he could take on the sins of his people and those who follow this Messiah they become like him they suffer as he suffered but a sake of others for the sake of God they become suffering servants as well now why does Jesus wait till now to speak plainly about his this other aspect of his Messiahship his coming sacrificed at the resurrection yes dream right okay I’ve said a couple of things there so I’m just gonna expand on a little bit so Jesus is bringing the disciples along in stages for him for them to understand the work of Messiah they need to understand a little bit more the nature and character of Messiah and he’s been leading them to a fundamental understanding of that up to this point his ministry I am the Messiah and I have full power and authority he’s demonstrated that again and again they need to come to the conclusion that he is the Messiah and he has all authority from God that’s an important foundation for Jesus then Tunick explained the other aspect of being Messiah I am the one who willingly lays down my life for my people I am the suffering Messiah the suffering servant here’s the work I’m going to accomplish he wanted to make sure they had that first part understood before he began to more fully explain the second part and this is this is what teachers do right they don’t give you everything at once they they try and bring you along in stages now hopefully here you might now be seeing the connection between what we’re talking about then what precedes this passage why does that unique miracle appear right before this confession of the disciples and the correction of Jesus why this weird two-part healing and then this discussion from Jesus yeah okay I think here I think you’re onto something and there’s a connection between the man who’s being healed and the disciples don’t understand it or you could even say there’s a connection between the sight of the man who’s healed and the understanding of messiahs ministry because think about this man who was healed he saw but he didn’t see everything clearly you didn’t see everything fully accurately and then jesus heals him a second time and the man sees everything clearly so it is what the disciples do they see well they – but they don’t see everything clearly they don’t see everything correctly and Jesus is now beginning to work on that second aspect of their understanding very interesting in mark there are only two people who are healed of blindness this one who’s healed in two parts and Bartimaeus who’s healed right before Jesus enters Jerusalem by that time Jesus the second aspect of Jesus ministry was much more fully explained and it’s interesting that bartimaeus when he’s healed he’s healed instantly and once he’s healed he immediately follows Jesus so it’s like Jesus has in mind when he heals this first man he has in mind the disciples and he uses the man as an object lesson of the disciples own understanding certainly Peter and then later Mark who recorded Peters teaching he sees the connection between this man who was healed this blind man who was healed and the disciples own understanding because there’s he includes this miracle right before this confession from Jesus even though the other Gospel writers did not mark sees the connection a symbolic connection between this miracle and the disciples themselves this informs also why Jesus tells us disciples not to tell anyone about him why would that be because the disciples do not yet fully understand who Messiah is they got the basics they don’t have the full story they don’t have a full understanding if they went around telling people about Messiah now they would misinformed people they would say Messiah only comes to become Israel’s King make Israel prosperous Kingdom and exalt himself and his followers and they wouldn’t be collect the not the critical aspect of an Jesus ministry as a sin bearer and the one who secures forgiveness for sins for his people they couldn’t go out and spread the message about Messiah now because they don’t yet fully understand but when when do they allow to start telling people about who Jesus is after his resurrection when they see everything clearly then they can tell people about my side it’s interesting also and the next pass is the Transfiguration Jesus says similarly don’t tell anybody what you saw until the Son of Man rises from the dead you don’t understand fully yet you I can’t let you guys go tell people about me until you fully understand so you can see how all these things are connected the healing Jesus words to his disciples the reason for his rebuke of Peter and also his reason for his telling no one to tell about him but why does Jesus call Peter Satan that seems pretty harsh I don’t think any of us want to be called Satan why is he called Peter Satan Roy was your hand in a way I think that’s true the Satan in a way speaks through Peter I don’t think we should say that Satan and dwelt Peter but that Jesus was claiming that I’m not sure if that’s what you’re what you’re alluding to but certainly there’s an idea that Peter is acting in the stead of Satan or acting in the same way as Satan certainly we’re not saying that Jesus is not saying that Peter and Satan were the same person or I would say that neither that Satan in 12 Peter we’re familiar with it and we’ve considered the New Testament as a whole and even Jesus is our teaching in the Gospels he says all that the father gives to me will come to me and I won’t lose any of them I’m the Good Shepherd I protect the Sheep I lay my life down for the Sheep we understand that those who and God are protected even from Satan in the demons they cannot be controlled they cannot be taken over by them doesn’t mean we can’t be tempted but certainly not going to be possessed or indwelt by Satan or the demons but in a way Peter is not possessed but taking the place saying here in a metaphorical way you know we sometimes use other names in the Bible to bring forth a metaphor if we say dare to be a Daniel we’re not really saying that you should change your name to Daniel what did you should adopt everything that the biblical Daniel did but we’re referring to what was characteristic of Daniel ought to be characteristic of you you should be courageous for God where sometimes you might refer to oh he he was the Judas of the group I’m not saying that the man’s name was Judas but what he did what characterize Judas Judas was characterized by betrayal and so anyone who is called a Judas is being characterized as a betrayer same thing for the name Satan here what characterizes in a fundamental way Satan yeah Danny yeah I think you’re you’re already tying in what Jesus says to Peter and it’s part of his review Satan is fundamentally opposed to God he hates God he hates God’s people he totally opposes God’s purposes he hates God’s glory and he’s only concerned about his own glory his own purposes and Jesus by calling Peter Satan says that’s what you’re doing right now Peter you are showing fundamental opposition to God and a hatred of God’s purposes and even ancient of God’s glory that’s what Jesus said it says Danny was with Danny was explaining you don’t have in mind God’s interest but man’s that’s just like seeing now Peters somewhat unwitting and his acting like saying he doesn’t know that he’s opposing God’s plans so so vigorously but it is a terribly evil thing that Peters doing here there’s no greater opposition to God then to oppose the redemption of his people to oppose the gospel itself is the work of Satan and that’s what Peter’s doing here could you imagine if Peter succeeded and his rebuke that he stopped Jesus from doing the work called to him from the Father that would be the worst thing that could ever happen not only for mankind but for Jesus himself being disobedient to the Father Peter did not realize the extent of his evil says I have to point out to you just how much like Satan you were being right now you cannot oppose God’s perfect plan especially because you’re only thinking about what you want you’re only thinking according to man that’s what Jesus calls him see now and we concede why Jesus is teaching about self-denial follows right because it has everything to do with how Peter was going astray verse 34 and following Jesus explains what does a true disciple of Messiah do he denies himself Peter you’re thinking only of yourself right now if you want to be my true follower you’ve got to deny yourself take up their cross and follow me don’t be ashamed of me don’t be ashamed of my words even my word is about suffering the Messiah and suffering in his followers suffering but our people ashamed of Jesus words today assuredly are both those inside the church and outside the church there are people who reject and repudiate Jesus words they ignore Jesus words they twist Jesus words they add to Jesus word so they take away from Jesus words or they refuse to share Jesus words with others these are all ways of being ashamed of Jesus words we can see that this teaching that follows is intimately connected with the disciples own experience and Jesus rebuked of Peter 1 actually just a two other questions here when Jesus says if you’re ashamed of me of my words I’ll be ashamed of you when I come in the glory of my father as Jesus referring to someone who is saved there’s someone who was unsafe the person who was ashamed of Jesus in his words who’s he talking about from just verse 38 alone it might not be entirely clear but I think the context helps us understand that Jesus is referring to someone who is not a true disciple someone who’s ultimately hung saved because look back earlier in in that section verse 34 he says if you want to be my disciple you have to deny yourself follow me you can’t do that if you’re ashamed of Jesus and we can think back to Matthew 10 and also in 2nd Timothy where we get a slightly different version of the phrase but Jesus says whoever denies me before men I will deny him before my father or second Timothy words in this way if we deny him he will deny us to be denied by God means I don’t know you I don’t have fellowship with you you’re not one of my own so this phrase are being ashamed of Messiah in his words that describes an unbeliever and so it’s abuse for Jesus to be ashamed of you when he comes means he does not own you I’m sorry that one doesn’t belong to me now is it possible for believers to be ashamed of Jesus it is temporarily but that’s not ultimately characteristic of a believer and again we can we can point to Peter himself directly someone who who became ashamed of Jesus and even denied him outright but nonetheless repented persevered ultimately was not ashamed of Jesus so Jesus is referring to fundamental eternal destiny when it comes to are you ashamed of Jesus and are you seen his words so we could summarize the motivation that Jesus is giving in this last part of the passage why should you be motivated to give up everything for Jesus because he is the only way to gain eternal life and be spared God’s judgment there’s no other way gain the whole world profits you nothing nothing can give and shake exchange your soul the only one who can save you is Jesus Christ and the only way that you can truly be his disciple is if you give up yourself give up everything follow him even to the point of death and he won’t be ashamed of you when he comes but he’ll own you he’ll say aye I’m his Lord I give him life he will not come under judgment so let’s summarize what we’ve seen in the passage as we move towards application there is much confusion yet at the time of Jesus’s ministry as to who Jesus actually was crowds Pharisees all saying different things but the disciples correctly answer the most critical question about Jesus he is the Messiah of God but even their understanding was incomplete and erroneous and Jesus had to correct their preconceptions of who Messiah was that they actually believed in the real Messiah not just who they thought Jesus was but her Jesus actually was that was a very important thing they wouldn’t even be allowed to tell that’s about Messiah until they understood correctly this correction of all the true work of Messiah the aspect of her suffering and death for sin and the true cost of discipleship now what does this mean for us how does the Holy Spirit want to instruct us today personally from this passage I thought of some questions just to get us thinking in terms of application but we have to answer the same question that the disciples opposed here who do you say that Jesus is do each one of you say that Jesus is you may confess like the disciples he is Messiah he is Lord he is the son of God that’s good I hope you won’t confess that but do you acknowledge the full claims of Jesus do you understand into all the necessary aspects of his fundamental character in nature He is God one with the Father but distinct he is the only salvation that’s been our theme verse right I am the way the truth and life no one comes to the Father except through me he is the judge of all sin and unbelief he’s the only possible sacrifice for sin he’s the only one who can save you there’s no amount of good works that you can do do you acknowledge the full claims of Jesus inside and in light of that have you become his true follower one of the things the Gospels make so clear is that it’s very possible very easy to be a false follower of Jesus remember how Jesus described it there are two ways one is wide that leads to destruction the other is narrow why is it so wide because so many people travel it I remember reading one I think commentator preacher from the past who mentioned that it’s so wide that all kinds of people can be on it you can have the totally godless person alongside the very religious person nonetheless it’s not actually believed in Jesus does not fully acknowledge who Jesus is and they’re both on the road to destruction they’re not true followers are you a true follower have you denied yourself have you taken up your cross have you followed him do you follow him now do you seek your life here or have you given it up for the life to come for the sake of Jesus and the gospel are you waiting for the final unveil the final judgment of God which he owns his true people and rejects those who rejected him of course we’re not just thinking about ourselves now also thinking about other people what we’re talking about here is fundamental questions relating to evangelism in the gospel so how might we respond to somebody who says Jesus was just a good moral teacher what should we say in response Craig ooh is that your hand yes it is erroneous what else can we say yeah we take into the Scriptures do you actually know what Jesus said you say it’s a good moral teacher he claimed to be God you know CS Lewis is famous for his explanation of the trilemma if a good teacher claims to be God he’s either a liar he’s a lunatic he’s telling the truth he is the Lord so it’s logically inconsistent to say that Jesus was a good teacher but he wasn’t that and the Scriptures don’t declare Jesus to be merely a good teacher I want to show him what Jesus actually said and point out the logical inconsistency and also show them their need you must believe in this Jesus you must become his true follower if you want to be saved how might we respond to someone who says Jesus is one of many ways to get into heaven yes T very good again we want to point them to the actual words of Jesus have you heard what Jesus said he said he was the only way he demonstrated he was the only way by the way it’s logically inconsistent for every way to be valid into getting to heaven because the ways contradict each other is Lomb says it’s the only way Jesus according to the scripture says he’s the only way they can’t all be true for them to all be true you have to alter each one of them you have to say oh this part here that wasn’t true that’s logically inconsistent and again we won’t point out to people no Jesus is who you need there’s no other way how might we respond to somebody who says yes do you need to believe in Jesus to be saved but Jesus was a created being he’ll only be Canaan God how might we respond to that yeah ROI again yeah essentially ROI we pointed to the scriptures that’s not what the scriptures say and if you’re not going to fall into the deadly error of believing in a different Jesus you must acknowledge who Jesus actually claimed and demonstrated himself to be I and the father are one before Abraham was I am he was the word who was in the beginning with God and was God all things were created by him and without him nothing was created that has been created it is possible to believe in a Jesus that’s not the real Jesus and to believe in a God who’s not the real God it is true that the scriptures say there’s no other name by which for no other name under heaven by which we must be saved that doesn’t mean that if you just name any old Jesus that you believe in Jesus you have to believe in the Jesus who is because that that wasn’t that the danger that does the disciples were in that they might believe in a messiah of their own making of course that was the fundamental error of the crowds at Jesus’s time oh there are plenty of people who acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah but it wasn’t the Messiah they were looking for and therefore they repudiated him have to believe in that Jesus who is and something like Jesus deity is fundamental to him do you have to believe everything correct about the Scriptures and you this in order to be saved well know plenty of people get saved in the scriptures who don’t know everything but you want to get the fundamentals about Jesus right lest you believe in a different Jesus and you’re not covered by the true Jesus how might we respond to someone who says he believes in Jesus but he lives just like anybody else in the world yeah boy and where do we get that idea from right exactly I can’t we go to Jesus’s teaching obedience is a true demonstration of belief and that’s what Jesus said even in this passage if you want to be my follower if you want to be a disciple you have to do these things if you don’t do these things you’re not my disciple don’t say you believe in Jesus and then deny the rest of what he called you to do which is deny yourself pick up your cross follow him again we take them to Jews we want to take people to Jesus words when I show them the true belief results in self-denial and change not that you do that before you become sane no you can’t work your way into heaven you’re not even able to do these things but as you believe in Jesus this is the food when you believe you say Jesus I’m gonna follow you by your power you have to make me able because I know what you’ve called your disciples to do we want to warn people about being false followers alright that’s it for it this week Randy quick questions before we end today you’re on somebody’s opposing opposing the Lord I feel like I want to echo Steve’s words that I wouldn’t be comfortable would you know that on the one hand even as we’ve said before in class those who oppose the work of the Lord especially false teachers they do get some pretty pretty harsh words so there may be some instances where somebody is so obviously opposing opposing the Lord where it would be appropriate to call that person Satan but it would need to be very very blatant and you would want to be very sober minded if you were to ever use that term we don’t see anybody else using that term nobody else in the Bible call somebody Satan it is true that the Apostles they had some pretty some pretty interesting things that characterize false teachers and religious hypocrites so again there there is a principle there but we wouldn’t be want to be pretty careful please sober-minded about that and in some ways though what’s useful about some of the things that are said about false teachers and even here where Jesus compared is Peter the same is to show the seriousness of what kind of wrong is happening that’s why that’s why that language comes up when we speak against false teachers you have to know and people have to know just how evil and opposed to God this is what you are doing so I’m not saying that we never say those things but we do want to be pretty sober about it so I could to answer your question again from I could conceive of a situation that I would want to be really careful about that now remember next week is question and answer day so please send me emails with questions you’ve had or questions that that you now have or just topics that you’d maybe like to hear more about or things going on in your life that you would want advice about you don’t have to be super personal but just answering things about the Christian life please send me those questions so that next week we have plenty to talk about if you give it to me beforehand I can come up with a better answer by preparing for it a little bit I might have time for some questions that only come up next Sunday but it’s better if I have it beforehand to make sure we have enough and to make sure I can give a good answer not guaranteeing I’ll have an answer I’m not guaranteeing that I might not call on somebody else to answer that question from the congregation but I think it’ll be a good time of exploring what the scripture says on different things so send me those questions let me close in prayer and and I’ll see you guys next week okay look God you demonstrated your authority in the scriptures you’ve shown that you are God Jesus that you are the Messiah that you were the only salvation and you showing with it you shown the need that that you had to die on behalf of your people to save them without you God without your work Lord Jesus there’s no way we could have been saved there’s no way we could have been righteous enough there’s no matter good works we could ever do but you provided it all by taking our sin on yourself paying for it totally and then giving your righteousness to all those who believed in you we thank you for that incredible kindness that wonderful mercy thank you for your salvation god I pray that we would tell others about it Lord that we would answer genuinely not just from the head but from the heart who you really are and that we would help others to do the same they would see that you are Lord and God that they would bow the knee be saved and be given eternal life I pray that you bless the people at Calvary today in Jesus name Amen all right see you next week

November 26, 2017
Have You Not Read?

Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 2 Lesson 6

This week in Sunday school, we consider how Jesus dealt with religious leaders using tradition to misinterpret Scripture and excuse sin. What can we learn from Jesus’ example to deal with this issue in our own lives and in the world at large?

Our main texts for Sunday school will be Mark 7:1-23 and Mark 12:18-27.

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all right well we’ll get started if you’re moving over great so I would love to be able to hear what you’re saying but welcome to Sunday school thank you for being here we are in the transition point in our quarter well the whole quarter is focused on the authority of Jesus we’re looking at the New Testament looking at the Gospels and focusing on the authority of Jesus and we’ve been seeing his authority displayed in his miracles he has power over nature he’s however diseased he has power over death but now we’re gonna in the second half of our quarter we’re going to look at Jesus authority in his teaching we’re gonna focus more on that and therefore this sixth lesson which is a review in some classes but for us we’re going to consider when the the thing that Jesus says have you not read what is that all about well we’ll investigate in just a second but let’s pray before we go on pair with me my lord god I pray that you would cause your word to get into our hearts as it needs to God because what we’re talking about today is very very relevant so I pray that you’d help me to be able to explain it help the people to be able to take it in Holy Spirit please work now among your people Christ build up your church father provide in your perfect way Jesus name Amen so our lesson is titled have you not read well what’s this about well what we’re really talking about today our topic is the twisting of Scripture for the sake of tradition where someone changes or ignores what the Bible says to fit his religious ideas or religious system now when I mention this topic of using tradition to change or to interpret the Word of God what sector of Christianity probably most comes to mind yeah the Roman Catholic Church certainly they’re not the only one but it is Reformation month five year after all when we think tradition we think probably the Catholics and it’s when we consider some of the things that the Catholic Church teaches it’s just so obvious how they depart from scripture for the sake of their tradition they forbid priests from getting married even though the Bible explicitly says that is a useless thing to do people who don’t understand what the gospel really is forbid people from marrying or they worship Mary they pray to the Saints they teach that the sacraments like the Eucharist are necessary for one salvation spiritual hell and worst of all they add works to the gospel it’s faith plus works makes you safe now we might wonder how the Catholic Church gets so obviously contradicts Scripture in their teachings but such is the power of tradition you see when you elevate another authority to the same level or even above the level of the scripture that authority begins to act as a judge on the scripture it becomes the lens through which you actually view Scripture and therefore the contradictions in your traditions in the Bible disappear because you’re no longer viewing the Bible in a fair way you’re viewing them through your traditions and therefore you see no contradiction now are the Catholics and is the Catholic Church the only ones guilty of using tradition to affect the way they interpret the Bible no they’re not the only ones we could think of many different parts of Christianity those who would call themselves Christians and dare I say that even we ourselves might fall into this trap yes even we who would identify as conservative evangelical Protestants we can easily fall into the trap of allowing traditional practices or systems of belief to affect the way that we read that we understand and that we apply the Bible and we can do this without even knowing it so what’s going to protect us from falling into this trap of unbiblical traditions and systems of the thought affecting the way we interpret the Bible well a huge part is going to be going back to what our Savior does let’s look at how Jesus deals with the Bible and with those who twist and misinterpreted because that is something that Jesus encountered many times in his ministry he’s often dealing with religious people and religious teachers who for the sake of unbiblical traditions will change the scriptures twist the scriptures so let’s see how our Lord dealt with such persons and what we can learn from him so please open your Bibles to mark chapter 12 we’re gonna look at two main passages today both from the Gospel of Mark mark chapter 12 is our first place we’re gonna look at verses 18 to 27 so mark chapter 12 verse 18 to 27 that’s page thousand ten in the Pew Bible if you’re using the church’s Bible just to get some context here where are we in Jesus life in ministry Jesus has already entered Jerusalem in his Passion Week the triumphal entry is recorded in mark chapter eleven Jesus comes in he ends up cleansing the temple getting the religious leaders very upset with him they demand to know how he has authority to do that he tells them first tell me where John the Baptist ministry came from was it from heaven or from men they weren’t willing to answer that question so he wasn’t willing to answer theirs but the religious leaders are still upset with Jesus and they come to him different parts of the Jews different groups within Judaism they come to him with different questions in mark chapter 12 now we’re going to see one of those groups coming with a question for Jesus in verses 18 to 27 now pastor Bobby preached this not too long ago so some of this may be fresh in your minds but we’re going to look at it again and we’re going to consider it especially in light of tradition how do we protect our from misusing the Scriptures for the sake of tradition and if we are in that state how do we get out of it so follow along with me as I read starting in verse 18 and mark chapter 12 some Sadducees say that there is no resurrection came to Jesus and began questioning him saying teacher Moses wrote for us that the man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother there were seven brothers and the first took a wife and died leaving no children the second one married her and died leaving behind no children and the third likewise and so all seven left no children last of all the woman died also in the resurrection when they arise again which one’s wife will she be for all seven had married her jesus said to them is this not the reason you are mistaken that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God for when they rise from the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven but regarding the fact that the dead rise again have you not read in the book of Moses in the passage about the burning bush how God spoke to him saying I am the God of Abraham and the god of Isaac and the God of Jacob he is not the god of the dead but of the living you are greatly mistaken okay too long the passage here but we’re gonna apply our inductive Bible study method observe interpret apply and we start with just basic observations the group that approaches you this is the Sadducees I remember who the Sadducees are of the two main groups or of the religious elite Pharisees on one hand Sadducees on the other the Sadducees are the ultra-conservative group to it to a wrong and unbiblical extent remember they accept only the as God’s word that is only the first five books of Moses they rejects there’s other books songs prophets just the Torah therefore they deny most things that don’t occur in the Torah and occur more specifically in other books so they don’t believe in angels and they denied the resurrection and we’re not talking about individual resurrections we’re talking about the coming final resurrection where everyone will be raised they say that’s not in the Torah that’s only in other books like Daniel in the Psalms which aren’t inspired so we don’t believe in it they didn’t believe in a resurrection so if essentially your life consists of only the time you have on earth and then there’s nothing else afterwards nothing you have to look forward to how are you going to live on the world if there’s no resurrection you know what is I think Paul save a New Testament well is the drink be merry this nothing else so we might as well have as good life as best the time as we can right now and that essentially was the attitude of the Sadducees they were very worldly they are very corrupt they loved money they loved power they were essentially looking for their best life now because they didn’t think anything else was coming now unfortunately the Sadducees became the majority of the priesthood and they are also on the Religious Council so in one sense the highest official religious authorities in the land were a bunch of people who believe that there is nothing else beyond this life that God would be your God only for a while you were living on the earth and then that was it now the people the Jews they knew that the the priesthood the Sadducees were corrupt but it wasn’t really anything they could do about it they were the ones in power so we have this group of Sadducees and they come to Jesus and they have this question for him they say no this wrote for us remember they love Moses he’s the only guy they recognized Moses wrote for us this law of levirate marriage they don’t say that here but that’s what we call this law that they’re bringing up from Deuteronomy 25 verses 5 to 6 law of levirate marriage now don’t be confused by that term levirate marriage it doesn’t have to do with the tribe of Levi or Levites and actually Leverett comes from a Latin word meaning brother-in-law this law relates to brothers-in-law and you hear it briefly described in the text but that is when a man marries a woman but doesn’t have any children with her in the Old Testament law for Israel if that man had an unmarried brother that brother had a duty to marry the widow and produce a child with her for the sake of his brother and that child would actually be considered as being the son of the deceased brother so that his name would carry on in Israel they had this law the law of levirate marriage and then with this law that Sadducees lay out a situation for Jesus you got these seven brothers they all marry this one woman one at a time but none of them have any children with her each brother in law keeps doing his duty marrying the widow but the brothers all die none of them have any children and then the woman dies also now with this information there’s nothing super significant to distinguish the brothers in their relationship to this woman other than maybe the order that they married her none have children there’s no indication that one brother loves this woman more than the other so they put to Jesus when the resurrection this suppose that resurrection comes whose wife will she be now most answers to this question most simple answers appear unacceptable could you say one brother over the other whoa what really distinguishes them why if as you say to first why not the second or why not the last but if you say well maybe she’s married to all of them know that that’s just totally weird in the Old Testament you did have men with multiple wives but you never had a woman with multiple they would have felt like that was just totally crazy so if you can’t find a good answer to this theoretical question what conclusion at least the Sadducees would hope then you would have to come to okay so specifically for Jesus you’re right if you can’t come up with an answer this question he’s gonna be discredited what kind of authority does he have especially as a messenger or a teacher from God if you can’t shed accurate and sufficient light on this question but if nobody is able to come up with an answer this question what does that mean about the resurrection that’s right that’s what the Sadducees are hoping to show you can’t answer this question obviously there’s a logical problem with a resurrection it must not actually be something that will occur course this frustrated the Pharisees and the others in Jewish society who believed in the resurrection and they couldn’t come up with an answer so they put this question to Jesus they think they’ve got him but in his response he gives first a two-fold indictment this the reason that you’re not mistaken that you on the one hand don’t understand the Scriptures yes to the priest yes to the religious leaders you make up part of the Sanhedrin but you don’t understand the Scriptures and you don’t understand the power of God and then he explains a very simple answer to the situation he says look in the resurrection nobody’s married to anybody they’re like the angels in heaven so you answer that question pretty simply but then he goes further he says but in regard to the resurrection of the Dead have you not read and he points them to Exodus chapter 3 verse 6 now again here already told him they don’t understand the scriptures but now he’s asked them have you even read and this book Exodus that’s part of the thing that’s part of the Torah that’s what you say is the word of God and that’s what you say oh that’s what we’re totally devoted to says have you not even read it in the book or the law of Moses in the passage about the burning bush they should have known about this by the way why doesn’t he just quote chapter and verse number to them yeah at that time there were no chapters and verses the breakdown of verses in the Hebrew didn’t take place until the Middle Ages and verse numbers and chapter numbers those were not put together till later in the Middle Ages both of those things coming together around the 1500s so remember verse numbers and chapter numbers are not inspired they didn’t come originally with these documents but they were put there later to be helpful for those who were studying the texts so Jesus refers to the passage rather than a chapter in verse number II says remember the passage about the burning bush and then he quotes it for them what’s so significant about the verse the part of the verse that he quotes for them what one word am I am the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob what’s so significant about that now that present tense right one word and one aspect of that verb because for God to say it in the present tense what does that mean about Abraham Isaac and Jacob in some I think I heard it in some way they’re still alive because if they died and there’s no resurrection and there’s no going on after that God would have to say I was the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob but that’s not what God says God says I am I’m still their God because they still live and Jesus strives at home or drives that point home with his last word stem he says God is not a god of the dead he’s not using the past tense God is the god of the living therefore you Sadducees are greatly mistaken all right so we’ve made our observations on the passage oh I forgot to actually click this slide showing those observations there they are but now let’s good a step to talk about interpretation now this may been something we was obvious from the start but why did the Sadducees bring this question to Jesus was it because they really wanted to know the answer now this is about discrediting Jesus exalting their own authority making Jesus look foolish discrediting his claims to be Messiah and Son of God show that he’s not the authority on God or God’s work of course when the results of this exchange that Jesus are actually that’s my next question based on what happens here what does well something about himself but before we even get to that what does Jesus demonstrate about the Scriptures here what does Jesus show about the word the Word of God the Scriptures based on his exchange with the Sadducees he shows that it is true and reliable and we can even say it is the authority you want to know about the resurrection you want to have an answer about the resurrection you got to go to the scriptures and that’s what Jesus does but more than that it’s not simply that you should listen to the scriptures or the answers in the scriptures but every part of the Scriptures is significant you can draw a conclusion about the resurrection based off of one word and the verb tense of that verb in one verse every word of God is significant and inspired you know there’s a view when it comes to the Bible that says a view on inerrancy that is the perfect and having no errors in the Bible that says the meaning of the Bible is inspired and inerrant but not necessarily every word now that doesn’t even make a logical sense the meaning comes from the word but it’s a it’s an effort to qualify and not go all the way when you say that the Bible is inerrant but that doesn’t square with Jesus own treatment of the Bible if he’s able to draw out the verb tense of one word as an answer to whether the resurrection is true or not the whole word has to be inspired all of Scripture which is of course what the New Testament says all Scripture is god-breathed it is inspired it is useful for teaching and Jesus says also in another place scripture cannot be broken so Jesus demonstrates that the scriptures are the authority and that every word of it is significant now he’s proving something about the word but he’s also proving something about himself what did Jesus show about himself in this passage if they were trying to discredit him he’s not the authority you can’t trust him as being from God if he is able to answer the question and even show that the other people don’t know what they’re talking about what does he show about himself he shows himself to be the authority he is the word of God he is the perfect interpreter of God’s Word he is able to declare God’s Word accurately and completely as another part of the New Testament column he is the revelation of the father which is important if Jesus is going to demonstrate that he really is Messiah Messiah must not simply demonstrate Authority and power in the natural realm or even the spiritual realm over demons he has to be able to be an authority on God’s Word on truth which is what Jesus demonstrates himself to be you can’t outwit Jesus you can’t trick him or trap him into saying something untrue about God or saying oh I don’t know the answer no he’s the Messiah he understands God and God’s Word he’s able to perfectly declare the revelation of God so Jesus shows himself not only to be the perfect Word of God but also the Son of God and Messiah based on the exchange here and really the each of the exchanges in this passage every time they come out to him they’re trying to trap him trying to make him say something that’s gonna discredit him and they can’t do it because he’s the Messiah no Jesus demonstrates that he is he has divine power in both word and deed he’s the Messiah what must man do in response it’s the same thing we’ve been saying you’ve got to believe in him how many times Jesus has to demonstrate how many time to the Gospel writers have to demonstrate Jesus authority before you recognize he’s the Messiah he’s the Lord he’s the son of God you’ve got to believe in him you’ve got to submit to him now normally I save application to the very end of our but we’re gonna do application for each one of the passage as we look at it today how can we apply these words from mark chapter 12 a couple things I want to point out to you first of all once again we’ve got to believe in the Messiah so what the Gospel writers are trying to get us to understand do you believe in the Messiah do you believe in him as word of God son of God do you submit to him and do you follow him that’s ultimate application but we can also see there’s some application about the Scriptures and really our attitude towards the scriptures if the Scriptures are the Word of God if they are the authority on life and truth and we ought to seek it as the authority right we have to submit ourselves to what it says we must bring other truth claims and other assertions from teachers or different authorities in the world and we must submit them to the scriptures and along with this means it means that we ought to read the Bible and brothers and sisters it always grieves me when I hear that our brother or sister is not reading the Bible consistently or even at all why would we do this doesn’t the scriptures say man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God doesn’t the New Testament say you are to desire the word like a newborn babe desires milk if the authoritative word declares those things why don’t you read the Bible why don’t you read it consistently I know life is busy and we have different obligations and things come up but if this is the authoritative Word and if we have those verses that declare our need for it aren’t we gonna make time for it aren’t we gonna make the Scriptures our priority and if you say well it’s hard and I’m not getting anything out of it we’ll get some help ask some people who understand your pastors your elders our other mature people in the church ask them how they can help you read the scriptures I’ll give you some principles so that you get more out of it when you do read it this is the Word of God it’s the authority it’s the it’s the land for our feet we’ve got to be reading it and from our passage we can see that when we read it we ought to pay attention to the details of the word we want to give it close reading our close reading is the term that’s often used in literature when it comes to looking a piece of English literature or something like that what close reading it is is that beyond really looking at the content of a text the information that’s contained inside you also pay attention to how that text is delivered the form and you also pay attention to the different details in the text and how they all relate to the main message it’s a little bit of what Jesus just did in this passage and that’s what hopefully what you’re hearing from the pulpit each Sunday as pastor preaches or someone else preaches they’re showing you how the form and the details of a passage all correspond to delivering a main message you wouldn’t be paying attention to those things to you as you read the Bible that’s what Bible study really is now I’m not saying that every time you open the Bible you need to do a word study and go to the Hebrew and consult commentaries and all those types of things know there is a place for lighter more devotional reading that doesn’t get as deep into all those details but even in devotional reading think about the form of the text and why the different details appear as they do because that will help you resolve questions that come up in the text especially those most important questions why did the author write this and what is his main message so we want to seek the text seek the scriptures of authority we want to read it we want to read it closely and we want to be aware of coming to the text with preconceived notions because that’s what the Sadducees did write they never considered the significance of this phrase from Moses because they had already resolved in their minds there’s no such thing as the resurrection and when you have an assumption or a preconceived notion or system of belief that you want to impose on the text you’ll miss what’s actually there you won’t be able to see what’s there because a tradition is guiding your thinking and this happens very easily it’s like what we were discussing at the beginning of the lesson even well-meaning people do this and for well-meaning systems of thought let me say I’m a good I’m a good follower of reformed theology but if you take your theology and you impose it on different texts you abuse scripture you misuse it you know there’s a phrase that I hear a number of times in seminary the professor’s really want to drive home to us it relates to exegesis versus theology exegesis is just the term the Toxic that means your study of Scripture or your interpretation of Scripture and they say your exegesis should not come from your theology rather your theology should come from your exegesis or to say it another way your understanding of God no let me say the way you read the Bible the way you study the Bible doesn’t come from what you already believe about God or some other system you have about God but what you believe about God in the world and life it must come from your study of scriptures I mean pastors mentioned recently Sola scriptura right that’s what this is if once you read in the word of what the word says contradicts some tradition or some point of Orthodox theology you’ve got to submit yourself to the scripture because that’s the authority now in saying this would you need a guard against two things one on each side one is that we don’t say all right I submit myself only to the word I don’t care what anybody else says and we’ve become our own Pope we basically become a mini cult leaders no that’s not what we’re supposed to do Bible says we need one another where to interpret the Scriptures within a faithful community we can’t just say I’m the only one who understands the scripture no we want to be with other people and consider what they have to say here on the other hand we cannot simply follow what some theologian says even somebody who’s right a lot of the time somebody who’s well celebrated whether he’s alive today or in the past oh what a John Calvin say about this I better believe that what a Martin Luther say about this or what a Spurgeon say about this I better believe that well they did have some helpful things to say you don’t submit to them you submit to the scriptures so you have two Guardians both of those both of those ways of going off track because otherwise we become subject to the same rebuke that Jesus gave to the Sadducees which is have you not read didn’t you know how did you miss this we can’t afford to do that for the sake of the Lord Jesus and his glory but also for the sake of our own joy and walk with Him we’ve got a subject ourselves to the scriptures questions so far yeah Ron hmm I’m not sure what other section might be referring to that he’s the god of the dead hmm that verse isn’t coming to my mind certainly the we know the point of Jesus words here he’s saying that these patriarchs are not dead and gone they continue to live in some way and that way that’s why God is able to use the present tense so Jesus is explaining the significance of that verb I can see perhaps I don’t know exactly how its worded it in another place as you’re saying but I could see someone saying God is the god of the dead meaning in the sense that those who have died he’s still lord over them and if they belong to him they they’re still gonna be taken care of by God and if they don’t belong to him they’re going to be judged by God I think the one verse that does come to mind is that charge that Paul gives to Timothy in 2nd Timothy says he who is going to judge the living and the dead so we do we do have that categorization of those who are physically still alive and those who are physically not but certainly in this passage Jesus point is that these patriarchs are not dead and gone they continue to live before God so there is a resurrection other questions so we see from this first passage how systems of belief for the Sadducees not believing in the resurrection or even the rest of the books of the Bible systems of belief can cause one to ignore truth or miss truth that is in the scriptures you must be careful about that but another great danger is when unbiblical traditions actually justify sinful behavior unbiblical traditions justifying sinful behavior and we’re going to see an instance of that in the next passage turn over to mark chapter 7 mark chapter 7 we’re gonna look at verses 1 to 23 I’m going backwards and Mark that’s okay normally this lesson calls us for go to Matthew 15 Matthew 15 1 to 20 if you’re using the student guide there might be some notes there but I’m gonna use the parallel passage in mark they’re really talking about the same thing which is the certain instance where the Pharisees confront Jesus they both giving an accounts of the same event but Mark’s account is a little bit fuller so I’m gonna go with mark here what’s the context this is late in Jesus ministry not yet in his Passion Week in Jerusalem this is right after he’s fed the 5000 plus by multiplying the bread this is after his discourse during declaring himself the bread of life we talked about that last time mark doesn’t record that discourse but it does record the miracle so we’re still in a part of Jesus ministry where many of Jesus disciples have left him and his increased opposition from the Pharisees the Sadducees the Herodians there’s opposition groups that don’t like Jesus they’re coming after Jesus more and more now we’re gonna see one example of that another example of that in the Pharisees in this passage so read with me mark 7 verses 1 to 23 starting in verse 1 the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around him when they had come from Jerusalem and had seen that some of his disciples were eating their bread with impure and that is unwashed for the Pharisees in all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands thus observing the tradition of the elders and when they come to the marketplace they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves there are many other things which they have received in order to observe such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots the first season the scribes asked him why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat their bread with impure hands and he said to them rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites as it is written this people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me far away from me but in vain do they worship Me teaching as doctrines the precepts of men neglecting the commandment of you hold to the tradition of men he was also saying to them you are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition from Moses said honor your father and mother and he who speaks evil a father a mother is to be put to death but you say if a man says to his father and mother whatever I would happen whatever I have that would help you is Corbin that is to say given to God you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother thus invalidating the Word of God by tradition which you have handed down and you do many such are you do many things such as that after he called the crowd to him again he began saying to them listen to me all of you and I understand there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man if anyone has ears to hear let him hear when he had left the crowd and into the house his disciples questioned him about the parable and he said to them are you lacking are you so lacking an understanding also do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him because it does not go into his heart but into his stomach and is eliminated thus he declared all foods clean and he was saying that which proceeds out of the man that is what defiles the man or from within out of the heart of men proceed the evil thoughts fornications thefts murders adulteries deeds of coveting and wickedness as well as deceit sensuality and the slander pride and foolishness all these evil things proceed from within and defile the man all right we read our passage let’s go back to step 1 now and observe this time it’s the Pharisees and scribes coming to Jesus Pharisees are the other group of religious elite they take the whole Old Testament Scriptures as God’s Word but they also hold to the traditions added to the word the traditions of the elders elders and the rabbis piracies were all about a bang these commands but from the Old Testament and from the traditions but they focus so much on the externality of the commands there’s anything that the Scriptures had to do they would do it but they often neglected the heart which is something that Jesus will constantly point out to them you guys are only good on the outside and they were well respected these Pharisees are well respected among the people they were considered the most pious the most righteous Jesus says you are only good on the outside in the inside you are wicked Jesus did not mince words with their Pharisees and the Pharisees hated Jesus probably the most there would describes what’s a scribe again it also could be called lawyer they were experts in the law they would sometimes copy text but they were experts with text especially the Old Testament text and so they were considered experts in the law if you had a question about the Bible or about what is the appropriate mode of action you could go to a scribe and they would tell you they were like another kind of religious teacher so these two Pharisees and scribes come to Jesus and they complain about his disciples eating with impure hands they say why don’t you wash your hands before you eat now does the Old Testament command that you were supposed to wash your hands before you eat it doesn’t actually command that it does have various provisions regarding clean and unclean even when it comes to food not supposed to eat unclean foods and also you were to be careful that not to touch unclean things like a person who was unclean that would make you unclean but there’s no specific provision in the Old Testament about washing your hands before you eat nevertheless the tradition arose among the Jews and among the religious leaders that one had to wash in a special way whenever he came back from the marketplace marketplace all kinds of people there even if you don’t touch those people you’re kind of in the same area so you need you just need to go cleanse yourself and we’re not talking about germs here some of you might wash your hands before you eat put you like oh you know I don’t want to get sick I want to make sure that my hands are clean before I put food my mouth didn’t know anything about Germans back then this wasn’t about sickness this was about ceremonial cleansing this is about getting that geekiness from the Gentiles off of you just breathing the same air and this wasn’t the only thing this was just a the tip of the iceberg there are other things that they felt like they need they needed to wash before they ate mark just alludes to washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots so there there was something in the Old Testament about clean and unclean and then when he became unclean you did have to go through a certain kind of cleansing but what their this tradition goes beyond the scriptures and requires other cleanse things now would it be wrong to even though the Bible doesn’t say it to wash your hands in this ritual way not necessarily you can do it if you want God isn’t requiring but it was their tradition and they’re concerned that Jesus and His disciples are not following it and they asked him why don’t your disciples keep this tradition their hands were impure why are you letting that happen now as is often the case Jesus doesn’t answer their question directly you may have seen this a number of times by now when people ask you those questions in the Bible he often does not give them a straight answer he gives them the answer they need he doesn’t often answer their main question at least not directly actually Jesus starts out by saying you guys are hypocrites and Isaiah rightly spoke of you Niq quotes Isaiah 29:13 in that passage Isaiah God through Isaiah is speaking of Judah in the days of Isaiah at that time the people of Judah were following God but following idols at the same time they said that they wanted to serve the Lord but they were serving their own lusts and desires and so God pointed out to the people that you honor me only with your lips your hearts are far from me and you don’t honor my word you want our traditions you teach the doctrines of men as if they were the doctrines of God Jesus says the Pharisees are the same way you are hypocrites you only keep man-made traditions and you don’t really love God then he goes further he says not only do you ignore the important things for the sake of your tradition but you actually use tradition to nullify the commandment of God says you’re experts at it you’re skilled at doing this this isn’t an accidental thing that happens with you you’re you’re well-practiced than this and he uses an example this thing with honoring your father and mother and Corbin now honoring your father and mother that’s so basic some of the 10 commandments but somehow they were nullifying this command how are they doing it well this tradition called Corbin this is a post-exilic tradition something they came up with after the Jews came back from exile the idea was you would dedicate something to God maybe some money you had or some property you had and then once you did that you declared it Corvin you weren’t allowed to use it for personal or secular interests so you say I declare this certain amount of money as Corbin and if something comes up in your life you need to pay for something you say oh I can’t use that I can’t use that to pay for my needs I need this is only for sacred purposes but Jesus says the people were using this and what they might not support or help their parents they’d say oh I see your need but whatever I would have given you is already korban they wouldn’t do anything to help their parents now why wouldn’t you want to help your parents why would these Jews not want to do that okay could be simply because they they want to keep the money for themselves or they simply don’t like their parents or maybe a combination of the two like oh I don’t like the way my parent has been treating me lately oh he’s in need I’m gonna say that my money is Corbin and you can imagine that this dedication may not take place this declaring something Corbin may not take place until some realizes his parent is in need oh my parents need something from me I better declare this quarter on so I don’t have to give anything to them and you can also see how you can be strategic about this you’re like hmm you know I’ve got some temple offerings coming up or I’ve got some sacrifices I need to do my parents need money why don’t I just declare this Corbyn that way I would have been paying this for the sacrifices anyways but now there’s no way my parents can make me feel bad about not giving it to them and when I get more money later on I can take care of my other needs but for now I can just declare these things Corbin and that way I don’t have to give anything the system was being manipulated and that’s why Jesus says for the sake of your tradition you totally nullify the commandment of God to honor your father and mother it makes us the people dishonor their parents and don’t even provide for their needs don’t even help them out you says this is just one example you do many such things as that and that’s all he has to say to them he doesn’t answer their question about the impure hands thing he does answer that question for the sake of the crowds he’s not really addressing the Pharisees and scribes anymore notice the latter part of this passage Jesus calls the crowds to himself he wants to make clear to them it’s not the things that come from the outside especially not food that can defile a person and why can’t they defile a person say that again okay he does provide it though Jesus points out there’s something that there’s some place that these external things cannot go and therefore they can’t defile you where can’t they go they can’t reach your heart right it says when you eat something it goes into the stomach and is illuminated it doesn’t go into your heart the hearts the place that matters that’s where that’s where something came to follow you Jesus says actually the source of defilement is not from the outside to the inside but it’s from the inside out it’s actually what comes from your heart that defiles you now what comes from the heart well sin and Jesus list various kinds of sin adulteries fornications covetousness wicked thus these come from within Jesus says and defile a person so Jesus makes clear it’s not the external things that can defile a person or make them impure it’s what’s internal it’s sin by the way mark tells us Jesus declared all foods clean if you make this principle it’s nothing external then truly there’s no such thing as an unclean food this doesn’t mean that Jesus immediately went and had some ham I’m sure he continued to keep the law until he died and was resurrected but asked Jesus for food the law there was no reason for his disciples or any of those who believed in him to any longer follow these rules of external ritual uncleanness because there’s nothing from without that can defile a person so for these observations let’s move now to step 2 interpretation has some questions what does this account show us about Jesus yeah Roy yeah well said Roy Jesus again shows himself to be the authority of truth he understands God’s words perfectly he’s quoting Isaiah and rightly applying it he understands what is the biblical tradition and what’s not a biblical tradition he speaks with authority about God’s truth he understands it as what was saying and better than anyone else ever has we see also that Jesus is zealous for God’s truth notice how uh abrasive is too strong a word or maybe it’s not but he comes out boldly against these Pharisees he just goes right off and says you guys are hypocrites he’s not afraid to firmly in boldly confront their sin and their self-righteousness we often in our day hear people characterize Jesus sister oh you know he was so loving he was so meek she says was loving and he was humble but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t a zealous for God zealous for truth and indignant with sin he was compassionate but he was also zealous for his father his zealous for God’s truth he’s the authority of God’s truth and this again points us that Jesus is the Messiah this is exactly what Messiah should be and was foretold to be this account also shows us something else about what true righteousness is before God what is true righteousness in God’s eyes yeah yeah it’s not about the external it’s not about keeping traditions it’s not about rituals first of all it relates to what God actually commanded but more importantly it’s ultimately about the heart you can do everything you want on the outside to look good you can keep all sorts of rituals all sorts of external commands but if your heart is not clean it doesn’t matter you’re defiled before God you’re not clean before him and we know God hates uncleanness he hates sin if you mean in that state you’re under judgment the truly righteous person needs a clean heart but we know from other scriptures none of us have clean hearts naturally we’ve inherited a defiled heart from Adam so for any person to be saved what needs to happen to him he needs a new heart he needs a cleansing he needs a supernatural transformation and only God can provide this and this of course is what the gospel is all about God is able to do what you cannot do you cannot clean yourself before God no matter how much you changed the outside but he’s able to clean you from within if you will believe in the one who’s been sent to your cleansing where is Jesus Jesus sacrifice is transforming work by faith we take hold of that and God gives us a new heart and he cleanses us from all defilement that’s what salvation is really all about but that becomes herb let me say it this way that’s not on the Pharisees Minds what’s on their minds is tradition therefore this passage shows us why where this passage shows is the answer to this question why are man-made religious traditions often very dangerous yeah really yeah absolutely traditions distract us from what God actually said we could become zealous for those traditions and we don’t actually pay attention to God’s Word anymore Craig were you gonna say something no Rob yeah yeah absolutely you’ve hit both of you have been on two very important aspects traditions caused us to neglect God’s Word and traditions also caused us to neglect the most important part which is the heart traditions they keep you focused on the external part and you neglect the heart and we also see here that traditions can be used to ignore or invalidate the word the words of the Bible you can actually justify evil by tradition and contradict the Word of God so traditions can be quite dangerous if they’re not biblical or if they’re followed in an unbiblical way by the way which is easier to keep man-made traditions or to keep God’s Word it’s their traditions because as we said they focus on the externals we love things that focus on the externals because they’re not that hard to do and you get a certain sort of satisfaction from doing it may you still feel very righteous but that’s not what God actually required it required you to be clean in the heart it’s so easy to get sucked up with traditions and things only related to externals so we must be on guard so you can see that we have some application from this this was not only a problem for the Pharisees but it can become a problem for us some questions for us to consider when it comes to application this passage shows us again that we need to believe in Jesus as Messiah but that we also must believe the true gospel gospel goes after our hearts it’s not about simply doing more good things on the outside it’s about getting a new heart from God you can’t do that on your own you need God to cleanse you save you from his wrath and make you into his own slave of righteousness which is what happens when you embrace Jesus by faith now we’ve been using the term tradition to describe most of what’s going on in this passage but what term do we use more often to describe adding man-made rules and traditions to the Bible what term do we use starts on the nail legalism legalism and you can see the idea of the legal law in the name said that we add rules to God’s Word and we can even even we can become legalistic and be legalistic with one another what are some areas in which Christians often get legalistic with one another today I’ll give you some examples holidays do you celebrate Christmas do you celebrate Halloween we can get legalistic over those things Bible does not command us to celebrate Christmas or Easter for that matter in a specific day you can get legalistic over prayers did you pray before you eat you know sometimes we joke I don’t know if you joke but sometimes someone forgets to pray before you eat and you say heathen what are you doing and it’s kind of a joke but you know what sometimes it’s not you’re like oh they don’t pray before they eat does the Bible commands you to pray for me no so food is sanctified with thankfulness doesn’t say you have to pray for it we can get legalistic over food do you eat this do you eat that being a legalistic over drink do you drink alcohol bring it legalistic over the Sabbath what do you do on Sunday we get legalistic over what we do on worship what do you wear to worship what are you singing worship we get legalistic over entertainment choices what kind of music you listen to do you have a television in your legalistic over dating your legalistic over education choices do you homeschool oh you know homeschool you could put them in Christian school do you put them public school maybe it leaves the legalistic overdress in appearance oh he’s wearing earrings are these things actually commanded in the Bible now understand the Bible does have things to say about those areas I just mentioned and of course there are other areas too there is a standard that we ought to apply in things like our entertainment or what we decide to do in worship or what we decide to do when it comes to educating our kids but we need to be able to distinguish between what the Bible actually says in commands and what is just a personal application from that command we also need to be able to distinguish because this happens all the time when you actually give what the Bible says about something people will often call you a legalist they say oh you saying not allowed to do that you must be a legalist you’re just being legalistic no there actually is a biblical standard and sometimes people don’t even want to listen to that we must be careful not to go beyond that we do want uphold the biblical standard we don’t want to be legalist now you can for your own personal application you can add things that the Bible doesn’t say you have to do that’s because you think that’ll be more helpful for you or because you want to honor God in that way that’s fine let’s be careful that we don’t impose that standard on others because over such issues of tradition and preference what do we Christians often do to one another we condemn we’ve judged and condemned you know what people often quote Jesus not to judge and we’re like oh you misunderstand that phrase because people are trying to excuse their sin but Jesus did say not to judge right we can’t ignore that he did say that what did he mean we said don’t judge an unrighteous standard don’t judge with unrighteous judgment and what’s unrighteous judgment when you use the standard that goes beyond God’s Word and when you condemn people before you actually know the situation and we do this don’t we we see somebody not following some tradition Christian tradition and we say oh you know he’s compromising it’s kind of a worldly person this is a misplaced zeal this is just like what the Pharisees were doing God he didn’t wash his hands before he ate this is distracting us this is distracting us from the actual words of God this is distracting us from the most important matters of the Christian life and it’s actually causing us to sin against one another we become condemned natori and even hateful towards one another tradition is causing us to sin and we can also say this is kind of a different way to think about tradition sometimes we justify sin because everybody else does it well you know all the Christians are doing this thing it must not be wrong all the Christians I know it may just be a tradition what does the Bible actually say because even as a society or as a Christian that’s a Christian body we might have blind spots we might be doing things where people might be doing things that are actually not biblical but they’ve just become accepted we have to go back to the word it’s not that all traditions are wrong or that no tradition is helpful for you personally but you have to go back to the scriptures we must go back to the standard which is God’s Word so brothers and sisters this morning as we close please consider yourselves and consider your own life have you been living legalistically have you been coming up with a standard that goes beyond the scriptures and then imposing that standard on other people and judging them based on that don’t judge with unrighteous judgment also do you have you been subjected to Christian bandwagoning how all the other Christians must be doing or doing it must not be wrong and we’ll go back to the Scriptures examine things that are common or just tradition and make sure that they’re actually biblical but that they’re not being exercised up in an unbiblical way we need to repent of these things if we’re involved in that because there’s sin they distract us from the things that are important but of course when we repent we have restored fellowship with God and we have restored fellowship with one another we have different examples of Nilla even in the New Testament or Christians who fall into legalism but then repent Peters 1 right he wouldn’t eat with the Jews IRA he wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles because some people came here who thought that wasn’t right he started act legalistically he repented he never forgot the lesson that he learned brothers and sisters let us be zealous for the right things let’s be zealous for God for Jesus our Savior for His Word and not for traditions we’re out of time for today do you have other questions or comments please email me we’ve seen some wonderful truths in these two passages but we’re going to continue to see more next week as we continue looking at Jesus’s teaching and we look at Jesus Sermon on the Mount pray with me as we close our God I thank you for this word picaud it is so easy to get caught up in traditions to get caught up in mere externals and to start judging one another how do we know that there is a standard that we do need to exhort one another to hold that’s the standard of your scriptures God’s so easy it is for us to go beyond that and start becoming self righteous just like the Pharisees so God let us be in the biblical place what we actually hold to your word and are not distracted from it I pray that you would accomplish that God willing the people of Calvary and I need those listening tonight in Jesus name Amen thank you guys – see you next week

October 15, 2017
Jesus Has Power Over Disease

Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 2 Lesson 3

This week in Sunday school, we look at Jesus’ demonstrated power over disease. What miracles did Jesus do to demonstrate this power? Why did Jesus do these miracles? Is illness an indication of sin or God’s disfavor? Should Christians expect healing from injuries and illnesses today? How should we react to Jesus’ demonstrated healing power? We’ll consider these questions and more.

Our main texts for Sunday will be Mark 2:1-12 and John 9:1-40.

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and then covered with hardened clay or sometimes they were kind of like clay blocks that were then covered with another layer of clay this is the layer that they decide to dig through and make a hole I imagine this would have been a little distracting to those listening to Jesus word inside not only because the noise that perhaps pieces of the roof actually falling in but not only do the men make an opening that then lower the paralytic through the rather large opening through the roof right into Jesus presence now how did they lower him do they have some cloth or some ropes did they just use their hands they get help from inside we don’t know text doesn’t say but they do lower him and notice Jesus reaction Jesus doesn’t say hey that’s my roof or that’s Peters roof you better pay for that or hey I was teaching here fact there’s no indignity or rebuke from Jesus at all rather the text says that first Jesus saw their faith he saw their faith interestingly it’s not that he saw the paralytics faith but he saw their faith but then notice and this is quite unexpected Jesus says to the paralytic son your sins are forgiven and notice this is a passive verb expression the subject receives the action your sins are forgiven Emily by Jesus Jesus is the one who’s declaring this and he claims a few verses later that he has authority to forgive sins but that soon they are against against God so how can anyone forgive the sins against God except God himself and this is what some of the scribes President Jesus’s house are wondering and remember a scribe is an expert in the law that is the Torah describes silent conclusion is that Jesus must be blasphemy if only God can first forgive sins done against him and Jesus is claiming the ability to forgive sins then Jesus must be claiming to be God not a God but the God only Yahweh can forgive sins committed against Yahweh and this is a pretty logical conclusion right the scribes to some extent get what is happening and they conclude blasphemy but there’s one detail they’ve not considered which is what Jesus is going to show them notice that Jesus is immediately and supernaturally aware of the scribe silent condemnation of him and he puts a question to his accusers which is easier well first he asked them why are you wondering but then he says which is easier to tell a paralytic that his sins are forgiven or tell him to get up pick up his pallet and go home well what is the answer to that question it’s to say exactly Steve you’re exactly right it’s easier to say your sins are forgiven because it can’t be verified now truly accomplishing forgiveness is not necessarily easy but telling someone that his sins are absolved is very easy there’s no way to tell whether that statement is true or false and isn’t this what the Catholic Church and the Pope still do today do this many acts of penance to pay for your sin and your sin will be absolved and you’ll be back in a state of grace oh to say that’s pretty easy there’s no way to check or to contradict there Matt who can really tell if God forgave your sins or if the penance over is overdoing it or under doing it you don’t know there’s no way to tell but you can tell pretty easily whether a paralyzed man suddenly walks most people would find it pretty hard to with authority and with genuine expectation to tell a lame man to walk pronouncing forgiveness is way easier than pronouncing healed paralysis but Jesus goes on he has his rhetorical question hanging in the air then he says but so that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins and notice the with a word but indicating contrast Jesus is saying in contrast to what I just said about something being easier or harder here’s something else but notice also that this is not a complete sentence it’s expecting another part so that you may know and then what what’s going to cause his accusers to know that the son of man remember that’s a messianic title that Jesus claimed for himself how are they gonna know that the Son of Man indeed has authority to forgive sins trailing off Jesus then turns to the paralytic and tells the man to do exactly what Jesus pointed out was more difficult than saying your sins are forgiven and you can see the emphatic nature of Jesus command he says I say to you this is based on my authority I say to you and how long does it take for the paralyzed man to do what Jesus says it’s pretty quick says he gets up and immediately picks up his pallet now this is not possible under normal circumstances even with modern medical technology and surgery if there was surgery even possible in this situation it would take this lame man weeks or more to learn how to walk and to build up his muscles his first steps would be extremely shaky you probably fall immediately in this if this man was lame beyond his legs if he was quadriplegic he certainly would not be able to pick up his pallet but the man does just this he gets up picks up his pallet and then just leaves in the side of everyone jesus healed the man totally but how what was the method that Jesus used to heal him in he spoke he simply spoke it was healing by command healing by a word now note the crowds response they are all amazed they glorify God and they say we’ve never seen anything like this let’s think more about interpretation questions on this passage by healing the paralytic and considering what he said what did Jesus prove to the scribes and to everyone there jesus has authority to do forgive sins Jesus has the authority to forgive sins he says this is so that you may know I’m gonna do the harder thing he had to be if he can do the healing that shows that he has power and authority and that verifies what he said earlier and if Jesus the Son of man has the authority to forgive sins and only God can forgive sins and who must Jesus be he’s God he’s Yahweh he has to be it doesn’t make any other sense it doesn’t make sense any other way now though Jesus is God and has authority to forgive sin what does Jesus observe that was part of his pronouncing forgiveness to this man in particular what did he see he saw faith and he said he saw their faith I’m gonna assume that the paralytics faith is part of that I wasn’t just that he saw the people carrying the paralytics faith though they were exercising faith the reason he’s able to say what he does to the man is that the man himself had faith he had faith in Jesus now how did this man and the men who carried him demonstrate this safe how could Jesus have seen their faith that’s right they came they came for healing and when there was a crowd they didn’t stop their faith was demonstrated by bringing the paralytic and stopping at nothing to put the man in Jesus presence these men rudely interrupted Jesus teaching session also made a large and inconvenient hole in the roof of this house if were these men not only had faith in Jesus power but also in Jesus what his compassion his goodness his mercy these men believed that Jesus would be willing to heal this paralytic even in the middle of his teaching session even if they had made a hole in the roof if they could just get this man before Jesus he would heal him he would have compassion because Jesus is good they must have believed that Jesus is good now it’s striking that Jesus does not address this man’s paralysis first what does this show us about the man’s physical need it’s not the most his paralysis as debilitating as tragic and as a trial of this man’s life as it was it wasn’t the most important nor else the compassionate Christ would certainly have dealt with it now something else was more important and it was forgiveness of sins in fact the man’s physical Pennock benefit is not the ultimate point of this miracle certainly Jesus was demonstrating love and compassion to this man but why really did Jesus do this miracle and why didn’t mark record it for his readers it was to show Jesus had the authority to forgive sins which means Jesus must be one must be God and Messiah this miracle is presented both by Jesus and by Mark our gospel writer to show that Jesus is the Messiah and God and if Jesus is the Messiah and God how ought men to react to such a revelation by repenting by believing by trusting in am i following Christ that’s why these Gospels were written weren’t they bring the readers to believe and then encourage them to obey and follow they’re powerful and good Savior even through trials suffering and death so yes this miracle is a sign of compassion and the power of Jesus but ultimately it’s so that we would believe in Jesus as Messiah and as the Son of God we’re gonna notice a similar set of truths in play in our second account we won’t talk about application for this passage just yet let’s move over to John chapter 9 now where we’re gonna look at another example of Jesus healing John chapter 9 verses 1 to 40 the whole chapter what’s the context for this miracle well now or later in Jesus ministry Jesus is in Jerusalem the feast of tabernacles and many Jews it says in the previous chapter have believed in Jesus as Jesus teaches on the temple grounds however these same believers do uh they do an about-face because as Jesus continues to teach they actually seek to stone Jesus because Jesus asserts that Jews are still slaves to sin and that Jesus himself is God the conclusion of chapter 8 jesus says before Abraham was born I am they sought to stone him but he escaped their attempted lynching as John 9 begins he leaves the temple and then here’s the next thing that happens John chapter 9 verse 1 we’ll read to the end of the chapter as he passed by he saw a man blind from birth and his disciples asked him rabbi who sinned this man or his parents that he would be born blind jesus answered it was neither that this man sinned nor his parents but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him we must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day night is coming when no one can work while I am in the world I am the light of the world when he had said this he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and applied the clay to his eyes that is the blind man and said to him go wash in the pool of Siloam which is translated sent so he went away and washed and came back seeing therefore the neighbors and those who previously saw him as a beggar were saying is this the one who used to sit and beg others were saying this is he still others were saying no but he is like him he kept saying I am the one so they were saying to him how then were your eyes opened he answered the man who was called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me go to Siloam and wash so I went away and washed and I received site they said to him where is he he said I don’t know they brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes if then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight and he said to them he applied clay to my eyes and I washed and I see therefore some of the Pharisees were saying this man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath but others were saying how can a man who was a sinner perform such signs and there is a division among them so they said to the blind man again what do you say about him since he opened your eyes and he said he is a prophet the Jews then did not believe it of him that he had been blind and had received sight until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight and questioned them saying is this your son who you say was born blind then how does he now see his parents answered them and said we know that this is our son and that he was born blind but now but how he now sees we do not know or who open his eyes we do not know ask him he is of age he will speak for himself his parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews but the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him to be Christ he was to be put out of the synagogue for this reason his parents said he is of age ask him so a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him give glory to God we know that this man is a sinner he that answered whether he is a sinner I do not know one thing I do know that though I was blind now I see so they said to him what did he do to you how did he open your eyes he answered them I told you already and you did not listen why do you want to hear it again you do not want to become his disciples too do you a reviled him and said you are his disciple but we are disciples of Moses we know that God has spoken to Moses but as for this man we do not know where he is from my man answered and said to him to them well here is an amazing thing that you do not know where he is from yeah and yet he opened my eyes we know that God does not hear sinner’s but if anyone is god-fearing and does his will he hears him since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind if this man were not from God he could do nothing they answered him you were born entirely in sins and are you teaching us so they put him out Jesus heard that they put him out and finding him he said do you believe in the Son of Man he answered who is he Lord that I may believe in him jesus said to him you have both seen him and he is the one who was talking with you and he said Lord I believe and he worshiped him and Jesus said for judgment I came into this world so that those who do not see may see and that those who see may become blind those are the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and said to him we’re not blind too are we jesus said to them if you were blind you would have no sin but since you say we see your sin remains right this is a much larger section we won’t be able to observe everything that we could in this passage but let’s note some main things note that Jesus and the disciples see a man blind from birth total blindness is a severe affliction even today and disciples ask a question question that demonstrates a viewpoint consistent with Jewish thinking at the time where did this affliction come from was it a result of this man sinned or was it the result of his parents sin I know the disciples only give these two choices but notice Jesus answer this man is not born blind because of sin but why so that the word God might be displayed in him and notice Jesus does not heal with a word here nor is there specific mention of faith Jesus spits he makes clay and he puts the clay mud on the man’s eyes and has the man find his way to the pool of Siloam and wash now the pool of Siloam was a large pool in the southern part of Jerusalem Jesus has probably still close to the temple more in the eastern side now normally does putting mud on someone’s eyes and then having it washed off cure congenital blindness obviously not how could putting mud on anybody’s eyes ever be helpful in helping their eye condition indeed the steps of this healing might sound a little random even counterproductive but they’re not think back have we ever seen a creative act of God involving dirt they’re clearly in Genesis right well the way man was originally made he was made from the dust the ground in Genesis 2 moreover some of you may know spitting and making clay was considered what according to the tradition of the Jews it counted as work I was considered work and what day is it it’s the Sabbath so as we see in the passage in the view of the Pharisees by healing the man in this way what has Jesus done he’s by he’s broken the Sabbath he’s violated the Sabbath he’s broken the law God and if Jesus if Jesus violates the Sabbath what can he not be according to the Pharisees he can’t be from God he can’t be the Son of God he can’t be messiah he’s cooked because clearly Messiah is gonna be a righteous one he’s gonna keep the law of God and Jesus is breaking the law at least their view but there’s a problem with this conclusion as either even other Pharisees in the text point out problem is if he is a lawbreaker and if he’s not really from God then how did he do this miracle how did it heal this man so he got a problem the Pharisees mostly referred to as a juice here they can’t figure out how to make sense of this situation how can this blind man be healed by a Sabbath breaker and sinner they eventually hit on a potential solution maybe this healed man wasn’t really healed at all maybe he wasn’t actually born blind they bring in the man’s parents for corroborating testimony the parents are scared to testify because notice the Pharisees have already determined that if you confess Jesus to be Messiah you’ll be kicked out of the synagogue that is you’ll be excommunicated from polite Jewish society if you confess Jesus to be Messiah you’re gonna be put out so the parents don’t go that far parents verified that the healed man is their son and that he was formerly blind so the Pharisees need another loophole clearly this man seems have been healed but what are they gonna do so they bring the healed man back in and they try to get the man to denounced Jesus as a sinner someone ironically they say give glory to God but that’s a that’s basically a call for the man to tell the truth to confess as if the man had been lying before but the man refuses to give in to their browbeating rather what does the formerly blind man assert the miracle proves about Jesus Jesus has to be he has to be from God God doesn’t listen to sinner’s no one’s heard of a man being born blind and then healed clearly Jesus is from God but notice what the man received for such a reasonable and bold confession he was reviled by the assembly and ejected he was put out probably this was this represented the excommunication from Jewish society hearing of this expulsion Jesus soon found the man again and revealed to the man that Jesus is the Son of Man the Messiah and notice what the man does in response he confesses his faith in Jesus and he worships him the section concludes with a declaration from Jesus for why Jesus came into the world to open the eyes of the blind and to blind the eyes of the seeing and Jesus specifically says the Pharisees are part of the group that we’re going to receive the latter half they claimed sight and for doing such their sin remained on them alright now let’s interpret some questions based on what we’ve observed here’s some interpretation questions what was the disciples understanding regarding the origin of disease that’s right the sin had to be based on one’s own actions or the actions of the parents potentially is this not simply that sin rather disease is the result of sin back in the fall this is personal sin what you have done or what your parents have done that’s why you have this sickness by the way this thinking is not uncommon today even among Christians sometimes we are tempted to think we might even hear people say why did this bad thing happen to me is it because there’s some sin in my life that I don’t know about or why is my child born with a defect is God punishing me for something now do L miss an injury come from sin they do sometimes just one second see sometimes the connection between sin and illness is obvious take liver damage due to alcoholism or venereal disease as exam those clearly result from personal sin choices for their some of the Old Testament curses on Israel for disobedience included disease even in the New Testament Paul warns that some in the Corinthian church had become sick or died for eating or drinking the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy way even using the occasion for sin but notice and Calamity are not necessarily due to sin and which Old Testament Saints is an obvious example of this man who was covered with boils Joe he was a righteous man he experienced incredible calamity including physical disease and he had not done anything wrong and as it is with this man born blind God created this man blind from birth not because of sin but in order that Jesus might later do mighty works and this man’s life Steve are you gonna say something yes yeah that’s a great question there’s a logical problem here how could the man himself have done any sin if he was born blind yeah I don’t know what they would have said maybe they pocky had sinned in the womb or if they’re just groping in the dark for an answer if it wasn’t the parents it had to be him somehow yeah that definitely is a problem but they were looking for a solution but Jesus had to say look the way you’ve been thinking and really this was consistent with Jewish thinking at the time the way you’ve been thinking about the origin of disease is not quite right yes sometimes it’s the result of sin but don’t assume that it always is this man was actually born this way for God’s glory now why did Jesus heal this man the way that he did because it’s very different from the other one we looked at makes the clay all that why did Jesus do it that way yeah Roy yeah I think great explanation really both those things that you said yeah Jesus did this knowing that it was the Sabbath knowing that the Pharisees would go nuts over this you’re breaking the Sabbath but he’s exposing them he’s exposing their false view of the Sabbath their false view of God their man-made traditions that violate the long-gone by refusing by forbidding people from doing good on the Sabbath if you look at the times of Jesus heels throughout his ministry he often does it specifically on the Sabbath and in a way that exposes the Pharisees they hate it they hate seeing him here on this on the Sabbath they are so it’s one of the things that that sets them off the most but he’s showing them you are all wrong you’re totally wrong in your understanding and by bringing it to sharp focus they think he’s violated the Sabbath but this man was clearly healed he’s giving them clear evidence that he is the Messiah he is from God and that their rejection of him is totally unwarranted dwyane are you gonna say something yeah wow that’s a that’s a good way to put it I didn’t even think about it in those terms but yeah by healing the man more blind he’s doing exactly what he said at the end of the passage I’m keeping sight to the blind but I’m showing that you who say you see you’re clearly blood in a way by exposing it he’s causing them maybe causing them their heart they harden their hearts in response they’re not willing to consider the evidence they can’t accept the evidence of this man tealing in the evidence that Jesus really is God in Messiah because they’ve already concluded he’s not the Messiah they’re ready to put anybody out of the synagogue who confesses though so this is another one of those examples of they don’t need more evidence they need their fundamental assumptions change because they’re not willing to accept the implications of the evidence that there is now Jesus healing on the man as we said did prove Jesus to be the Messiah and the blind man’s confession and worship at the end of the passage and proves that Jesus is not only Messiah but he’s God he’s worthy of worship and faith now Jesus he makes that statement the brienne what does he mean when he says I came to open the eyes of the blind but to make those who see blind well we kind of already began to explain it the idea is that Jesus came to save the repentant elect and to condemn and judge the blind self righteous answers in genesis puts it this way the man who acknowledged his blindness both physical and spiritual was healed of both the Pharisees would not acknowledge their spiritual blindness even though they were physically able to see and therefore they could not find forgiveness for their sins Jesus says your sin remains on you but the man who confessed faith in Jesus by extension his sin was forgiven notice again here Jesus firstly mission is not ultimately about doing miracles or ending physical blindness Jesus mission primarily focuses on spiritual eyesight that is for salvation from sin so we could also save this miracle why did Jesus do it and why did John the Apostle record it for us how was the audience meant to respond yeah Roy that’s right so that those reading the account that was hearing it would believe in Jesus I mean John says so explicitly as you’re neutered Roy Daniels gospel these signs were recorded and John is very selective about the miracles he’s chosen he doesn’t give all them you couldn’t give all them it says I chose these I reported these shoes that you might believe and Jesus is Messiah and Son of God and that in him you would have eternal life and it’s the same for us today look at these miracles we see Jesus claims we say he is Messiah and Son of God I have to believe in him he is my he is the way of salvation this is not to say that Jesus was dispassionate towards the man he healed no other passages stressed that Jesus had great compassion and this compassion motivated the healing that he did for various people and also it motivated his teaching but Jesus mission was not to make people’s lives more comfortable it was to save people from sin over Jesus miracles were miracles were not done merely to alleviate pain Jesus miracles were bold assertions of who Jesus really is the miracles were signs signs pointing people to their necessary belief in their trust in and their obedience to Jesus as Messiah and Son of God now that we’ve done these first two steps of steady on both of these passages let’s now go to step three and consider application I have a couple questions here for us to consider number one should Christians expect healing from their infirmities as part of a new life privilege brought about by Christ well the answer is no seeing the true purpose of Jesus healing miracles we can already see how many Christians go astray today when it comes to expecting or searching for miraculous healing of Christian illnesses some today claim God doesn’t want you to suffer believe in the Lord and He will heal you he will make you walk again he will cure your cancer you will end your infertility you just have to have faith but such assertions profoundly misunderstand the Bible’s words on Jesus healing ministry on illness in general and on suffering as we’ve already seen especially in John 9 some affirmative are actually for the display of God’s glory and part of God’s doing mighty works in for and through a person moreover there are several examples the New Testament in the New Testament of godly men becoming sick remaining sick and not being miraculously healed even though they were with people who did miraculous healings in the past consider second Timothy 4:20 second Timothy 4:20 pol says that he left his companion trophimus sick at my Letus you mean an apostle who did various miracles including healing didn’t just heal trophimus or in Philippians 2 25 to 30 Lubin’s to 25 to 30 Paul relates how faithful a Pafford itís got sick and nearly died in service to Paul and to God again no healing no healing from God no healing from Paul no miraculous healing what’s up with that and Paul himself suffered serious illness as he reports to the Galatians in Galatians 4 12 to 15 this man who healed others got really sick but Paul interestingly confesses that it was due to his illness that he got to preach to the Galatians talk about illness to the glory of God and there was no miraculous healing there this is not to say though that God cannot or does not bring about healing in response to prayer offered in faith James 5 even gives instructions for prayer along these lines God can and sometimes does heal disease and pain either miraculously or through more common means of medicine and life change but healing and good health are not promised to believers sometimes many times even it is necessary that we as Christians remain in trials of infirmity that we might glorify God and wasn’t this the reason for Paul’s thorn in the flesh this thorn whenever it was physical emotional spiritual this thorn was a great trial of suffering for Paul and Paul prayed for its release but when God told Paul that the Lord’s grace was sufficient for Paul and that God’s power is manifest in weakness Paul took courage and he sought to use his alot of suffering to glorify God Paul understood that when I am weak then I am strong that is to say when God humbles me and lays me low in suffering and I simply cling to him in faith that’s when I’m able to enjoy him and to minister powerfully and effectively for his name’s sake and is not the same true for us this truth about the real purpose of physical infirmity and suffering it ought to inform the way we pray about illness and physical infirmity let’s not simply pray for anyone and everyone to be healed of sickness immediately I mean that is a compassionate thing to pray for and we can pray for healing but let’s remember that God has important purposes in illness so while we can pray for healing let us also pray for the effectiveness of illness or the effectiveness of God’s purposes in illness I’ll just pray that our brothers and sisters will be able to stand up under the trials of illness and pain however long those trials may last and God’s good providence and that those brethren will be powerful testimonies to others of God through their weakness and let us pray most of all that God’s good will will be accomplished in that situation in contrast to the faith-healing charlatans that we sometimes see or hear today we know that God has not promised health and healing to all his followers but he has promised perfect provision in these short days and an internal inheritance that will not fade away a kingdom in which there will be no disease crying pain or death our bodies truly groan for this Redemption and it is coming one day if you know Christ you will see it a related question number two when calamity or illness appears in your life from the lives of your children or of your loved ones should you assume it is because of sin in light of our passage today no no you shouldn’t have assumed that my brothers and sisters that there’s one false belief that we must be ourselves from it’s that a person’s life circumstances necessarily correspond with God’s attitude toward them or their own faithfulness to God if things are going well for you that does not mean that everything is right between you and God and if life seems to be falling apart that does not mean that God is against you really circumstances cannot definitively tell you God’s attitude towards you but what can the only revelation we really have from God the Scriptures the Bible if you really want to know what God’s appetit toward you is read the scriptures now if you know if you know that you’re in unrepentant sin and the calamity falls upon you do not be surprised especially if that calamity is a direct consequence of your sin this is God’s gracious hand of discipline on you don’t let it go to waste as Jesus says to one man that he healed repent before something worse happens to you but apart from these situations of known sin we should treat life calamities the way that the Bible mostly describes them that is they are testings of faith meant to refine us meant to glorify God meant to display Christ worth to the world if you really want to know whether you’re walking faithfully before God don’t look to your circumstances or even your own health look to the word and to the counsel of others in the church who know the word it can help explain it to you as a corollary to this let us refrain from judging others based on their life circumstances don’t assume that your brother your sister suffers trials due to his or her unfaithfulness to God perhaps they do in some instances but you won’t know simply based on the circumstances you will need to get to know that brother or sister and hear and see how they’re actually living in order to come to a fair conclusion let us not make the mistake of job’s friends and Paul’s opponents don’t mistake suffering for God’s disfavor sometimes suffering is actually a result of God’s favor that God gives an opportunity to enjoy him or join in suffering with and for Christ and to make God known in a greater way in the world so that’s a second thing for us to think about and then number three this really hits that the main point of our passages today if these miracles were recorded so that you might believe in Jesus has Messiah and Son of God do you believe do you acknowledge Jesus as Lord have you surrendered all to him it’s no wonder that many today like the Pharisees refused to accept Jesus miracles they say oh that never happened since doing so would necessitate the acknowledgment of Jesus as Messiah but these miracles did happen they were faithfully faithfully recorded by eyewitnesses who were later martyred and had no reason to lie they were further these miracles were part of a scriptural testimony that accurately describes the world in man’s condition our hearts know this word to be true but do you believe it do you believe in Jesus has son of God Messiah Savior there is salvation in no one else you’ve not done so yet repent and give everything to Jesus let him heal your most pressing disease escape from the wrath of God turn from your sins take Jesus good yoke upon you trust in his righteous life alone to make you right before God don’t hide behind suppose a good works don’t hide in your Christian culture Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind admit confess your blindness Jesus knows your heart don’t hide it from him take up your cross follow Jesus to the very end and you’ll be healed if you come to Jesus you have no reason to fear since he is both powerful and good he came to save the sick and heal the spiritually blind what’s his purpose it was a compassionate purpose if you do not come do you insist that you see and that you’re not blind that you are righteous without surrendering everything to Christ you have much reason to fear since Jesus himself said you will be judged you will be blinded you’ll be punished forever in hell I just remember that it is not those who call Jesus Lord Lord who will enter the kingdom of God but those whose faith results in obedience they are the ones who will enter comments or questions before we close today yes right right yeah yeah and I affirm both of those things as well I’ll repeat what you mentioned certainly we do know in a general way in in terms of ultimate causation disease illness pain they are the result of sin those things did not exist in the world before the fall they came as part of the curse on mankind the consequences of sin and you’re right to point out this is actually a strangely strong apologetic for why the earth is young and why man scientific claims today about the origins of the earth art are not accurate because they don’t are those who want to combine evolution or combine some of the claims about Old Earth with the Bible because you see disease you see cancer you see things like that in the fossils that supposedly are part of God’s very good creation and I think we can whole readily acknowledge that disease is not good illness is not good it did come in the world because of sin but as you also said bill we also want to affirm that in the specific person’s life the fact that he has an illness with the fact that he has a particular injury or infirmity that’s not necessarily the result of his own sin something that he did to merit God’s disfavor and punishment yeah so out of from both those things other questions or comments yes tea yeah yeah yeah I would agree with agree with that as well just to repeat your comment James the passage in James 5 that mentions healing and praying for healing and having the elders come and anoint someone who is sick it does mention that there’s the possibility of sin there and that we should be confessing our sins to one another so on the one hand we want to acknowledge yes sometimes illness is the result of sin but we don’t want to make that assumption whenever an illness appears in someone’s life or appears in our own lives regardless whether sin makes us sick or not as you were also saying Steve we do want to confess sin we don’t want to hide sin and we don’t want to live in a live in a false wait before one another because we deny ourselves the healing that’s more important and we we do injury to ourselves well if you have other questions or comments come on you can’t come see me afterwards because I’m over here in California but you can’t email me NICUs you could come to California to Bellevue that’d be pretty fun next week we will spend one more lesson talking about Jesus displayed authority via miracles we’ve seen Jesus authority over nature we’ve seen Jesus authority over disease the next week we see the greatest display of divine authority perhaps the greatest display yeah I think the red grace display and that is Jesus power over death Jesus has power over death itself let’s close in prayer how do we thank you thank you that you are the healer there is salvation in no one else there’s no other Savior there’s no other healer but you’ve made your major healing available to us you open our eyes you’ve made known your beauty and your salvation to us so that we turn to you we thank you for that God cuz we were so blind we were so lost we were so committed to our own sin and self-righteousness but you opened our eyes thank you thank you Jesus thank you Holy Spirit thank you a father for sovereignly ranging those things I pray God if there’s anybody here anybody who listens this message who has not yet been healed he’s not yet confessed his blindness it’s not yet repented God that you would accomplish that I pray God that you would continue to build up the body of Calvary courage them fill them with joy as they worship you today and Jesus name Amen all right Thank You Calvary I will see you next week you’re welcome

September 24, 2017
Eight Characteristics of Authentic Christlike Disciples (Part # 4)
In today’s sermon, Pastor Babij closes the series examining the last four characteristics of an authentic Christ-like discipleship. The last four are:
- Forgiving others
- Withstanding temptation
- Being humble
- Confessing Christ to all people
Pastor Babij examines humility in detail and contrasts it with pride. He details how pride is the root of all sin and how pride is fought by comparing oneself to the humble Christ. Pastor Babij concludes by reminding believers that the purpose of evangelism is to make disciples, not just converts.

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all right let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to mark this is the last of it Mark chapter 1 actually we’re we’re going to look at several chapters in Mark just kind of summing up uh the eight characteristics of authentic Christlike disciples and so that’s what I’ve been looking at over these weeks and of course u in considering these characteristics remember that the holy spirit is developing your character and he’s developing your character in order for you to be a disciple that is maturing and growing and developing in the attitudes and the behaviors that we ought to have as Believers and so that’s what we have been looking at now now remember these are not all the characteristics the holy spirit is developing in you there are more but these are the ones that Rise Up from the gospel of Mark and so we have looked at so far four of them the first being the unconditional surrendering to God’s will that means that of obedience secondly the character of authentic disciples is uncompromising faith thirdly an uncommon desire to put to pray unto the Lord and to put him first in all things and then fourth an uncanny awareness to watch over or guard your own heart as a Believer one thing you did not do before now you are considering it as the scripture begins to cleanse you and push out all the garbage in your mind and replace it with God’s word now today this Lord’s day I want to consider the fifth the 6th the seventh and the eighth of the characteristics of authentic christ-like disciples before I do that let’s have a word of prayer Lord this morning I do thank you that we’re even to that we’re even able to know these things what a privilege it is for us to know what you want for us and I pray Lord as we consider these characteristics I pray you would take them allow us to examine oursel by them to see how we measure up to see if we’re pressing on and moving forward and I pray Lord as we do that um you would encourage us um or Lord you may have to rebuke us and I pray Lord whatever the case may be that we would be sensitive to your will and want to put ourselves in your hands so you can take hold of us us that we can cooperate with your spirit and that you can produce in us a christlikeness that is growing and moving forward and I pray this in your name amen the fifth characteristic of authentic disciples is this forgiving others forgiving others Mark chapter 1 in verse number four it says John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the Forgiveness of sins and then in verse 5 it said all the country of Judea was going out to him and all the people of Jerusalem and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River confessing their sins now it’s very clear here that the promise of forgiveness goes with the confessing of sins that’s what you want forgiven and the root meaning of actually remission or forgiveness of sins is a sending away a dismissal of those sins it speaks of a cancellation of sin without demanding the deserved punishment that would go along with that sin such forgiveness of sins is based on the vicarious sacrifice of Christ on the cross in other words the sins are taken from The Sinner and are sent away so far so far away that even God will not find them on the day of judgment as it says in Psalms as far as the East is from the West like the like writing that is blotted out like casting it into the depth of the sea so it can never be found again see these are sweet words that come to us as poor Sinners they are sweet to us the humiliation of Jesus would accomplish something great and that that is that jesus’ great Mission as the son of man was that he had the authority to remit sin he had the authority to forgive sin see Jesus had come to bring us to make our own this remission Jesus would fulfill all of what is symbolized in the Old Testament sacrificial system by which a lamb was slaughtered and burnt on the altar as an offering before God to represent atonement for sin or the covering of sin the lamb was the substitute so when John the baptizer here called Jesus the Lamb of God he was saying that Jesus would be the substitute who will make a real and a final atonement for sinners now once the sacrifice was offered and the sin was covered or removed or atoned for then God’s Wrath against the sin had been appeased or satisfied the sinner’s guilt was expirated that means to be wiped out and God was propitiated that means to be satisfied with respect to Sinners that God’s disposition towards the sinner is changed from that of Wrath to that of forgiveness that of peace that of friendship so so then Sinners are forgiven and the broken relationship between the Sinner and the holy God is restored a Believer and follower of Christ has received forgiving atonement for sins and because of that they are urged as a disciple to do something the disciple is to live out a key communicable attribute of God and what is that forgiving others that’s what we’re called to do not as easy as it sounds see scripture urgently exhorts followers of Christ to forgive others and where it comes out in scripture is in Mark 11 and if you notice in 11 there’s two things linked there in probably the most intimate thing we can do as Believers and that’s to pray the disciple is to Bear the necessary characteristic of forgiveness if he does not forgive others he is met with a warning concerning God’s withheld forgiveness now it says in verse number 25 of Mark 11 whenever you stand praying forgive and then you have this conditional word if you have anything anything against anyone so that your father in Heaven who who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions so in in other words if you have anything against anyone then you need to consider that it doesn’t have to be someone close to you it doesn’t have to be someone in your family it could be someone that has offended you somewhere along the line the Bible is saying here listen in verse 26 but if you do not forgive neither will your father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions see the disciples attitude is in prayer is to have a forgiving attitude forgiving power cannot flow into our lives if we refuse to forgive others so this becomes a motivator for believers to keep short accounts our forgiving others then of their offenses and sins is intimately connected with our coming into the presence of God In Prayer can’t make it to Heaven your prayers andless you forgive others so in other words we ought to forgive because God in Christ has forgiven you now if we slow down for a moment we must come to admit that holding resentment in the heart the opposite of forgiving will eventually turn into a deep-seated grudge the consequences of holding a grudge are really spiritually unhealthy and unproductive now what is a grudge a grudge is really Revenge turned inward revenge is an outward attempt to even the score in getting even with another we only hurt ourselves spiritually emotionally and even physically a grudge also grows like a cancer a grudge pours its corrosive bitterness into our entire mindset before you know it we’ve grieved the holy spirit of God opening the door to bitterness anger gossip slander and Malice and the Very person who gives us the power to overcome sin and to be forgiving the Holy Spirit himself is grieved where it says in in Ephesians do not grieve the holy spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice that’s what we’re to do with it also a grudge generates really guilt U it refuses to forgive it would really if you refuse to forgive you would really inhibit your ability your ability to serve uh God and sense God’s forgiveness toward you the sin of of not forgiving others actually clouds Fellowship ship with the Lord because you’re walking actually in darkness and not the light it tells us in first John in 1 John 1 if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin if we say that we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he’s faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in Us in other words a grudge is clearly a sin and it’s it a it is a kind of a settled type of sin that kind of rests there in your heart until you take care of it and we know that a grudge really zaps our energy it takes a great amount of unconscious energy to maintain a grudge but mostly and most importantly a grudge usurps God’s rightful role only God has the right to hold another accountable for sin see vengeance is his exclusive domain Paul tells tells us in Roman never take your own Revenge beloved but leave room for the wrath of God for it is written vengance is mine I will repay says the Lord so so when we refuse to forgive another person we actually put ourselves into a realm in which we are ill equipped to handle as if we can actually hold another under charges for their sins forgiveness really allows us to turn this account over to the ultimate collector of trespasses and debts the one who can actually cancel it and forgive it of course what is the solution to taking care of a grudge very clear from scripture right there in Ephesians 4:32 you know the passage be kind one to another tenderhearted forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you why do we actually forgive people what’s the motive is that God’s forgiven me of everything so if God has forgiven me then I should be very forgiving uh to all people a sixth characteristic of authentic disciples is with standing Temptation now I like you to take your Bibles and turn back to Mark chapter 9 withstanding Temptation the warning is for the disciples to be concerned about remaining corruption in your own heart a remaining corruption that can actually lead you away from the right path Lead You Away by the remaining passions and lusts that are still there in your heart that haven’t been fully cleaned up yet or the word of God has not transformed them as of yet see the disciple of Christ is to know how to withstand temptation but it starts really in our own heart because we’re LED away Temptations are normal we’re all going to get tempted right everybody gets tempted all the time your whole life you’re going to be tempted all right the Temptation is not necessarily the problem the problem is your own heart because we’re LED Away by our passions and our lust that’s already there in our heart what do we do with them well in the section we’re going to read here this passage really before us is hyperbole that means it’s not to be taken literally even though the three statements are hyperbolic the if if term in the passage makes them probable in other words it is possible for these things to happen given the right circumstance or given the right Temptation that feeds your particular passion or desire that you kind of give into in other words it’s possible for these things to happen given the right circumstances serious disciples are to take care these things do not become a reality well I just want to mention two things from the passage the first thing is this so how is it that if temptation is normal for all of us what are we going to do when we’re tempted well the first thing we have to think in our minds is this sin has to be robustly withstood it’s not something you can play with it is definitely fire if you take fire in your bosom you will be burned if you play with temptation if you entertain Temptation you will fall into it and of course when you fall into sin the wages of sin are always destructive in some way or another so look look at the passage in mark 9:43 it says first of all if your hand causes you to stumble cut it off now remember hyper hyperbole here but there is a sense that the hand is symbolic of what we do the bad use of Deeds it says there if your hand causes you to stumble cut it off it is better for you to enter life crippled than having your two hands go into hell into the unquenched Able Fire so a second thing it says in verse number 45 if your foot causes you to stumble the foot is symbolic of where we go the improper places individuals allow themselves to go if your foot caused you to stumble again cut it off why it is better this is the better to the worse argument it is better for you to do that than for you to enter life lame or to enter life lame than having your two feet to be cast into hell so again in verse number 47 if your eyes cause you to stumble the eye is the is symbolic of what we look at that causes sin the lusts which are stimulated from with without aroused by sight of things that are forbidden to us what do we do with that if your eyes cause you to stumble throw it out or pluck it out it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched so in all these cases Jesus is telling his disciples it’s better to lose a precious body part or whatever is treasured by you than to spend an eternity in Hell In other words you end up loving sin more than you love God himself and not are not willing to put it off not willing to deal with sin in a robust way but actually enjoy being tempted enjoy being led into sin and sinful Behavior by the use of these particular body parts because it’s these body parts that are the instruments that bring us into a place where we sin it was like what Paul said in Romans uh chapter 6 that listen once you become Believers then you need to deal with your sin in a certain way and of course he says in Romans 6 what shall I S say then are you to continue in sin that Grace may increase he says may it never be how shall we who died to sin live in it all right then he says in verse number 12 therefore do not let sin re in your IM mortal body so that you obey its lusts and do not go on presenting your members the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness but present yourself to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God for sin shall not be Master over you for you are not under law but under grace in other words we are to consider this as Believers that sin needs to be dealt with robustly but if you notice sin is to be dealt with radically and swiftly it mentions cut it off throw it out pluck it out see these merely uh to merely cut off the hand the foot or to pluck out the eye would not cut out the sinful heart with its passions and desires they still remain they need still need to be transformed so it is your evil heart and will that abuses these bodily members to make them instruments of lusts and Passions that Center within you so sin is to be dealt with radically and swiftly just as a surgeon does not hesitate to cut off garous hand a garous hand or a foot to save a life so evil and destructive practices must be sacrificed to mature in Christ and then ultimately to save the soul anything which is which causes a person to fall into sin should be removed immediately in a person’s life the violent rejection of Temptation is necessary for to be victorious over sin so the admonition for you and I is right now every precaution needs to be made to cut off everything in our lives that leads us to sin don’t give any way to sin cut it off put obstacles in your place get rid of it run from it do whatever you have to do to make sure that you don’t sin that way another admonition is make sure you escape the fires of hell and make sure you lead others to escape that horrible place so you and they can enter the kingdom of God and so a Christian and as a Christian as a disciple we’re to tell unconverted Sinners that God is angry with them and that the sword of his wrath already hangs over their guilty heads and unless they repent of their sins and trust in Jesus alone to save them they will forever experience the wrath of God in eternal torment there’s a passage of scripture in Hebrews chapter 10 that really describes this particular person verse 26-31 it says that if for if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth there is no longer there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but it this is what remains but a terrifying expectation of judgment the fury of fire that will consume the ad adversaries and then he says this it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of a living God see this is what disciples understand they understand that it was our sin nailed Jesus Christ to the Lord so then when they become believers they take their sin very seriously where before they didn’t but also they can thank the Lord for allowing them to hear the words of Hope and salvation and that his Divine Mercy rescued them from this petition that they were on the road to and all those who trust in Jesus alone for eternal life will be rescued from that predition the seventh characteristic of authentic disciples is this being humble now I don’t have a particular passage of scripture in mark because when I think about it well I thought about it I said all of Mark is about the humility of Christ so all of the Gospel of Mark exemplifies humility Jesus Christ came not to serve not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many so to follow Jesus around and to watch how he lived life and how we he responded to others in every instance of the Gospel of Mark you would view the picture of humil and remember the source material that Mark uses for the gospel of Mark comes from Peter and we know Peter was the first person to put his foot in his mouth before anybody else right he did exemplify humility in the beginning but Peter writes about humility more than any other Apostle in fact Peter learned humility so well that he says this in his epistle in 1 Peter 3:8 to sum up all of you be harmonious sympathetic have brotherly kindness to one another and a humble Spirit be humble in spirit and Jesus ultimate Act of humility is when he submitted himself to the death of the Cross and of course Philippians brings that out where it says being found in the appearance of a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on the cross the opposite of being humble is being prideful and pride is all of our problems we all have a problem with pride it says in Proverbs 18:12 Before Destruction the heart of man is huy or prideful boastful lifts himself up but humility goes before honor and humility is to make oneself low to put yourself under something not exalt yourself but to actually make yourself low and of course you can’t get lower than a slave and a servant right and that’s what we’re to be slaves are the greatest in the kingdom of God and I believe the reason why is because they EX exemplify the character and humility of Christ more than any other person that could be described in any circumstance on earth a slave doesn’t have anything a SL a slave submits to his master but in this case Jesus Christ is a good Master you can submit to a good Master a kind Master a gracious Master a humble Master a masters who whose humility puts your humility to shame every time but I have to ask this question what’s pride pride is by definition is really thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think it is an inaccurate overestimation of our accomplishments it is a Corruption of the essential selflove God expects us to have pride is seen in the deification of self it’s seen in our independence of God it’s seen in contempt for others it’s seen in competitiveness Proverbs Chapter 6 you should turn there in your Bibles right in the smack in the middle of your Bible Proverbs Chapter 6 this passage of scripture says how God thinks of what God thinks of being prideful and it says In this passage in Proverbs 6 pride has a disdainful look notice what it says says in verse 16 of Proverbs 6 there are six things which the Lord hates yes seven which are an Abomination to him verse 17 the first thing listed is hoty eyes know that is pride of course and a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood hoty eyes though eyes that are lifted up in arrogance display an attitude of the heart a person going their own way in total disregard for God and refusal to consider their own short life and their own creatur to have an attitude like this puts God against them what a that’s not smart that’s a foolish posture to take in fact it was Peter again who said this he said you young men and of course pride has its own particular seat in the heart of young people why is it that when somebody gets the sophomore year they know everything how is it your children haven’t lived life yet they know everything and they can tell you how it really is how is it see you know what that is that’s really Pride they don’t see it as is pride and and we don’t often identify those things as Pride but a person is really going their own way when they think like that this is what Peter says you younger men likewise be subject to your elders and all of you clothe yourself with humility toward one another for God is opposed to the proud and gives grace to the humble see that’s the posture we want to have one of humility the attitude of pride has a disregard for human rights and divine laws and has an excessive conceit of and regard for one’s own person if I went through Proverbs that wisdom book and I were to read you some passag of scriptures on Pride it would sound like this pride is condemned repeatedly as Sin Proverbs 21 huy eyes and a proud heart the lamp of the wicked is sin it leads to disgrace and dishonor Proverbs 11:2 when pride comes then comes dishonor it leads to the loss of one’s possessions Proverbs 15:25 the Lord will tear down the house of The Proud it leads to one’s downfall you all heard that one Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes Before Destruction and a hotty spirit before stumbling also Pride fuels quarrels and strife in relationships Proverbs 28:25 an arrogant man stirs up Strife pride is also boastful where it says in Proverbs 27:2 let another praise you and not your own mouth a stranger and not your own lips and the results Pride results in punishment Proverbs 165 everyone who is proud in heart is an Abomination to the Lord assuredly he will not be unpunished so we must not forget that the this particular sin originated in the heart of Lucifer the anointed cherub of God in heaven Lucifer’s heart was lifted up with pride against God Almighty and as a result he fell from that position for it tells us in Isaiah but you said in your heart I will Ascend to heaven and I will raise my throne above above the stars of God I will sit on the mountain Mount of assembly in The Recess of the north I will Ascend above the heights of the clouds I will make myself like the most high God see the fundamental sin of Pride was caused that uh that caused Lucifer’s downfall that in which he wanted to establish his own Throne instead of guarding the Throne of God which was his to protect his his desire for to Dethrone the almighty was clear the essence of his sin was that he wanted to be independent of God and that’s part of what pride is pride is the self-sufficiency of a selfish spirit that desires to live unrestrained by anyone else so Satan fell through Pride Adam and Eve fell through pride and of course implicated the whole human race in their ruin you and I fell through pride and as a result pride is everywhere you look and it is the fundamental sin that lies at the root of every other sin that is the desire to master our own lives and to live independent of God and pride it knows No Boundaries it dwells Among The Young and the old it dwells among the rich and the poor wherever people live East or West you will find their pride it is a sin common among all peoples of the earth and consequently no sin is more hated and abhorent to God see God has a holy hatred toward pride and arrogance toward conceit and haughtiness pride is a sin that really Blends well with all other sins but worse than blending well with our vices it Blends well with our virtues and that’s where the destruction comes virtues like what success people want to be successful don’t they well this is the very tool that Satan could use to get you as a mature as as really we all mature in Christ likeness you no longer get easily dragged away into outward sin and even inner sins like wrong thoughts and attitudes and words you are more conscious of and regular in dealing with them but this is where Satan will tempt you to to flatter you and remind you how much you know the Bible and how well you your knowledge has grown you are spiritually minded how far you have come how much farther you have come than all the others around you see he’ll deceive you to think you’re pretty successful in your Christian walk he will get you to believe that that you believe it’s true so what is he what is he attempting to do he’s attempting in a very subtle way to cultivate in your heart Pride because he knows if he does that then you put yourself in a place where God is actually against you and opposed to you and not gracious to you at that particular point until that sin is actually taken care of so Pride because once we achieved success uh once we achieve success we tend to take credit for it we tend to get cocky we tend to get condescending we tend to over or under excuse me others we tend to dismiss others as morons and Stooges he says to you you made it you’re smarter than everyone else you got one you’re one step ahead ahead of everybody else in the in your walk with Christ see and the more successful you are the greater there is a temptation to Pride so are you successful watch out for pride instead pursue humility see we should identify pride in our own heart before anybody else does but there’s a another way that Satan wants to tempt us to Pride and that’s knowledge we’re all to grow in our knowledge and wisdom of Christ that’s that’s a noble thing that’s a virtuous thing to do that’s a thing that we the spirit of God is leading us to do if Pride lives in our heart though the more you know the more stupid everyone else seems to be it it’s easy forget that everything you know you once had to learn yourself intellectual arrogance really shows no pity to the unlearned so displays no patience or longsuffering with the common people if you have a gift of a good mind great however a sharp mind is closely accompanied by the tendency to Pride pride is the Dark Side of knowledge whether one has a book knowledge or a street knowledge that person can easily become a know-it-all it says in Corinthians 81 knowledge makes arrogant but love edifies so those who truly pursue knowledge eventually discover that they they they eventually discover the little they know and how much more you need to know I think anybody who goes to higher education comes away saying I touched about that much of what there is to know in the world and even when it comes to the Christian Life you can hear the Bible preached for year decades and decades and still you still have not come to the place where you ought to be so if you are knowledgeable watch out for Pride there’s another way he does it and it’s by wealth Prestige influence position power possessions that accompany wealth also naturally promote Pride people for the most part tend to idolize wealthy people they listen intently to every word they speak we are Anan in in the United States by wealth by fine clothing by expensive automobiles by exquisitly manicured homes of the Rich and Famous maybe we’re like tevia in the Fiddler on the Roof where he asked would it change some vast eternal plan if I were a wealthy man maybe you asked that same question well without just watch out for Pride it’s an occupational hazard of wealth and the desire for wealth you don’t have to be you can sin to want to be rich and not be rich at all just to desire the pursuit of wealth can make you prideful so the Disciples of Jesus Christ cannot condone with God hates when the disciple is prideful they are imitating the character of their old father Satan himself so here’s the great problem with pride God hates it God is against everyone who is prideful even James clearly says to us but he gives greater Grace therefore it says God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble see God reserves special wrath for Pride because in Pride a person discards gratitude to God and assumes that they themselves have accomplished something on their own success a person becomes their own Creator their own sustainer of life that’s what we have done in in our society we have we have thrown out God and we’re sustaining our own deal a nation can only lasts so long before it all crumbles in because we’ll depend on government to save us the military to save us or wealth to save us or whatever else our education to save us and none of it’s going to save us and the reason why is because we’re not humble we are prideful see God urges us to put off pride and what’s the cure to Pride perception self- knowledge self- knowledge is not easy to come by because we are all all of us really are possessed with our own favor humility is realized when we see ourselves as we truly are and that is we are conscious of our own unworthy that’s it right there if we have a perception perception of our own unworthiness then you know what we will see the plank in our own eye before we see the Splinter in our brother’s eye when we realize the facts about ourselves as they really are all grounds of Pride are demolished also there is pride is really cured by chastening a preventive against a loathsome sin of pride in his children God lovingly disciplines his kids through discipline God delivers us from the ascendancy of Pride and then there are I talked about already there’s mortification mortification is a cure for Pride we cut down the weeds growing in our hearts before they spread and multiply like Paul said in Romans for if you are living according to the flesh you must die but if by the spirit you are putting to death the Deeds of the body you will live and of course another way is by comparison We compare ourselves among others and come off fairly well in comparison to someone else who’s less able than us but let us compare ourselves with the perfect Christ and if we are honest we will be overwhelmed by our shabbiness and our vess and our the dirtiness of our own character all just by looking at Christ and then of course there would be the contemplation contemplation of Christ the cancer of remaining Pride can only be removed by beholding the glory of Christ Pride seems to shrivel up and and wither away in light of the humil that we see in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a huge way so in other words this is one thing that has to be completely removed from the disciples life character and behavior I don’t know about you but what happens when you notice Pride do you get this joyful feeling in your heart that this person is confident and cocky and condescending no you kind of get a sick feeling in your heart hoping somehow you can maybe help this person see that that attitude is not the right one if you are a True Believer in Jesus Christ that must go and it must go quickly and swiftly and sometimes we have to help young people with their pride that’s why the young person what submits to the elders right those who are older than them for what reason so they can handle this prideful thing that’s going on in their heart until they do that they can if they think they know it all they’re already in trouble and here’s the last characteristic of authentic disciples the last one confessing Christ to all Humanity isn’t that where the whole gospel’s about in Mark chapter 5 verse number 19 it tells us there and remember when we Mark 5:19 remember what the con converted demon possessed man asked Jesus when he came to Faith and how Jesus answered him look at it says in verse number 18 of Mark 5 and he was getting into the boat Jesus the man who had been demon possessed was imploring him that he might accompany him verse number 19 and he did not let him but he said to him go home to your people and report to them the great things the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you see that’s it that’s going to be a characteristic of a disciple even a brand new disciple go tell your family go tell your friends go tell your people that you work with let us spare no pains in laboring to PE bring people to the knowledge of Jesus Christ that they may be saved we ought to be alert to the fact that we’re we’re God’s ambassadors we’re we’re God’s evangelists we are to tell them and then invite them that’s what we’re to do I like when we that one dispatches that we we saw from the dispatches from the front the guy said what what’s your what’s your mission he says I pray I meet people and I tell them about Jesus Jesus that’s it that’s that’s a simple thing to remember that’s what we’re ought to be doing everything we do ought to have that in the formula the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be declared but the unbeliever must also be invited to receive the gift of Salvation one of the definitions of evangelism is this communicating the good news of Jesus Christ to unbelievers with the intent of inviting them to repent of their sins to have faith in Jesus Christ as the first step in discipleship and spiritual maturity but I want you to notice the emphasis in that definition the first step the goal of evangelism is not to make a list of converts but to have sons and daughters in the Lord who have been brought to maturity the goal or result of evangelism is not converted iions but discipleship Christ commands Believers to make disciples of all Nations not just converts and what’s the primary reason for this command well Mark that’s how Mark ended uh and Mark ended it in Mark chapter 16 he simply says this and he said to them Mark 16:15 go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation he who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned so it’s not the great suggestion It’s the Great Commission that’s what it is so see it’s the command of God that’s the primary reason also it’s the terrible fate of of men although it’s true that the main reason for evangelism is the command of God it is also true the horrors of Eternal punishment in hell in the Lake of Fire cannot be ignored as a significant motivation for evangelism people are all around us are dying and going into a lost eternity are we conscious of that are we aware of that are we we putting oursel into that equation so we’re doing something about it and not just praying about it we ought to be praying for souls to be saved but we ought to be telling them the truth of the Gospel see Jesus tells the story of the rich man and the beggar in Luke chapter 16 while the rich man lived in luxury the beggar lived in misery and poverty the rich man had no concern about his Destiny but that changed dramatically in that parable when he died and went to hell see hell is described by the Lord as a place where there is conscious torment and irreversible separation from God it is a place in other words to be avoided the scriptures teach that hell will be a place in the place of the Lake of Fire and from that place There Is No Escape for all eternity see Eternal punishment is a reality and a very serious matter so that means it’s necessary to be about the business of evangelism because people will be separated from God in the place of Torment forever if they do not have the opportunity to hear the gospel and respond in faith now they may they may become a Believer they may hear the gospel but they won’t hear it from you they got to hear the people around you I may never get to meet the people around you the people you work with the people in your family but you do you go to family events you talk to people at work you have neighbors that you interact with have you ever told them about Jesus Christ whatever the what whatever the Fallout is don’t worry about that you just give it out God takes care of the rest you can’t save them but you can give the message that will produce salvation in their their heart see that’s what we’re we’re to do so there’s another reason is that people have a deep need look around you people are needy today especially they are spiritually needy see the Apostle Paul received the vision from a man from Macedonia in the book of Acts begging him to come there to help them for what reason for the message of Salvation how can I be right with God I want to know how to be right with God we don’t know how to be right with God we’re just going by what we know to do and it’s not enough to make us right with God see the Lost in the world are looking for something to satisfy their deep inward longings look look where people are going today to to satisfy what’s going on in their heart they’re pursuing every single Avenue possible because they’re not happy they’re not fulfilled all the stuff around them just not doing it the nice cars and the big paychecks and the Beautiful home to them and it ends up being just a lot of work see they’re hurting inside they’re longing but they don’t know what they’re longing for CNN’s not going to tell them and Fox News is not going to tell them either none of the nudes Outlets is going to tell them they have to hear it from you they have to hear it from me see they need the message of God brought to them daily they hear the bad news of this world system and they long to hear some good news and the Christians are the only ones who give it according to Ephesians chapter 2 the unsaved person is separated from God disobedient to God living in Hopeless despair living under the burden of sin and he needs and or she needs to be liberated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ but they just don’t know that you didn’t know it before you came I didn’t know it I tell people when I became a Believer I wasn’t looking for God I was doing all right I was having fun but God was looking for me and when he arrested me in my tracks I know one thing one thing I I realized at that point I was never satisfied in my life in my heart until I trusted Christ and then I felt satisfied and that that never has waned as and as the word of God feeds that satisfaction comes in Christ so that means one of the main motives for evangelism is love to Jesus Christ that’s the main one that’s in 2 Corinthians 5 see Believers in Jesus Christ are his ambassadors sent to Proclaim his message of reconciliation you don’t have to reconcile friends but you surely have to reconcile enemies and what people don’t know is that they’re enemies of God they don’t think they are they think they are some way being blessed by God but no they’re enemies of God see so all Sinners are enemies of God until they believe in Christ but the it says there in Corinthians that Christ’s love compels them to what to speak to be ambassadors compel he compels people to give witness to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ so that when the love of Christ and the joy of Salvation when they are experienced the desire is for others to experience the same thing don’t you want to see others get saved have you ever shared the gospel where you actually seen somebody get saved and then follow the lord as a disciple those are rare times but I tell you what when you you see that it just excites you and it gives you such a joy to be a believer to be able to see Christ transform another heart another life so Christ holds Believers to the task and puts pressure in their life which produces results and the results are going to be salvation of the lost everything is changed and different because Christ loved you savingly and he loved me savingly everything is different from that point on so that means this and I’ll close jesus’ disciples are to be characterized by these eight characteristics and more which the holy spirit of God is developing in your character in order for you to as a disciple to serve God and then to serve others all right these are developing you to serve God and then to serve others because as you develop in Christlike attitudes and behavior you become more a more effective servant why because you’re growing in surrendering to God’s will you’re growing in uncom uncompromising faith in God you’re growing in a desire to want to pray to the Lord more than ever have and how much it’s needed in your relationship you’re growing in an awareness to guard your own heart because you know in your heart is a lot of junk yet you’re growing in forgiving others because Christ forgave you you’re growing in withstanding Temptation because you know that Temptation will just lead you to a crippled walk and you won’t be able to serve Christ you’re growing in humility and then you’re growing in confessing Christ to all Humanity those are the characteristics that well how are you doing in those anyway if you ask yourself listen look in the mirror say self how how am I doing in these characteristics where am I falling short where have I fallen off the you know the fence on one of these and then regroup right be honest with yourself regroup and then get back to uh putting these things in place and then cooperating with the spirit of God because he wants these characteristics in all of our lives so my prayer is that all of us here today will be developing and practicing these Christlike attitudes and behaviors so that I’m going to say it again we can serve God God and others for his glory amen let’s pray boy that was a weak amen I don’t I don’t know if I’m going to let that one slide and all God’s people said what amen all right I don’t know what happened there maybe you’re under such deep conviction that you couldn’t you couldn’t speak okay let’s pray Lord thank you so much Lord your word is is just so incredible the gospel of Mark has has been so transforming to me um Lord it it just humbles us right down to where we should be but Lord that’s a good place to be because when we’re there Lord we are available to you we are listening to you we are self- awared not only do we know who you are but we know who we are and we also know Lord the power of sin and Temptation and we know Lord also the manipulation of the enemy who wants to drag us down and ruin our testimony so I pray Lord this morning that these characteristics would truly be developing in our heart every day of our life until you take us from here or you come back so I pray Lord you would glorify your life through our life let us speak for you so others may hear the gospel of Christ to be saved and I pray this in jesus’ name amen amen
July 16, 2017
The Post-Resurrection Ministry of Jesus

In today’s sermon Pastor Babij teaches how to understand the four possible endings to the gospel of Mark. Pastor Babij explains how these different endings present no contradictions of established Christian doctrine.

Pastor Babij also exhorts Christians not to engage in sinful unbelief, as such will lead to certain condemnation before God’s judgement seat. Pastor Babij shows that God uses Christians, not miracles, as His witnesses of the impending judgement.

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let’s take our our bibles and turn to the gospel of mark i’m coming actually i’m the this is the last official message in the in the gospel of mark and um so my plan i think my plan will be for the future after mark is that i uh probably will do the solos of scripture because of the reformation here uh you know saved by faith by grace by scripture by christ and alone and so i i may do those and then also i may uh preach on the doctrines of grace because some people have not ever heard that and then also um i’ll probably and then i’ll do two messages on um the discipleship qualities in mark there’s eight of them i’ll probably do that next and then i’ll do the other things and eventually i think i’m heading to first peter so but this morning we’re in a the last chapter of mark and as i mentioned last time there is a problem all right and let me just give you the problem real quick the problem is that there are um at least four endings of the gospel of mark curran in manuscripts greek manuscripts that they know of uh the first ending would be that the last 12 verses of this gospel are not are actually absent from the old discrete manuscripts from old latin codex manuscripts from sciatica manuscripts uh syriac manuscripts and 100 armenian manuscripts and two of the georgian manuscripts so there would be in other words it ends at verse number eight in those manuscripts of course um the second view would be that several witnesses including four greek manuscripts of the seventh eighth and ninth centuries as well as old latin uh manus uh actually versions they would say that um there’s plenty of witness to say that from verse 9 to 20 should be there in our bibles all right and then of course the traditional ending uh so familiar to the authorized version uh of other translations like the texas receptives which we get the king james version the new king james version right and there are a vast amount of manuscripts some 16 manuscripts that contain the last section of verses from 9 through verse number 20. uh so now saying all that i i do have to say this that none would ever view one has on this issue there is really no contradiction to the teaching of the christian faith there’s uh it’s not going to it’s not going to uh really diminish anyone’s faith whatever view they choose because everything found in this passage is found in all the other gospels at least and or the rest of the bible i would say except maybe one thing all right so you you have to ask the question well how did this happen well how do they actually uh determine when it comes to manuscript evidence well they determine uh alternative in actually three ways source what they call source criticism and what source criticism is uh what manuscripts what original greek manuscripts support a short ending or a long ending all right secondly text criticism that’s the external evidence like manuscripts versions of the bible and of course what the church fathers have said that means the ones that were discipled by the apostles and those fathers what did they say about the ending and then of course there would also be internal evidence like the language of the book is inconsistent with what mark already wrote the vocabulary is it the same vocabulary mark used throughout the rest of the the gospel all right the syntax is the same style is is it the same context uh what about the content in theology is it all there at the end and then of course what’s mark’s intention at the end of the gospel so all these things come into play when you decide whether uh you include it or not now if you notice in your bibles it probably all the bibles you have in your hands include verses 9 through 20 right all right it includes it all right and then it has a little mark at the end of it all right it says uh at the end very end they’ll say and they promptly reported all these instructions to peter and his companions and after that jesus himself sent out sent out that uh through them from the east to the west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of the eternal salvation right so that is either in the short ending after verse number eight or in the long ending after verse number 20.

all right but there’s only very little manuscript evidence for that that’s why it’s in brackets right now uh and of course there’s bibliology the doctrine of preservation god of course preserved the scriptures through manuscript and testimony in their original text so really when we say we believe the bible what we’re saying is that we believe what is written in the original manuscripts of scripture right now the the thing is that of course you’re going to think you’re going to you’re going to ask where do i land of course i’m going to tell you in a minute uh but why would this problem come about uh what happened well several things happen uh before i get to the text i’m i’m getting there i’m not going to spend a lot of time on this this is like in a fiat for a theology class but uh jerome which was one of a very important uh church father uh really what he started doing is that when he wrote the latin vulgate he included the long ending all right in the latin vulgate was was extremely important and influential in the church before the english bible came about and so why did he include the long ending in the latin vulgate well perhaps for the same reasons that it’s included in our bibles today it antiquity traditional timidity or not wanting to rock the boat because in 400 a.d a riot broke out in tripoli where jerome’s translation of jonah chapter 4 verse number 6 was read publicly and he used the word ivy instead of the word gourd of course that described the plant that sheltered jonah if you remember in that minor prophet jonah uh and of course augustine saint augustine wrote to jerome about the situation pleading with him to temper how much he tampered with the traditional text so even though jerome wrote a defiant letter back it is likely that there were limits to his alterations so in other words if a riot broke out over the description of a plant in jonah how much more chaos could result if jerome had omitted jesus appearance to his disciples in mark chapter 16.

and then also historically a man named victor of antioch in the fourth of the fifth and sixth centuries notes the very many copies of the gospel ended at verse number eight and then he said a very many number of the gospels also ended at verse 20.

uh so he weighs that out and victor is important because his commentary was extremely popular on the gospel of mark in the later church and of course the testimony of the church fathers is very it’s really has a very interesting trend to it from the earliest discussion on the authenticity of of this passage the fathers indicated that most of the copies of mark ended in verse number eight yet in the later century the short ending was increasingly looked on as unfavorable and in the standard commentary on mark in the middle age the short ending was rejected putting this on a course which uh of course in other words the majority in the middle ages start started as um to be the popular one and of course that’s verses nine through verse number 20. of course my i would say of course we need to leave it alone it’s in the scripture and um i would find that um as i think about it as mentioning last time this problem of the ending of mark and the four endings of the gospel the last ending had hardly any manuscript evidence at all i didn’t mention that one but in my reading and my research of the four endings i i would say this one chapter i said man i believe in the short ending the next chapter i read i believe in the long ending you know and i’d go back and forth like this because that’s how it reads i mean you have convincing people to convince you of why you should believe this or that but i think that you know as i considered it myself say what am i gonna do about it um i think that um i’m kind of convinced about the long ending and my being convinced now there are some questions and problems with that but i’m convinced for this reason i studied the passage and i said you know what this does sound like how mark would end this right he’s very abrupt to the point right and he wants to put before the apostles they’re faltering faith right and challenge them about what they’re supposed to do and what are they supposed to do preach the gospel to the world so i would say this i think after studying the verse and looking at it i think that the long ending is the ending i really do now of course someone very much more smarter than me can convince me otherwise but they can’t convince me of what i see and uh it was even uh rc lenski uh who was a lutheran who wrote this the gospel he’s talking about the gospel mark shows careful consideration on in harmonization well with its beginning especially in this that the apostles are ordered to preach the gospel in all the world and they indeed did this this is strong evidence for mark’s composition of this fitting conclusion i agree with that i believe that uh it’s there in scripture i do believe in the preservation of the word of god and god preserved it for us today and i do think except for two points maybe maybe one specifically that possibly i don’t know how it got in there all right but so saying that let’s look at the passage and you decide for yourself but i believe that this is definitely part of the message that mark penned for his people now as we look at that and before i have a word of prayer we’re looking this now in this passage about the post-resurrection ministry of jesus on earth and you see something highlighted here you see the kindness of the lord himself and in the backdrop you see the eyewitness testimony of the resurrect post-resurrection jesus and then unbelief or belief that’s what you see all right now let’s see how that looks in scripture this morning but before i do that let’s pray lord this morning i pray that you would just lead us into your word i pray that you would show us what mark was intending to say here for us as he concludes this great gospel and i pray lord that we would really look at it ourselves in a way where we see the challenge that he we see here and we we will notice the the force that comes in this passage about what the apostles were supposed to be believing and what they were finally going to do and i pray you would help us uh to be comforted by this truth and yet at the same time be rebuked by it and i ask this in christ’s name amen all right so the first thing that we’re going to see is the kindness of the lord manifested in jesus remember this is after his resurrection he died on the cross he is now resurrected and now he is out of the tomb and he is appearing to people all right now if you notice in mark it says in mark chapter 16 verse number 9 there’s at least several appearances that are mentioned actually there’s three mentioned in mark the first one is jesus appears to one person and that person is mary magdalene notice in verse number nine now after he had risen early on the first day of the week he appeared first to mary magdalene from whom he had cast out seven demons all right that’s the first person that he actually uh appears to now the benefactor of mary’s condition and position is the lord himself in other words because jesus cast seven demons out of mary this put her in really put her on a course that made her foremost among the women she was the foremost disciples she was the one at the tomb she was the one leading the women she was unafraid of anything anybody would say so mary beheld the glorious body of his of her savior and testified that he was indeed living so he appeared to her first now what does mary do after the appearance of the resurrection of jesus well she goes and she reports what she saw to who to the disciples right specifically to the apostles right that have already been chosen in the beginning beginning of mark now notice what she it says in verse number it says morning she finds them mourning and weeping it says she went and reported to those who had been with him while they were mourning and weeping now again for your information mark is the only gospel that tells us the disciples were mourning and weakening weeping now that’s that’s an interesting thing the other gospels did not mention so the disciples heard her testimony but come on who can believe a woman who was once riddled with demons can your is her testimony really reliable they really i don’t really think they considered her testimony reliable witness and look at the text what it says about the disciples response to her witness in verse number 11.

when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her they refused to believe it now this is the motif that marx started in the beginning this motif of unbelief it’s all over mark more than any of the gospels it’s this thing of challenging unbelief why because unbelief is such a deadly thing it’s a damning thing it’s an eternally damning thing so if anybody’s going to get this right it has to be the apostles so see to me this would be appropriate language that a gospel writer would bring and and show us in the word of god about how deadly it is to be an unbelief all right that’s not it now let’s look at the second appearance he appears to two in verse number 12 to 13. it says there after that after he appeared in a different to two of them while they were walking on their way to the country all right let me stop right there now even though mark doesn’t mention who they are we know who they are we know that these are the two disciples that were walking on the road to emmaus about seven miles from jerusalem right now let’s pick that up for a moment in and turn your bibles to luke right right there you’re right there in luke go to chapter 24 and notice verse number 13 and then we’re going to look down to verse number 27.

now while you’re turning there following christ’s resurrection a fr and a friend were going to emmaus when they encountered another traveler on the road emmaus was a town in judea that appeared in the book i’ll write the gospel of luke notice in verse number 13. it says and behold this is luke 24 13.

and behold two of them were going that very day to a village named emmaus which was about seven miles from jerusalem all right now let me stop for a minute two of the disciples were walking to emmaus when they of course meet a stranger of course the stranger is jesus but they don’t recognize him all right and the reason why it says in the passage of scripture because jesus appeared in a different form it what it means there is that he he was able to withhold his identity from them it didn’t mean actually it’s the word morph in greek right you know we get the you know these words to morph things you know morphology all right well here he in a sense morphed himself where he was able to prevent others from recognizing who he was now how he did that i don’t know he has a resurrected body who knows what he he did right so three travelers walked together but the disciples did not recognize that stranger was jesus and jesus asked them what they were talking about and the disciples told him all about the resurrection the empty tomb how discouraged they were that things didn’t work out like they hoped they would and so look pick it up at verse 14 of luke chapter and they were talking with each other about all the things which had taken place while they were talking and discussing jesus himself approached and began traveling with them but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him and he said to them what are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking and they stood still and looked looking sad one of them named cleophys answered and said to him are you the only one visiting jerusalem unaware of the things which had happened here in these days verse 19 and he said to them what things and they said to him the things about jesus the nazarene who was a prophet mighty indeed and word in the sight of god and all the people and all the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to this to the sentence of death and crucified him but we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem israel indeed beside all this it is the third day since these things happen but also some women among us amazed us when they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body they came saying that he had also that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive in verse 24 some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the woman also said but him they did not see now if you notice that this is important that the witnesses are witnessing to these these two men on the road to emmaus and they’re believing the witness of the women all right they’re believing the witness of the women all right now what does jesus jesus do well he rebukes them look at verse number 25 and he said to them o foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken was it not necessary for the christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory then beginning with moses and all the prophets he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself in other words jesus was saying listen the old testament’s talking about me and he explains it to them and of course later on it says and their heart when jesus appeared well what happened is that they went on and they invited jesus to uh spend the night with him and it’s these three uh jesus accepted their invitation and spent to spend the night and as they were eating a meal he blessed and broke it and gave it to them to eat and at that very moment the disciples recognized him and then he vanished from their sight and they returned to jerusalem to report the amazing event to the other apostles so in other words that jesus unveiled himself to them he vanished out of their sight and yet now they believed so here in mark it tells us that these two travelers went back and reported their encounter with the res with of course uh with the resurrected jesus now let’s turn back to mark chapter 16 notice verse number 13 so in other words what was the disciples response to their witness well look at what it says in verse 13.

they went away and reported it to the others the others are the apostles but they did not believe them either do you see what’s going on here that the ones who ought to believe are not believing but everybody else is believing the women are believing their testimony is true but now the disciples are not believing now if you remember way back when i started preaching in mark i mentioned the greatest wickedness that exists among humanity and you remember it was this unbelief it’s still unbelief unbelief is a wickedness in the world unbelief is a special evil because unbelief tends to make the heart evil and an evil heart has a tendency to turn away from the living god in fact that’s what it says in hebrews in hebrews chapter 3 verse number 12 it says take care brethren that there not be anyone among you with an evil unbelieving heart that falls away from the living god in other words if someone remains in unbelief they will fall away from anything they knew about the true and the living god there are several things actually that will take place when someone falls away from and and stays and remains in unbelief the first thing that takes place is that they will turn their affections toward the world and what it has to offer and what how it concludes issues because it says this in the book of acts when the people heard moses and his testimony and they didn’t believe him it says in acts chapter 7 verse 39 our fathers were unwilling unwillingly to be obedient to him that’s moses but repudiated him in their hearts and turned back to egypt see that’s what happens a person turns back to what they know if they are in unbelief and of course they start worshiping what they can make with their own hands in other words they end up as an idolater whatever the idol they want to make in their mind they’ll make it that’s this is what it says in acts it says saying to aaron that was of course uh moses brother who did most of the speaking make us make for us gods who will go before us for this moses who led us out of the land of egypt we do not know what happened to him and then it says in verse 41 of that chapter of chapter 7 of acts and at that at that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands there it is that’s the sense of idolatry that if a person remains in unbelief they will that doesn’t mean they stop worshiping it doesn’t mean they stop being religious it doesn’t mean any of those things what it means is they they just replace it with something else or they continue or go back to their old system or they go back to their own philosophical framework they go back to what they know that’s what they do or they’re influenced by the world and that’s why we have so many uh you know people go to fortune tellers they go to hand and card readers they go to articulate professors they go to f a feisty talk show host who really have become the moral and spiritual compass of our day get that and many people listen to them as if they know the truth and they’re leading people the right way it to me it’s just the pooling of ignorance and foolishness when you listen to them speak so what that’s what they do a second thing that happens if somebody remains in unbelief is that and they stay on the path of unbelief is that god will turn away from them and give them up to the twisted desires of their own heart that god will hand them over to worship the gods they prefer that’s what will happen and that’s exactly what happens when somebody rejects god’s revelation and rejects jesus christ so if a person rejects god’s general revelation in creation and then when god’s special revelation is unfolded to them and they reject that also then in both cases the only thing left for that person to do is to remain an idolater there’s no other place to go looking outside of god’s plan for deliverance and blessing always leads to further bondage always and of course hebrews tells us that try to prevent people from staying in unbelief try to prevent people from having an evil heart of unbelief where it says but encourage one another day after day as long as it is still called today so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin specifically deceitfulness of a god that you make in your own mind that you think you ought to worship or that’s the way you think god ought to be or god would never do that you know god’s too loving to send someone to a place called hell so i don’t worship that guy well if you don’t worship that god and you even call that god jesus you have the wrong god that’s not the god of the bible so i’m saying all this to say how unbelief is a very damning sin and many times when people come to christ they’re they’re coming turning from their unbelief to believe in jesus and they’re turning from their idolatry to believe in jesus what they’ve been what they’ve been worshiping they’re turning to jesus and they’re believing in him all right now with all saying all that no let’s let’s look back at the gospel of mark chapter 16 verse and see how jesus handles unbelief in his own disciples who will eventually function as apostles in verse number 14 jesus appears to the eleven and we see the kindness of the lord shown to them in their in his rebuke notice what it says after verse 14 after he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table and he reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen so the disciples in other words are rebuked for their unbelief and for their the spiritual condition of their heart they had hearts in other words their mind their emotion their will refused to bend and yield to the proper evidence that jesus indeed had risen from the grave they refused to listen to the witnesses that god had already produced at that time they refused to witness take their witness as legitimate and again for your information mark is the only one of the gospels who tells us that the disciples were reclining at the table dining so in other words not believing the witnesses the lord sends across our path is a very serious matter some will say well i didn’t see any miracles when i prayed to the lord to give me money he didn’t give me any i’ve never heard his voice so i conclude that religion is a crutch i don’t need to believe in god and i don’t believe that jesus rose from the dead if you need to believe it in order to get by then that’s fine you believe it but i don’t believe it see the lord will say to those with similar stories well i sent a co-worker to you and that co-worker shared the gospel with you and you didn’t believe that witness or i had that faithful christian aunt and uncle during holidays they used to share the gospel with you during the holidays and they lived the gospel before your eyes and you didn’t listen to them and what about that faithful sunday school teacher that you had as a youth that shared the gospel with you many many times in many many lessons until you thought you had grown up out of those children bible stories and didn’t believe yet or that little church that preached the gospel two times a year when you decided to attend church for christmas and each easter that’s if it was if you weren’t uh they were not too busy doing something else that was more attractive to pull you away from your biannual door darkening of a church see all those things in other words everyone who sits here today was witness to somebody every one of us even those who did not believe people were wit came alongside of them and they shared the gospel with them they shared why their life was different with them you know those witnesses are ordained by god so if you decided not to listen to someone when it may be the only witness god may send you and you remain in your unbelief you are guilty all right you are guilty of unbelief you are you remain in that condition of course obviously the lord takes our ambassadorship seriously we’re ambassadors for christ ambassadors do not come with their own agenda they do not come on their own authority ambassadors come with the agenda of another on the authority of another we witness on the authority of jesus christ in other words we christians are aliens in this world and have been called by christ to bring the word of god the gospel to the world that is steeped in darkness and that’s our own family that’s the people we work with that’s the people we rub shoulders with elbows with we see every single day we’re responsible for them we can’t be silent in other words you and i are witnesses we are witnesses to this message and thankfully thankfully at the end all the disciples do believe and they of course believe with a world conquering faith you wouldn’t be sitting here if they didn’t believe because their witness went to the next person which went to the next generation to the next century all the way up until the present and we’re still witnessing the truths of the gospel so the apostles are commissioned to take this life-giving gospel to the world right so that’s what we see next so we see now the unbelief being dealt with now we say okay after unbelief is what well let’s what it says in verse number 15 of mark all right here’s the command verse 15 and he said to them go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation isn’t that the command we have isn’t that what we’re supposed to do right it doesn’t matter who they are if they’re a creature a human being created an image of god they are a candidate for our witness right doesn’t matter what religion they came from doesn’t matter what they were born into doesn’t matter the color of their skin doesn’t matter anything about them their culture we’re to witness to them we are to bring the gospel to them that’s what we’re supposed to do now of course there’s terms of the gospel you know the gospel is always a two-edged sword it’s sharp on the top of the sword and it’s sharp on the bottom of the sword right it’s a two-edged sword it’s going in very sharply into someone’s heart so there’s two if we’re looking at the top and the bottom of a sword being sharp what’s the top part of the sword it says in verse number 16 it says this of course the term is this christ the savior he who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved there is the sharp end of the top end of the sword the gospel is to be preached to all nations of people with one divine purpose that they all would believe that they would all be rescued from their unbelief in their idolatry that’s the goal the mission reaches to the end of time until the lord comes back we’re never to stop doing this as a church and of course believing is that trust and confidence in the heart that rest fully upon the gospel embracing the entire course of believing i believe it all i don’t understand it all but i believe it all because the one it comes from is the god of truth who cannot tell alive so i believe it and as i grow in christ i’m understanding more of what i believe isn’t is not why we’re here we’re understanding more of who he is of what we’re supposed to believe and what we’re supposed to do and we see here what we’re supposed to do is make sure that we speak forth the gospel so this believing is embracing the whole thing which includes in our passage identifying in the lord in believer’s baptism all right so in other words believing in christ and baptism go together in baptism christ identifies with the sinner when we become believers and confess christ as our lord and savior we identify with christ in his death and his burial and his resurrection right so we’re identified with his work he did on our behalf and of course that becomes a public thing where we stand in the water and as we stand in the water it’s it’s our old life when we go down in the water we’re being buried right to our sin and our old life when we come back up out of the water we’re raised to resurrection a new life right we’re now we’re new believers the old life is i’m not gonna obey the devil anymore i’m not gonna live for him or the world or or even my whole own remaining corruption i want to live now for christ i have a new life in christ so jesus saves those who believe and keep he keeps them saved saved with a salvation once for all as it says jesus rescues and delivers believers from moral danger of death and judgment god demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we’re we’re yet centers christ died for us and then it says more than much more than having now been justified by his blood we shall be saved from the wrath of god through him so in initially what are we saved from we’re saved from god’s condemnation and wrath upon our sin upon who we are we’re we’re the only way we’re going to be saved from that is to believe in jesus there’s no other way there’s no other one who can save us from that so a christian can stand and declare i have been saved you know you’re saved today can you declare that with with a hundred percent confidence that you are saved that my whole position has changed from one of not being saved to one of being saved one of being of one of being condemned to one of being free from god’s condemnation in other words we are moved from one place to another from the place of not being a christian to the place of becoming a real biblical christian persevering right to the end are are you that kind of christian do you know that for sure are there any doubts in your mind that if you were to die today where you would end out you got to you have to those doubts have to be cleared up in scripture there’s a boldness that god gives us about being christian if you don’t have the boldness you won’t witness because you don’t believe you you’re all what you are what you’re supposed to be as a believer boldness comes from believing i believe these things i believe all of it and so therefore i can proclaim it i can preach it with confidence i don’t doubt it at all that this is the truth that i’ll go to my grave preaching it because it is the truth there’s nothing else that can save you and i jesus christ’s death satisfied god’s judgment on sin so because of that the removal of god’s anger towards sinners and of course that’s the appeasing of god’s wrath when i believed in jesus christ as my lord and savior god jesus christ removed god’s wrath from me and now i have become his friend i’m at peace with him because of the blood of christ that’s the top end edge of the sword what’s the bottom of the edge of the sword look at verse 16.

it says the middle of the verse but he who has disbelieved there it is again shall be condemned is that not clear i love mark for this reason he does not mince with words he doesn’t go on this long thing if you want to know what to believe here it is he who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved but here’s the other end he who has disbelieved shall be condemned in other words every time you and i witness every time the gospel is up is preached it’s going out to either save or condemn that’s sobering that’s serious so here’s here’s a very sobering thought a person that comes to disbelieve and remain in disbelief at that moment shall have the verdict of condemnation pronounced upon them by christ the judge of all people so the final judgment is a day that has been set with eternity with actually certainty that god will judge the world and all those who have not repented will receive god’s justice all those who have repented and trusted in his son jesus christ will receive mercy and escape the just wrath of god if you neglect the only great means of salvation to escape god’s wrath well you’ll stand alone to face the justice of god it will not be a matter then of how can i escape but the cold firm reality is there is no escape you realize that when people stand before jesus there’s no longer escape that’s what unbelief will do the gospel will go go out to save and the gospel will go out to condemn that’s the power of the gospel see god hates all sin and his righteous demands that he punish sin not just a few sins all sin lord tells us in exodus who keeps loving kindness for thousands who forgives iniquity transgression and sin yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished god will take care of that all right let me uh look at the last part of this and then i’ll close all right here’s the promise of the resurrected lord that’s given by mark and the promise is actually i would say first of all that god is going to say to his disciples i’ll be with you and how does he tell them that well if you notice in verse number 17 it says these signs will accompany those who have believed all right now remember signs specifically were for the apostles signs were credentials for the apostles and their gospel message to specifically show that the lord jesus was present with them all right so it says there in verse number 17 it says signs will accompany those who have believed in my name they will cast out demons right so who in the beginning of mark were able to cast out demons not everyone only the apostles were able to do it right it says in mark 3 14 and he appointed 12 so that they would be with him and he could send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons so right there we see that in the second thing they will speak in new tongues that would be not gibberish not languages that cannot be understood but this is foreign languages that had never been learned by the speakers but were perfectly understood by those who spoke the language all right that’s what it’s talking about there right they will speak be able to preach the gospel where do we state we see that in the book of acts they preach the gospel to the gentiles to the jews to the samaritans and we see the manifestation of tongues that they heard these guys preaching in their own language when they knew they didn’t never study that language or could not speak that language so in the spirit if you’re going to get the gospel out you that would be a signed gift to the apostles to make sure that would happen all right and the next thing is that they would pick up serpents all right now we do know that in acts chapter 28 there is a section in that part where paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on a fire and a viper a snake came out and uh because of the heat of the fire and fasting onto his hand and the the bible tells us in acts that the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand and began to say to one another undoubtedly this man is a murderer and though he had uh has been saved from the sea when they got saved from the shipwreck justice has not allowed him to live and they were waiting for paul to blow up and keel over dead well he doesn’t kill over dead he shook off the creature and uh he didn’t swell up he didn’t fall down dead and of course uh they waited for a long time for that to happen and nothing happened all right so we see that again paul being apostle that particular one took place and the he was able to preach the gospel to them and then we also know that he was able to heal people right there on the island of malta there in uh after that shipwreck and then it says there and if they drink deadly poison it will not hurt them they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover now the drink any deadly poison is found nowhere in the bible except here so see that would be a question that people have why is that there um of course the other one that you know they would lay hands on people and they would be healed that’s all over the scriptures that’s all over the ministry of the apostles right all of those are saying this listen when you go out there apostles and preach and the word of god’s not written yet i’m going to give you these signs to prove that they’re divine and come from heaven and the message you have comes from god and so these signs are going to be accompanying your message i’m going to be with you right and so that’s what he’s saying there and then in mark chapter 16 verse number 19 it says so then when the lord jesus had spoken to them he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of god so he gave he gives them the commission as all the other gospels have done all right and he goes to heaven uh and of course that is all over the word of god we know that and but remember when jesus ascended into heaven what did he tell his disciples to do go right out and preach the gospel no go wait in jerusalem for the holy spirit to be poured out upon you and don’t do a thing until the spirit of god is poured out upon you and then you’ll be witness to me in you know in jerusalem judea and the other part of the world and then the unfinished work of christ has been given to not only the disciples but to us in verse number 20 it says and they went out and preached everywhere and while the lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the signs that followed now usually that’s where it ends that’s where the gospel of mark ends right there in verse number 20.

now you have that other added section there that has really uh very little manuscript evidence so that’s why they put that in brackets that’s probably one thing that wasn’t there so either that was connected in verse number eight or it was connected in verse number 20.

so that there’s the message of mark i so i when i looked at this i said obviously i i believe this is exactly what mark intended to conclude his uh gospel with because it seems like everything he said in the gospel kind of like comes out very rapidly into the last section and then he commissions jesus ascends into heaven he commissions his disciples and then that commission is also given to us all right so the apostles have to be firm in what they believe so they can preach with boldness and god says i’m not i’m going to be with you i’m going to work with you don’t worry i’m like it says in matthew i’ll never leave you or forsake you right i’ll never depart from you and has that come true yes or some 2 000 years plus separated from this particular point in history and the gospel is still going out right people are still getting saved you’re you got saved right you who know christ are here because somebody witnessed to you the gospel of jesus christ came to you you repented you had a change of mind about who god is and who christ is and because repentance means you ask certain questions about god see does god make a difference to me in my life does my life in any way confirm that i believe in him have i been living as i had an endless lease on life and will never die or what am i how am i living what is the purpose of life what’s the end going to be see repentance changes our mind about not only who god is in christ jesus but about what we are supposed to believe and how we’re supposed to believe that because it’s also a redirection of our heart towards jesus by the preaching of the word of god the scriptures reveal the status and the dignity and the significance of jesus christ and it is clear that jesus is the central person and focus of god’s program for salvation of all men and women everywhere at all times and it never has been different believing the gospel means to obey the message concerning our lord jesus christ that he is the son of god that he is god’s own way of salvation and that god sent jesus to the cross that god put all our sin on him and punished them in him that’s what we ought to believe that’s what the scriptures teach so believing the gospel means that you stop all self-justification every reliance upon your good deeds and your own efforts and you believe simply in the work of jesus christ on behalf of sinners on the cross his death his burial his resurrection and so what is the gospel of mark supposed to do for us too well remember it’s the gospel about the servant right the servant jesus christ so it should do the same for us once we grasp the message once we are a hundred percent sure we are been saved by jesus christ and we’re we have the spirit of god living in us then we’re called to be the servants of jesus christ all right he’s our master we are his servants and we’re to serve jesus christ in order to serve his people so that they may hear the gospel from our mouth from our life and so that they may be saved and brought to maturity that’s the whole purpose of god’s plan to save us to bring us into maturity and then to bring us into the presence of god that’s how it’s working you’ve got to make sure that you’re on that path do you know if believe me if you’re here today and you do not know 100 that you’re saved please talk to me pull somebody aside and tell them you don’t you’re not sure and young people i do want to challenge you don’t go through the rest of your life thinking this is this is something that you don’t need to believe this is something you should believing be believing right now in your life and growing in your knowledge and wisdom of jesus christ because young people are definitely the next generation of christians i pray they’d be strong ones and they’d be firm in the faith believing the scriptures and believing and the scriptures in a way they can speak of it with boldness not ashamed to talk about it with family friends or anybody else just want to tell people about jesus christ and in doing so people get saved people come to the knowledge of jesus christ and god’s work goes on so that’s the end of mark it’s been a long journey i started in 2014 actually the end of the year so that’s about what i don’t know how long it is but it’s a long time but i i thought it was very interesting gospel and very helpful in bolstering my faith in the truth let’s pray lord thank you this morning for allowing us to have the gospels in our hand thank you lord jesus that contained in them are the very truths that we need to be saved but lord i’m very aware of that when the gospel goes out it goes out as a two-edged sword it’s either going to save and rescue some from someone from unbelief or it’s going to condemn someone in their unbelief and i pray lord that as long as somebody has breath and red blood running through their veins i pray lord that you would always give them the chance to be saved convict their heart lord of sin of your righteousness and judgment and holy spirit you know you’re the necessary condition for us to be able to say yes to christ so lord convict us so we see christ as the only solution to be rescued from the condemnation of our sin and i prayed that we would confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that god raised him from the dead and in doing so lord save us and let us see the evidence of salvation in our life with a changed mind and the changed will and even changed the motions about you lord that we would come to love you because of the great things you’ve done in our stead on our behalf so this morning we want to give you praise and glory for all that has been done and all that you will continue to do in our life we look forward some day lord to being with you in your presence and i pray this in christ’s name amen

May 21, 2017
Resurrection

In today’s sermon Pastor Babij highlights one of history’s most contested events, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Pastor Babij details how witnesses and facts confirm that this event occurred. Further, Pastor Babij explains that the resurrection calls believers not to a blind faith but to a living faith in the risen Lord Jesus. Finally, Pastor Babij exhorts believers to be consumed in love and service to Jesus while believers wait for His return.

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Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

hey this morning let’s take our Bibles and turn to the last chapter of the Gospel of Mark Mark chapter 16 Mark 16 now looking at this Mark chapter 16 um there’s a real big problem here in this chapter and the big problem is is that uh the early manuscripts the Greek manuscripts end at verse number eight um later manuscripts have included verse 9 through verse 20 and then some manuscripts would include just there should be an italicized section down there in the bottom of of the passage some of them include that after verse number eight so um I’m going to probably mention some things next time about that but I do want to make you aware of that because in your Bible if you have an ESV it may not even include verse number nine through the end of the chapter uh and other translations may have brackets to let you know that there’s something going on there right but it doesn’t change anything in the message uh about the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and so maybe next time I’m going this text and finish up I will mention some of the reasons why there would be an issue all right so this morning we’re going to be looking at verse number 1 through eight and this would be the called the short and of course it highlights the resurrection that’s the main point here but there’s many things going on in these verses that I want to look at this morning and try to bring out and identify but before I do that let’s have a word of prayer Lord this morning as we come again to your word I pray Lord that you would make us ready to receive it because we know Lord the conclusion of your word is not just for information it’s to believe it and to live it because it’s the living word that comes from the living Christ so Lord you are seated right now at the right hand of the father and you’re preparing to come back again but you Lord defeated death you defeated Satan you accomplished what no man could have ever accomplished before you became a man because you were the perfect man you were the sinless man you were the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world and Lord for that we are forever grateful and thank you Lord that you left us four gospels as a witness and a testimony to your life and of course your suffering your death and your resurrection and Lord thank you that we have these Witnesses um to study to embolden our faith and to make us people who truly in any time that we live live out a life believing these things are true and that everything you said you have said did come to pass and everything you said now for the future will come to P pass and I thank you Lord for that and so I pray you’d bless us with these truths this morning in Christ’s name amen all right so we looking at verses 1-8 chapter 16 of Mark now let me just bring you where we where we came from and where we’re going it’s it was not long of course after 3:00 in the afternoon when Jesus died the gospel of Mark tells us in Mark chap 15: 37 and Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last the the next day was of course the Sabbath the Sabbath began at 6:00 p.m.

on Friday or Sunset whatever came first second according to the Jewish law a criminal’s body might not remain on its had to be quickly taken down and rapidly disposed of very often bodies of crucified criminals were simply left once Tak off the cross and left there for the vultures and the crows and the wild dogs but the followers of Jesus had an influential friend who was able to help them to pay what they thought was their last tribute to their Dead Master his name was Joseph of arthea I let mentioned him last week he was a rich man he was part of the Sanhedrin he was was a devout man and he was a secret disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ he went to pilate and requested the body of Jesus that he might be given a decent burial pilate of course was surprised that Jesus had died so soon because crucifixion was supposed to be a long slow painful death but he willingly granted the request to Joseph and of course Nicodemus was aiding him the tombs of wealthy families in those days were not graves in the ground but were caves and of course with shelves on which the bodies were laid Joseph had such a tomb and it was never used it was brand new it was just HED out of rock and it was lo lo located near the Garden in a garden near calvary’s Hill the Apostle John records that Nicodemus came with a gift of spices to embal the body of Jesus as if it were the body of a king so the body of Jesus was wrapped in grave clothes which were like long linen bandages wound around and around the body and in between each round spices would be put in and then of course it was laid on one of the shelves in the Rock tomb such tombs were not closed with a door but with a heavy disc like Stone which ran in a Groove and of course it was rolled once the body was in there to close the tomb entrance it was very usually for a rich man’s tomb it was very large and heavy unlikely that any one person could move it now of course in verse number 47 of chapter 15 it says Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of josies were looking on to see where he was laid so they were paying attention where he was going to be put in a tomb and then meanwhile the Jewish authorities had not been idle even after they had seen Jesus die on the cross they were still uneasy about him they went to pilate and asked that ESP special precaution be made lest the Disciples of Jesus should steal his body and claim that he had risen from the dead of course pilate agreed and a guard should be that a guard should be posted and the stone should be sealed to make things safe as they could be made at that particular moment the time was to come when the bewildered guards had to report that the two was empty of course that really would have meant for them the death penalty for them but they were just giving the facts and when they were then bribed by the Jewish authorities to say that jesus’ disciples had stolen his body all the Sabbath day that’s our Saturday the body of Jesus laid in the Tomb and the tomb had no visitors on the Sabbath for the Sabbath day was a day of rest and to make a journey from the city to the tomb would have been breaking the Sabbath law so nobody visited the tomb on Saturday so Then There came the first day of the week our Sunday and so it was early Sunday morning before or shortly after Dawn that we read our text this morning now what happens next in the gospel of Mark is one of the most disputed events in all human history according to the gospel writers they are giving historical statements of factual truth now when we think of Truth at least the way we should think of truth truth is not negotiable historical statements of fact are not open to question you can’t change the facts when we read for example for uh that George Washington and his men spent the winter of 19 or excuse me 1777 enduring wretched conditions at Valley Forge we are obligated to believe it although none of us observe their long deadly winter what we know about this event is it really supported by written testimony of those who were there and also collaborated by those who studied the Revolutionary War and determine what the facts are so we usually trust the record of historians we usually do that in a historical sense the resurrection stands on ground that is just as solid reliable Witnesses wrote about meeting and talking with Jesus after his death skeptical enemies noticed his disappearance from the tomb extra biblical historical reports were given of his resurrection I Witnesses of Jesus post-death appearances after he died of course defending those truths and willing to die for them and of many other things so in order for an honest historian to be convinced that something actually happened he needs to see at least two specific criteria two criteria must be met the first one is this the event in question must be supported by the testimony of believable and trustworthy Witnesses reliable Witnesses and then secondly the circumstantial evidence must be authenticated it must be authentic when both both of these demands are clearly supported by the evidence at hand The Inquirer is really compelled by Logic to believe that the event actually took place if we appli these criteria to the resurrection we must conclude that it is factually true and did actually occur even with all the evidence we know some don’t believe it was Winston Churchill who made this observation about men and Truth Churchill said men occasionally stumble over truth but some but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened it’s the same when it comes to the resurrection people can hear about it they can hear messages on it they can read about it they can talk about it they can lecture on it and it may just be that they are just dealing with information and it never affects them nothing happens that should never be true for a Believer actually a Believer needs to submit to them give them self to the truth and believe it even if that means believing unto death so let’s examine the written testimony that we have and conclude for ourselves so we’re going to see several things going on here the first is the experience of faithful women and what they actually witnessed let’s look at verse number one and two this was the woman’s the women’s desire and their work it says in verse number one when the Sabbath was over Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and salomi brought spices so that they might come and anoint him very very early on the first day of the week they came to the tomb when the sun had risen now the woman’s desire here was they were just thinking on an Earthly level they came seeking a corpse in order to finish preparing the body Jesus of course had been dead since Friday in that climate the dead are buried that same day or they’re very they’re buried very early the next day so the women brought very costly aromatic spices to carefully prepare the body which of course also speaks volumes of their love and devotion for their master their lord now by the way why does Mark mention these women three times within really eight lines well because he is establish establishing these women as reliable witnesses to a historical account all right these are believable Witnesses they’re not coming to prove anything they’re coming to anoint the body of Jesus see the repeated names of the women here are really a source of citation these women must have been alive at the time of Mark’s writing it’s like Mark saying if you want to check out the truth of my story go talk to these three women and see what you get from them also we do know this that why why women and why no men show up where are the disciples they’re not there just the women are there now one re the body and uh compris those who come to the tomb to ref an entry to the tomb and could not think how they might move this massive Stone which which guarded its entrance so Jesus laid in the Tomb and the great Stone which some new testament manuscripts say that 20 men could hardly have moved it was rolled up in its Groove from its Groove to close the tomb so the women thought who will do this service for us that we can finish anointing the body of Jesus now you should remember that Mary of Bethany while Jesus was still alive gave her devotion of what was going on to the Lord Jesus Christ and actually her love to Jesus had an extravagance connected to it if you remember in chapter 14 it says these women with an this woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume pure nard and she broke the vial and poured it over his head and the reason why she did that because she was worshiping her Lord showing her love for her Lord but it says in Mark 14 and verse number eight she had done what she could she had anointed my body beforehand for the burial so in other words jesus’ body was anointed prior to him even dying uh that was all in scripture so we need to really offer thanks to the Lord that the women never had to use their costly spices in this instance so you see everything is pointing to something quite miraculous it’s pointing to an empty tomb but the women also we could see thirdly they were shocked in verse number four notice looking up they saw the stone had been rolled away although it was extremely large all right so those words put in there are are there for a purpose to give us the sense that this circular disc this Stone was so large that most likely even a group of people could not even move it there was a way to do it but you had to have strong people that did it so when the women looked up and they saw the extremely large Stone rolled violently from the cliff side because rich man’s tombs were larger than other tombs and they had openings of full height and had larger stones made proportionate to the size of the openings in other words the opening of this tomb was probably the height of a a regular person it wasn’t a small opening some say in Matthew’s account which says and behold the severe earthquake had occurred for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat on it so the observation is this the stone was not rolled aside in into its Groove in the regular way no it was hurled out of its groove by some tremendous power thrown flat on the ground in front of the Tomb making a seat for the angel again seeing it’s it this event being pointing to the empty tomb pointing to a miraculous happening and then and a second thing that we see in our narrative is the unexpected Declaration of the Heavenly Envoy to the women that’s the Angels who came and spoke with them in verse five and six the entryway to the tomb was now of course open to the women so the women went right in to see if the body was still there they did not see jesus’ body but instead encountered a very unusual young man and if you notice in verse 5 the Heavenly Envoy appearance it says entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting at the right wearing a white robe and they were amazed see Angels appear as male and as usually young his garments reflect the Purity and the Holiness of heaven but an angel that represents life and light and at the same time the women were it says amazed or dumbfounded is a good way to say it they were dumbfounded about what’s going on they’re coming to anoint a dead body and they don’t find no body but they find this Angel Who’s Got This brilliant as Matthew says his appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow startle them and then the angel rebukes the women in verse number six and he said to them don’t be amazed you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who has been crucified in other words I know who you’re looking for so he rebukes them by saying don’t be amazed in other words stop being dumb dumbfounded no reason to fear no reason for amazement why Jesus is not here that’s why Jesus is not here so the Heavenly Envoy also gives a correction in verse number six he’s not it says he is risen he is not here behold here is the place where they laid him so he is inviting the women to examine the authentic circumstantial evidence for yourself come in the Tomb and look and see see the resurrection of jesus’ body was at the same time its glorification now don’t misunderstand the angel did not out the stone was removed instead to let the Witnesses in now when the angel opened the tomb Jesus had already risen Jesus left the tomb silently before the stone was rolled away his dead body was filled with new life and at the same instance his body passed did not have to unwrap himself no Jesus resurrected body passed right through the funeral wrappings then he stood up and through the walls of solid stone that were sealed and guarded by the Roman soldiers silently invisibly wondrously gloriously the living resurrected body of Jesus passed through the Rock and yet Jesus was invisible to the eyes of the soldiers then at this very point when the tomb was now empty the angel came and opened the tomb and violently removed the great Stone so that the women could go inside the two out his Earthly Ministry I will die but I will be raised the third day I will die I will be raised the third day I will die I will be raised the third day all throughout his ministry no one and I repeat no one anticipated a resurrection see the resurrection was actually a shocking in intrusion into what they were anticipating we know historically that the Greeks did not believe in Resurrection in the Greek worldview the afterlife was a liberation of the soul from the body from them resurrection of course for them Resurrection would never be part of an afterlife or after death as for the Jews some of them believed in a future General Resurrection when the entire world would be renewed but they had no concept of an IND individual rising from the dead the people of jesus’ day were not predisposed to believing in the resurrection anymore than we are and the the reason why is we could we just don’t experience it you know we don’t have many examples of it in fact Jesus is the first fruits of the Resurrection he is the first one who genuinely was raised from the dead now in light of that there’s a two-fold instruction that comes from this heavenly visitor from this Angel and this is what he says to the women who are there he says the first thing he says is go tell the disciples about the resurrection of the Lord in verse number seven it says but go tell number one in he’s saying there listen don’t you be surprised or amazed but go tell the disciples what you see go tell them about the evidence see the angel was saying something that really cannot be missed by the reader none of the male disciples showed up at the tomb and almost all of Jesus faithless fickle disciples departed and were hiding out cringing in locked rooms terrified that the same thing that happened to Jesus might happen to them and that’s rightfully so we would have done the same thing yet the words give given on behalf of the Lord from the angel to the disciples are kind and gracious words there’s not they’re not words of rebuke they’re word they’re kind words go tell the disciples what you have seen and then notice in verse number seven he says specifically go tell Peter about the resurrection notice but go tell his disciples and Peter is is singled out now there’s several reasons for that first Peter had to face his failure he was the biggest denier of the Lord Jesus Christ denied him three times he was the biggest failure of any of all the disciples secondly he had to know the Forgiveness of Jesus and thirdly Peter had to know that he could be restored back to in imate and useful service to his Lord and his people he had to know that it it would only be natural for the women who rushed with the news to the other disciples Luke tells the story Mary hurried to tell the story of the empty tomb to Peter and his disciples whom Jesus the disciple whom Jesus loved was loved who was John but at the same time she did not grasp the significance of the empty tomb but was kind of brokenhearted because she thought that someone had taken away the body of Jesus or stolen it away Peter and the Beloved disciples set out for the garden the the Beloved disciple John saw the empty tune and the grave clothed lying in it but he did not go in and of course Peter rushed right in it says this in John chapter 20 he saw the linen WRA wrappings lying there and the facecloth which was had been on his head not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself so the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered he saw and he believed so what was it about the grave clothes that was so striking well there’s two possibilities I gave you one already actually the first one is that it may be that the grave clothes in the face cloth were so neatly tidily laid out and folded that it was quite clear that there had been no hurried theft of the body but that it had been carefully taken off and laid away secondly it is possible that the Greek could mean that the linen grave clothes and face cloth were lying separately exactly as if the body of of Jesus had evaporated out of them and left them lying empty so Peter and the Beloved disciple returned to Jerusalem with the certainty that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead so the circumstantial evidence is is really piling up it’s very hard to refute and so the angel also says something else to the women he says not only go tell the disciples and Peter but he tells the women to go and tell them something else he said tell them to proceed to Galilee for a grand meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ notice what it says in verse number seven go tell his disciples and Peter he is going ahead of you to Galilee there you will see him just as he told you now Galilee is not around the corner Galilee is 100 miles north of Jerusalem so you have to get from one place to another it takes some time to do that all right we do know that Jesus was around for some 50 some days uh after he rose from the grave and he was meeting and joining himself and appearing to all kinds of groups of people but in this passage of scripture Jesus really is keeping his promise of of a special meeting with his disciples after he rises from the dead now take your Bibles and turn back to chapter 14 and verse number 28 for Chapter 14 verse 28 and it says this of course verse 27 says and Jesus said to them you will all fall away because it is written I will will strike down the shepherd and the Sheep shall be scattered in verse 28 but after I have been R after I have been raised I will go ahead of you to Galilee and then of course it talks about Peter uh falling away so in other words Jesus had promised before the cross that he would meet them again after he rose from the grave well he’s keeping that promise he’s keeping that promise because after God accomplishes Redemption and and is raised from the dead then he will bring his scattered sheep together again he will meet up with his disciples in Galilee he will resume leadership over them now why Galilee J Jesus will appear to them as the great Shepherd of the sheep that leads his flock well remember galile is where he chose his disciples Galilee is where he commissioned his disciples Galilee is where he gives them the Great Commission that’s what he’s going to do when he meets with them he’s going to give them the Great Commission the Great Commission is going to be going to all the world and preach the gospel right of course from Matthew you’re going to go you’re going to baptize and you’re going to teach again uh the reader can’t miss this look at what it says in verse number seven of Mark chapter 16 he is going going ahead of you to Galilee and there you will see him just as he told you now what we see here is we’re getting a glimpse of the unconditional love of God the unconditional love of God towards his children specifically towards his disciples Jesus is saying via the angel I will see you again I’m going ahead of you and I will meet you there I’ll be waiting for you there in other words I want you back again because I love you I want you back again yes all the things you’ve done you ran away you denied me you weren’t up showing up in places you should be you should have shown up but I love you and I understand all those things now you have may you you have all heard of and sang the song Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so we think when we hear it that that is a good children’s hym and that that is the shallow end of the pool but in reality is actually the deep end of the pool it is the end that is over our heads we are conditioned that God loves us when we are good we really don’t believe that God loves us when we fall into sin oh don’t misunderstand unbroken habitual patterns of sin may prove a person does not even have the seed of God in their heart therefore unsaved I’m not talking about that I’m talking about when God’s people sin and they think they don’t God doesn’t love them them anymore see God’s love is not changing or fickle like our love is it’s consistent and unchanging with his character see so saying this to his disciples was a great encouragement as they took that 100 mile Journey back up to Galilee they’re thinking wow he really wants to meet with us he really wants a relationship with us again that’s why you know we have passages of scripture like in Romans 5 but God demonstrates his own love toward us while we were good and likable he died for us is that’s what it says while we were Sinners he died for us while we were ungodly while we were enemies while we were denying him and cursing him you know in my testimony when I give my testimony I say in my testimony you know what when God found me I was not looking for him I was doing all right I was having a good time I was experiencing the world I wasn’t looking for God but what I found out is he was looking for me and when I heard the gospel and I realized what it was and what I never actually did I never asked Christ to save me I never repented of my sins I never believed specifically in the death resurrection of Jesus Christ and when I did and everything changed I immediately was impressed by the love that God had toward me who I knew I was a sinner that that was very clear see so when God breaks in on our world with Mighty and amazing power usually it’s mixed with astonishment and it’s mixed with fear it’s mixed with amazement and we really don’t know what to do with it and the same is true in scripture look at verse number eight it says they were out they went out and fled from the tomb the women for trembling and astonishment had gripped them and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid they were afraid they didn’t know what to make of it they’ve never experienced or even heard anything like this before but these women were trustworthy witnesses that Mark included in his gospel there was authentic circumstantial evidence plenty of it and Mark doesn’t even include all of it the other gospels include more of it see to revisit the account of the empty tomb reveals that the resurrection is not just an idea of the Mind it is not a figment of someone’s imagination but an event in history that actually took place and is true in every aspect an atheist passed up a note to him while he was speaking with the question what has your religion got that all these other religions have not God and of course there was a long long list Buddhism mamadisimo an answer on a piece of paper and sent it back up to the man and he said an empty tomb nobody has an empty tomb so fear astonishment is either going to leave lead to unb unbelief or it’s going to lead to belief or somewhere in between but belief and unbelief is this true did this really happen is Jesus real or don’t you believe it can’t be neutral and I’m under No Illusion to think everyone will come and believe in this truth it is a Doctrine specifically taught in Scripture it is a special message given by those who are God’s children it was the Apostle Paul who asked the question in the book of Acts why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead why would you think that is amazing he’s God he can do anything why would you think he could not raise the dead see jesus’ Resurrection hits a new note of Hope and Faith that what God did Once in a graveyard in Jerusalem he can and will repeat on a grand scale and he’s going to do that that Resurrection is going to happen on a grand scale Against All Odds the irreversible death will be reversed see the resurrection chapter in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 tells us that there is a link between the first Adam and of course the last Adam the old Adam brought death into the world the new Adam brought life into the world in fact in first Corinthians 15: 20- 26 this is what it says but now Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who are asleep for Since By A Man Came Death By A man also came the resurrection of the Dead for as in Adam all die so also in Christ all will be made alive but each in his own order Christ the first fruits after that those who are Christ at his coming then comes the end when he hands over the kingdom to the God and father when he has Abol abolished all Rule and all authority and power he must Reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet The Last Enemy that will be abolished is death see his victory over death is our benefit a thing which may very well seem to be incredible to any sort of thinking person it is for no other reason than no one experiences any living person or of seeing any such a thing happen in their lifetime we know that there are resuscitations where those who have been declared clinically dead for a few moments something no present human being can attest to the only place that I see it is in scripture I see that my Lord has done that and I see that if I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that God had raised them from the dead I will be saved right so I must believe the doctrine of Resurrection the way the scripture actually communicates it see the whole structure of the Christian doctrine stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus in other words if Jesus just died and didn’t rise again there would be nothing if the resurrection could be disproved Christianity would crumble in the dust and be reg relegated to the junk pile of the wildest of myths see the res Resurrection though is the best established fact of antiquity most people who do not believe in the resurrection of Christ really have no support for their opinion because they have never examined the evidence well the Bible says listen Acts chapter 1:3 to these he also presented himself alive after his sufferings by many convincing proofs appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God so this morning as I preach to you I am preaching to you that Jesus Christ indeed did rise from the grave and my faith is not based on a blind leap in the dark my faith is actually based on evidence the Bible never calls us to a blind faith it calls us to a faith in evidence Blind Faith is without evidence the Bible calls us to believe in many infallible proofs many convincing proves and they are convincing and even the people if youve read ever read about resurrection that have gone out of their way to disprove the resurrection if they were honest in their starting point they have to be honest in their conclusion they end up believing the resurrection because the evidence is too overwhelming it’s too overwhelming the Witnesses are too reliable so this is the Glorious truth but now Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who are asleep that means those who believe in Christ death his burial his resurrection Christians that me I mean their preaching is not in vain their faith is not in vain Christians are not Liars Christians do not die in their sin Christians who have died do not merely perish Christians now living are not of all people most miserable they are people who are the the most thankful and prayerful and joyful because they have put their trust in the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ why because Christ has been raised from the dead that’s the short ending of Mark next week next time I will look at the longer ending of Mark but I do want to admonish you that if you have not come yet to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ as your own Lord and Savior and tell him so today would be a good day to do that today would be a good day to come and ask Christ to save you he’s the only one who can save you he’s the only one who give you not only eternal life now but life forever Resurrection life life that can’t even really be described Beyond this life so he’s coming back to get us and while we wait for him we need to be living for him with all our heart all our mind all our soul and strength because all I have said in scripture will come to pass so where do you stand in relationship to the Gospel of Jesus Christ have you believed it are you committed to it are you living it are you telling other people about it has it consumed you are you being transformed by it every day of your life that’s where the scripture leads us to that’s what a real believer is a real believer is being transformed they being changed by the Lord himself they’re being Sanctified by the spirit of God they’re being conformed into the image of God himself that’s what the spirit of God’s doing in your life so I pray that that’s a reality to you it’s not something that you don’t know anything about but something it’s a reality it’s happening and you’re living it and uh you’re glad to be a Christian you are happy that God participating we comes to the Lord’s table this morning which we’re going to have right now and what are we looking at we’re looking at the elements of the Lord’s table right the elements being the bread and that’s the INF fleshman incarnation of Jesus coming into the world to do what to be the perfect man who dies in the place of Sinners right but then it’s also the element and of the wine that represents the blood of Christ because it without the shedding of blood there is no forgiving forgiveness of sins there’s no washing away of sin forever Christ does that but then we also know the Lord’s table gives us a hope to look for his coming to know that he’s defeated Satan in death and he’s coming again so we come to celebrate that so as I mentioned before there’s two agreed upon qualifications for participating in the Lord’s Supper the first one is those who have repented and believed in Christ can and of course have been baptized should participate because it is a sign of being a Christian it’s a sign of continuing in your Christian Life it’s a sign that you’re coming with a knowledge and understanding of what you’re doing also a second qualification would be the part part the of course the participation of self-examination that those who eat and drink are to discern the body the problem at the Corinthian Church was a failure to see their selfishness a failure to see their inconsiderate conduct especially towards one another instead of unity they had disunity instead of being steeming others higher than those themselves they were esteeming themselves so in other words let a person come and examine themselves and they ought to ask the question whether their relationships in the body of Christ are in fact reflecting the character of the Lord himself in whom we meet when we come to the table so those are the things that we need to look at in our own lives this morning so let’s prepare ourselves make ourselves ready to come the men who are serving please come forward and we’ll partake of the Lord’s table today thank you

May 7, 2017
The Suffering, Mockery, and Torment of the Servant King (Part 2)

In today’s sermon, Pastor Babij teaches on the uniqueness of Jesus’ death as demonstrated by the three events that occurred during Jesus’ crucifixion and His burial.

Pastor Babij warns believers to beware of religious pluralism and the belief that it is not necessary to trust in Christ’s death and resurrection for salvation.

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okay let’s uh turn our Bibles this morning and look at and as we look at this last section about the self- sacrifice of the servant we see today the suffering and the mockery the torment and the death of uh our servant King Jesus Christ so let’s follow along as we look at the scripture today and before I do that let’s pray Lord thank you this morning for this opportunity to be able to meet with you to gather around the word of God with your people I pray Lord that as we do that you would continue to bless us with the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray Lord that we’d always be uh growing in our love for you and Lord one way to do that is to just begin to comprehend the extent you went to to save us and to secure our Salvation forever and I pray Lord as we Ponder those things that you would just encourage our hearts even when our days go wrong and we are dealing with difficulties and problems that we would always look back to the work that you’ve accomplished on our behalf and I pray that Lord through it you may encourage us you may increase our hope and increase our knowledge of you so our faith would be strong and I pray this in Christ’s name amen so this morning we’re going to be looking at verses 33 to verse 47 and uh as I mentioned before this is Friday morning um it is between 9 a.m. and 12: noon on a Friday Jesus is on the cross of crucifixion paying the debt the sin debt a debt uh we could have never paid and he’s doing it not for himself but he is doing it for vile sinners like you like me last time in our text we were in verse uh 27- 28 where I said to you that Jesus was crucified to save others not himself even though he was the son of God and a great king and there his right and one on his left these convicted robbers were directly connected to Jesus because they were Sinners and uh robbers who made a made it a career to Rob innocent victims while they were traveling from place to place and usually one crime led to another crime led to another crime so there was many things going on as uh these robbers were committing their sins Jesus is placed smack right in the middle of these two criminals and Jesus was the most important person who held centered Place between two Sinners who were dying justly for their crimes Jesus was of course fulfilling prophecy here where the Bible tells us that he was numbered with the transgressors this is what he was doing there and then also remember Jesus was not about saving himself he was about saving his people which required Jesus to stay on the cross until all the saving work was finished and complete and then the next thing is that the great king was crucified for Sinners that is Jesus was fulfilling his mission that he was not dying for the righteous for there are none but was the substitute sacrifice for all kinds of Sinners as it tells us in Corinthians he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we may become the righteousness of God in him it’s hard to believe that Jesus Christ would die for the helpless for the ungodly for all kinds of Sinners who have sinned to all kinds of extents and then to die for his enemies but that’s exactly what he came to do and so this morning as we pick it up in verse number 33 we see that Jesus vicarious sufferings were so unique and by unique I mean one of a kind that they were accompanied by unusual one-of-a-kind happenings and we’re going to mention that there there are actually pretty strange unusual but very unique happenings that are recorded by Mark the gospel of of Mark he doesn’t record all of them only particular ones and the first one he records while Jesus was on the cross is that there was going to be a unusual but unique darkness that would take place while Jesus hung on the cross three hours of Darkness a matter of fact from 12: noon to 3:00 p.m. and look at verse number 33 it says when the sixth hour came the sixth hour being noon Darkness fell over the whole land until the 9th hour so that would be 3 p.m. so the darkness came at a time of day when the sun would have normally been at its highest also this strange Darkness lasted three hours and ended before the sun went down further to my knowledge this was not a solar eclipse because I believe it’s astronomically impossible when the moon is nearly full now if it was any kind of eclipse it was definitely miraculous some linguists say that the Greek fa phrase Darkness fell over the whole land cannot mean only land or country but must mean the whole Earth when the light of the sun is shut off the day half of the globe is made dark and if the day half of the globe is made dark that means the whole world is dark so the Gospel of Luke actually tells us that in verse 45 of Luke CH 23 because the sun was obscured and the veil of the temple was torn into two The New International Version says the sun stopped shining and of course many of you have the ESV English stand Standard Version says while the Sun’s light fell in other words the translators were trying to get a sense of what exactly happened there of course they didn’t have a worldwide Network like we have where you can know what’s happening somewhere in else in the world at uh in a second so they we have to depend on what the spirit of God records for us in scripture so the possibility of when Jesus was dying on the cross the whole world was in this a a complete darkness is probably the case I would lean toward that is what was taken place there and really the only conclusion one can honestly come to is that this Darkness was wholly miraculous God darkened the Sun’s light precisely at the moment that the father hid actually the father had to abandon his son who had become sin for us at that moment the just suffering in the place of the UN unjust who deserved of course the unjust deserved only punishment so the darkness ended at the moment of jesus’ death darkness in scripture symbolizes the world of evil for which Jesus has come to bring Salvation Darkness has often in scripture signified judgment several passages came to my mind one would be in two would be actually in the Minor Prophets uh Joel recorded that there would be a day of darkness and Gloom a day of clouds and thick Darkness not that that referred to this but the sense that it is not unusual for a prophet of God to mention the power and authority of God over creation and even over the son’s light even the prophet Amos tells us it will come about in that day declares the Lord God that I will make the sun go down at noon and make the Earth dark in broad daylight so it’s it’s it was not an uncommon thought for one reading scripture and studying scripture that God can do do such a thing but this was very unique because it was right at the moment that the father had to turn his back completely on the Lord Jesus Christ and so that really leads us to a second unusual thing that happened at the cross and I’m calling it an unusual unique forsaking if you notice what it says in verse number 34 it says at the 9th hour that’s 3:00 Jesus cried out with a loud voice Elo Elo l sabakon or Sab sabatan which is translated my God my God why have you forsaken me so at that die and bear the penalty for sin to those who eagerly await him so Jesus was truly truly forsaken by the father now why did that take place because the world’s sin and curse laid Upon Jesus Christ and isn’t it is it not sin that the word of God tells us is the very thing which separates us from a holy God it separated Adam and Eve from God in the garden where they were blocked from the fellowship they had we can’t be saved or we can’t even have a relationship with God we can’t even come in separation between you and your God and then it says and your sins have hidden his face from you so he does not hear so it’s it’s this very fact in Scripture that it is our sin that prevents us that blocks us that separates us from a holy God as was said already crucifixion is a very horrible way to die not physical even though the physical part was necessary it was rather the agony of his soul as he bore the guilt of the world’s sin and experienced the greatest haret abandonment of the father and I mean total abandonment of the father and only by Jesus being fully and actually forsaken could the full price of redemption actually be paid only by Jesus fully paying for our sin could salvation become a reality also the forsaken meant that Jesus bore the full wrath of God he bore the full penalty of sin for us so that we could be saved so the darkness and the agonizing Cry of Jesus went together oh my God my God why have you forsaken me the confusion of sin comes in by the question it’s important to note that in the last 3 hours of his life Jesus demonstrates that he will he really still possessed physical strength he had not reached utter exhaustion in fact it says there it says several places in our text his voice was strong and able to speak loudly it says Jesus cried with a loud voice voice so that means that his human nature clothed with his divine nature left Jesus to stand alone in the three hours of agonizing darkness when the father turned completely away from him I believe that this is what Jesus trembled over and shed tears of blood over in the garden this very instant right here when he had to bear this separation from the Father which he never experienced before this is something the Lord experienced it again and maybe this is another reason for the cross so the the Lord himself would not have to experience any separation again from his father and from the spirit of God so again this was prophetic it tells us in Psalm 22 verse1 my God my God why have you forsaken me so this was already in the mind of the writers of scripture that this would come there would come a time this Messianic Psalm 22 Psalm 22 would of course happen historically and and it did happen historic historically so sin causes confusion causes spiritual deafness and causes misunderstanding and of course even at the cross there was still this misunderstanding and I want you to notice several things also at the cross and particularly the misunderstandings that actually become unconscious Prophecies of the significance of jesus’ death in verse number 35 and 36 it says in verse 35 when some of the B standards heard it they began saying behold he’s calling for Elijah and then in verse 36 some ran and filled the sponge with sour wine put it on a reed and gave him to a drink saying let us see whether Elijah will come and take him down in other words the mockers distorted jesus’ words because Eloy Eloy is a actually an Aramaic word that means my God you can’t mistake that my God my God Elo Elo so that means they weren’t crying for Elijah or uh it didn’t mean Elijah however there was a belief during the day that Elijah would proceed in mark but recorded in the Gospel of John where it says after this John 19:28 knowing that all things had already been accomplished to fulfill the scripture Jesus said I am thirsty that’s when they lifted up a hissa branch to his mouth for him to drink it now of course that also was an indication something definitely would take place but these people waited in vain for Elijah to come and the reason why is they already misunderstood everything that was going on when it came to the cross and what came to the prophets when it came to the Psalms and you know in our day unless we understand the death of Jesus in light of the consequences of the wages a sin the cross is just a symbol it’s just an emblem it’s just a piece of jewelry worn around your neck or earrings in the ears that’s all it is and many people who walk around with such things don’t believe the significance of the Cross they don’t believe what actually took place there matter of fact they don’t even know what took place there they’re totally in the dark of about it and so anybody who does not understand what the scriptures say about the cross are going to come to the wrong conclusions they’re going to come to the place where they come up with their own stuff so on the cross jesus’ mind reviewed the whole scope of prophet of the prophetic word and actually we checked off one by one right down to the end of where he says I thirst so in other words the Lord was really in full possession of his mental faculties when he cried out with a loud voice my God my God why have you forsaken me now at that particular point here’s where the scripture clearly gives us the effects of the Cross and the first would be that Jesus dies and completes God’s Plan of Salvation via the vicarious suffering on the cross where if you notice in verse 37 it says and Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathe his last in other words Jesus actually dies because he has taken on sin and the wages of sin is death Jesus not dying for his own sin he was not he was sinless but dying for the sins of others Jesus is is said to have spoken seven times on the cross I mentioned a few of them but already several have been listed and one of them in verse 34 of Mark 15 it was a cry of horror and that horror horrible cry was my God my God why have you forsaken me coming from the lips of Jesus then there was the Cry of Torment I am thirsty and then there was the Cry of victory Mark records it like this he breathed his last the Gospel of John records it like this it is finished all right it’s that word that we use in evangelism to testy testy means Jesus brought it to an end he finished it he completed it he comp he accomplished Redemption he paid the Redemption price in full and it was at that particular point of completion he bowed his head when everything was accomplished and he uttered a loud cry and breathed his last that means he actually died and of course there was in the Gospel of Luke The Cry of a commitment and that commitment was father into your hands I commit my spirit so the forsaking of the father had passed when death set in when Jesus died he placed his soul in the hands of the father when all had been endured and Jesus cried it is finished he yielded up his soul into the father’s hands as a ransom for many and that some point the promise that he gave to the thief on the cross today you will be with me in Paradise took place it’s hard to follow that you just don’t know exactly everything that happened so after Jesus said it is finished and everything was fulfilled according to scripture some immediate and significant things started taking place yes also unusual that that does bring me to the third unique and unusual thing that took place and that was this that was the place of worship that was the place God required them to come well what happened at that particular point the sanctuary of God’s presence is opened up signifying a new access to God is made possible possible and if you notice look what it says in verse number 38 and the veil of them was the inner Veil into the holy of holies that inner Veil can only be entered one time a year and that was on the day of atonement and that was by only one priest and the people knew the priest usually used to have bells uh embroidered on the bottom of their um their garment and when the high priest went into the holy of holies that one time with the blood that was already offered for the people’s sins and he would sprinkle it on the mercy seed as the the priest outside as long as they heard the bells moving they knew he was still alive in other words he was doing everything the way God required it all right in fact some say that there was a rope tied to his leg also that uh was led out of the sanctuary that if somehow they no longer Heard the Bells they would be able to pull him out but as long as they heard the bells as long as they heard the movement of the high priest everything was fine the people would Rejoice because they knew that their sins for that year would be covered would be forgiven and so therefore everything went well so what we see here is that this inner Veil that hung between the holy place and the holy of holies in the temple Sanctuary this Mighty curtain it was probably 60 foot by 80 foot and it was torn into two by the invisible hand of God from top to bottom and it was torn into the moment that Jesus died everything was was accomplished to come into the presence of God you have some new way a better way and that’s what Hebrews writes about it writes about a better way that the tearing of the great curtain was God’s Proclamation that the Jewish High priest’s ministration was at an end fact by 70 AD when the temple was destroyed it was destroyed uh but also the sacrificial system was destroyed there’s no reason to sacrifice anymore and of course Jesus now had entered the holy of holies with his atoning blood once for all making a new way a better way to God through a new Veil through the veil of his own flesh in fact take your Bibles very quickly and turn to Hebrews chapter 10 and I want you to notice a few passages verse 19 Verse 22 of Hebrews 10 and while you’re turning there according to Hebrews all true Christians have confidence now to enter into the presence of God because Jesus had opened the veil this new veil by his death so in other words we can boldly enter Heaven’s Most Holy place because of the blood of Jesus Christ notice in Hebrews 10 verse number 19 it says therefore Brethren since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus by a new and a living way which he inaugurated for us through the Veil The Veil that is his flesh in other words this Veil that blocked people from the presence of God was replaced by a new Veil and that was the veil of jesus’ own flesh that see he took care of on the cross everything that the priest took care of leading up to the day of of atonement but he did it forever you know one thing when you’re reading the Old Testament and you read all the stuff the priest had to do I mean there was sacrifice after sacrifice these guys were exhausted I mean they they they were truly ex matter of fact by 50 years old a priest was done he he was like re relegated to the guard shack he was re relegated to help the other priests do their job because they were so exhausted by so many sacrifices had to be offered before God so the sins of the people can be atoned for and covered for just one year and this went on year after year after year after year notice from verse 21 of Hebrews chapter 10 and since we have a great high priest over the house of God verse 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart and full Assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkle clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water in other words he’s saying there that listen not only is the inside clean but the outside is clean too that means now you are clean to go into the presence of God and who does that Christ does that by his blood so see we don’t have to have all this ritual and all the stuff that went on in fact this event was so significant that the priest had to give up all the ceremonies and rituals of the temple and why is that because the Fulfillment of all those ceremonies and rituals were brought to an end and found their full fulfillment in the Lamb of God Jesus Christ who takes away the sin of the world the death of Jesus Christ made these sacrifices unnecessary because his death our sins because of his death our sins were completely forgiven and fellowship with God had been restored so that means when the reality Christ to which the shadow was pointing when Christ came and shed his blood historically the shadow gr gradually faded away having served its purpose the levitical priesthood and the law that guided it and the sacrifices that were daily offered were set aside because a better hope had come the finished work of Christ so then that Jesus can do and has accomplish what the old priesthood could have never have done and what is that he can give us access to God he can do everything so we have access to God you know there’s there’s many religions and all of them have some Works based procedure and of course also in their procedures there’s this kind of like man I hope I can please God and I hope that I’m good enough or do what I is required of me so I can go to heaven or wherever they’re going but they never can get any assurance that that could ever be true in fact in our day religious pluralism abounds everywhere you go but I I really have to warn you about pluralism Theologian Don Carson defines pluralism as listen what he says the view that all religions have the same moral and spiritual value and offer the same po potential for achieving salvation however salvation be construed by any particular group that is the mindset of our day the pluralist question is this is the work of Christ necessary for salvation or is made for the Christian but there are other ways of getting right with God and gaining Eternal Bliss in other religions see the work of Christ in other words is useful for the Christian but not necessary for the non-Christian this is the mindset that pervades our day in a large way scripture strongly presses upon us the impossibility of Eternal salvation outside and the Hindu can by their resolutions of renunciation accomplish salvation or the Buddhists keeping their ethics can accomplish Eternal salvation and forgiveness of sins or the inherent inherent righteousness by keeping the sacraments again it’s still a work bace system I have to do something and hope I can have my sins forgiven and eternal life or any other works space system and there’s many of them out there there’s hundreds of religions and they’re all come from the mind of man they all have been manipulated and formed and practiced because what man thinks go God ought to do and all yet because he accomplished everything that we could have never or any religious system could have ever accomplished so we can actually be made right with God well so then it cannot be possible it cannot possibly be that his death was necessary for the Salvation of some is the only necessary means provided by God for Eternal salvation for all people for all times I said this before a Abraham could never have been saved unless it was for Christ dying on the cross but for Christ dying on the cross so I say it like this eternal life cannot be found outside of Christ amen that’s what you learn in scripture so completely does Jesus save those who receive him as Lord and Savior that he makes them fit to come to God to dwell with God and to be one with Jesus throughout all eternity that’s what God does no one else could do that so this event of the Cross is so marked for a particular reason that I just said the door is open through the veil of Jesus Christ right into the presence of God well if you notice the Gentile or or the Heathen Centurion joined in with jesus’ faithful Jewish followers in attesting that Jesus is the son of God notice what it says in verse 39 of 15 it says when the Centurion who was standing right in front of him saw the way he breathed his last he said truly this man was the son of God so a heathen soldier who so powerfully and fearfully struck by jesus’ death and the events that occurred that day all flowing in upon him the darkness of that was so unusual Matthew records the earthquake that was very unusual that took place where the Earth Shook and The Rock split in two and then here it says jesus’ demeanor and character was so unusual it was so like it shouldn’t be it caught his attention through his sufferings the mockery of the religious EST establishment the abuse of the soldiers this the miscarriage of justice and it it recorded here the way he breathed his last bread there must have been a strength that came came over this Soldier the way Jesus died that he was way more than just the man that there was something going on that day that was beyond him and so this Heathen Soldier by actic conclusion was about exactly what Mark is about who is Jesus all right who Jesus is in reality beyond all the lies and the misinformation of the press he says in verse number 39 truly this man was the son of God is that not an absolute emphatic statement of testimony this guy probably had no knowledge of the Old Testament maybe scant know knowled he was a Roman soldier did his job and he concluded that this man Jesus was the righteous one in fact it’s it’s recorded in uh other translations in the King James it says certainly he says this man was a righteous man and then also in The New American Standard certainly this man was innocent that Jesus was the righteous one the man who was innocent and if there was ever ACC claimed a deity this man Jesus was the real deal this is what he this Heathen Roman soldier concludes so you see something’s going on here see the veil is broken open for the Gentiles for the Heathen not just for the Jews salvation in other words is now for All Peoples everywhere the gospel is preached and then something else goes on because of this event the his faithful followers continue to follow him but notice who’s listed in verse number 40 to 42 these faithful women followers demonstrate by Jesus special burial that he is the Son of God notice the women in verse number 40 there were also some women looking on from a distance among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the Les and josies in salomi when he was in Galilee they used to follow him and minister to him and there was many other women who came up with him from Jer uh to Jerusalem when evening had already come because it was the day of preparation Sabbath and have everything done before Sunset because at Sunset and Friday the Sabbath started no one could work so this is what is going on here here and it was the where it says the day before Sabbath so what’s Mary Magdalene you know who is she she was a woman it says in Luke who was healed of evil spirits and sickness Mary who was called Magdalene from whom seven demons were gone out or cast out by Jesus she’s there at the cross at the burial she’s there with the other women meaning that if you put it all together that Jesus seems to have authority now over all people and their human hearts by breaking it open to the Gentiles he has authority over demons where this woman is now set free forgiven and now is following him Faithfully he has authority over death Matthew 27 tells us Mark doesn’t record this that the tombs were open and many bodies of the Saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after the resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many and I think about that verse I said man that’s a real Horror Story right there all right that is something that would be M imagine that you had somebody die who who became a believer in Christ and they’ve been dead for a long time and they show up at your door is that freaky anyway but see the power of God over death over demon Dem over human hearts and also over the stronghold of religious systems look what it says in verse number 43 and 46 and what I mean by that is this the believing religious leaders demonstrate by Jesus special burial the reality of who Jesus is now notice first of all a secret disciple actually two secret disciples only one mentioned by Mark all right it says this in verse number 43 it says Joseph of arthea came a prominent member of the council who himself was a was waiting for the kingdom of God he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus now the actions of several absentee Sanhedrin ists you remember the Sanhedrin were against Jesus the whole time but what we did not know that is that there were some Sanhedrin that weren’t for it they were actually Believers so the action of several absented San Sanhedrin who had concern for obtaining the body of Jesus in order to give Jesus a proper burial and there were two Courageous Courageous ones Joseph arthea mentioned here and then in John 9:39 Nicodemus remember Nicodemus met with Jesus that night the whole story about being born again the message I preached not too long ago where the serpent was lifted up on the standard if you looked you would be saved soon as Jesus said that to Nicodemus that was it conversation was over he looked he believed in Christ he was saved so now he goes with Joseph of of arthea and they go get the body of Jesus now get this you don’t go get a body of a crucified criminal you know what you do to crucified criminal you pull up the cart you dump the body in the cart and you dump it in a mass grave you don’t care about how they’re buried right that’s all you have to do do it before Sundown before the Sabbath starts and everything’s fine but that’s not what’s happening here they’re treating Jesus as someone very special in fact if you notice in verse 43 what kind of man was Joseph of arthea he was a prominent member of the council he was a high ranking Sanhedrin also he was a man of Hope in verse 43 he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God he knew the scripture he knew something was going to happen he believed that was the time he hoped it would be Jesus he believed that Jesus was was the one so Joseph was waiting a long time for the kingdom of God to come but the problem was Jesus did die so was his hope shattered in verse number 43 It also says that he was a courageous man he got his courage together to go to pilate why would pilate believe a Sanhedrin he couldn’t wait they were like Li to him get me get them out of my presence I can’t take them and now he’s coming to get the body of Jesus also in ver Matthew 27 verse 57 he was a rich man but also Matthew 27:57 it says something else that Mark doesn’t record Mark doesn’t record some things because he takes he’s writing so things happen rapidly so you feel like you’re there and he assumes you know something maybe from the other gospels but that it says in Matthew 27:57 when it was evening there came a rich man from arthea named Joseph who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus now why wasn’t he public with well because of fear of the Jews Joseph kept his faith hidden but we see right here not anymore he was public with his faith he came out with his faith now now the next thing that we see here is a very surprised politician look at it says in verse number 44 pilate wondered if he was dead by this time and summoning the centurum he questioned him as to whether he was already dead now why was Pilot’s surprise he was surprised because death by crucifixion was extremely slow even that he should have been on the cross another three hours before at least before sunset or maybe maybe that’s not right but the thing is that he was he was be on the cross a little bit further and then because of course there was the preparation day and they had to get ready for the Sabbath they would break you know break the legs of the people who were being crucified to expedite the crucifixion they would die by Suffocation they would suffocate right that’s the way they the way they would die and so Pilot’s wondering here wait a minute this is too soon he can’t be dead yet so it’s still death by crucifixion though exceedingly painful and usually very slow sometimes people linger two or three days Jes Jesus had been already dead only after 6 hours of of being on the cross was was not normal for Roman crucifixion now of course unless Jesus voluntarily laid his life down by himself which of course he did so pilate did not take Jesus as at his word without an official confirmation by his soldier who was in charge and once the official confirmation was received pilate granted the body of Jesus for burial to Joseph of aramia and of course to Nicodemus uh and we know that this special burial meant something very important to not only the Jew but also to Tak a criminal and taking such care in preparing his body of course this uh this was something that is mentioned in scripture uh Jesus was buried sometime before Sundown on Friday he had to be buried Before Sunset because that was when the Sabbath began when no one could work so the care and attention given to the body of Jesus was above and beyond the Call of Duty we we know in verse 54 that Joseph and Nicodemus obtained the burial materials uh Joseph uh bought the burial cloth or the Shroud for wrapping the body and Nicodemus bought the spices pounds of spices that’s a lot of spices because as they wrap the IND visual arms and legs they would fill it in with the spices right and of course that is to keep down the stench uh and it was of course also that of respect in verse number 46 they removed jesus’ body from the cross in verse 46 also they prepared the body and wrapped him in the linen cloth in verse 46 uh they laid him in a tomb which had been yed at a rock and we know the tomb that have been was UN out of rock whose tomb was it it was Joseph of ARA’s tomb it was a brand new Tomb nobody laid in that tomb um and they put the body in that new Tomb and U and then of course in verse 46 it says and he rolled the stone against the entrance of the Tomb so they secured the tomb with the flat circular immense Stone was set in the in the groove uh in the stone and held on a slant uh to the left of the Tomb opening held there by a a stopping block until it was released and the the Rolling Stone came down in front of the entrance and closed it there was no way you were going to roll that stone back up these Stones were enormous and of course it was to secure that tomb and so all these things take place and we have this singular group of ladies still hanging around it says in verse number 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jos were looking on to see where he was laid the reason why they were looking is because they wanted to know where they put him so they can come back after the Sabbath to do the rest of the preparation but of course when they came back after the Sabbath he wasn’t there right so from a secret disciple to a surprised politician to a special burial to a singular group of ladies all pointing to how unique the death of Jesus Christ was and how special it was so the father made sure everything was taking place so some thought they were Killing Jesus and succeeded some thought possibly Our Hope in the Messiah is gone others didn’t know what to think but remember it’s Friday when Resurrection comes it all comes alive right it all comes alive and because the Lord is raised from the dead we are given the hope that we too will be raised from the dead so all these things recorded in scripture show how unique how uniqueen let’s pray Lord thank you again for the goodness that you have given to us by giving us us the scripture by giving us the truth even though Lord we live in plural pluralistic times even though people are crying that there’s many ways to God and everyone saying that their religion is the right way we know Lord when we come to the word of God it clears everything up it makes everything understandable and it brings us to one person and that’s the person that was ordained before the world was created to be crucified he was predetermined to be crucified for us and we thank you Lord that not everybody knows this or believes it or understands it but you’ve given it to us so I I I want to just praise you for that Lord I pray the knowledge of the truth to Salvation would be not something we keep to ourselves but we we broadcast it to those around us to our family our friends our co-workers and Lord cause us Lord to also live it that our words would be backed up by our actions and Lord we would be able to if we’ve been a secret disciple like Joseph we would go public and we would tell people and we would share our testimony so I thank you Lord for for the word of God and I pray Lord that we would always take it as your word and we would believe it and we would CH cherish it in our hearts and in our minds and I pray this all this morning in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen

April 30, 2017
The Suffering, Mockery, and Torment of the Servant King (Part 1)
In today’s sermon, Pastor Babij teaches several points concerning Jesus’ crucifixion:
- Three characteristics now associated with Jesus
- Three highlighted groups of sinners
- Several thoughts to ponder regarding Jesus’ death
Pastor Babij encourages believers to remember that Jesus’ death and resurrection provide Christians with hope for today; such thoughts are precious treasures that will transform a person.

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Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

okay let’s take our Bibles this morning and we can turn to should turn to Mark chapter 15 we’re continuing through the gospel of Mark and I do want to remind everyone that uh this afternoon we have our annual uh Church business meeting and that’s going to be we’re going to have lunch lunch will be provided and uh then we will have start around 2:00 we’d like you to stay um and be participate in that at least listen to what we are communicating uh through that particular meeting and that’s today at um approximately 2: p.m. so let us uh look at Gospel of Mark now in uh chapter 15 and we’re going to be looking at verse 16 through verse 32 but before I look there let’s pray Lord this morning again as we approach the word of God God I pray Lord that you would just make us attentive pull us into the narrative so we sense what is going on there and I pray Lord as we consider the things that this text brings out I pray Lord that you would impress upon our heart the very things that we ought to meditate upon and think about every day of our life about what you accomplished Lord on behalf of Sinners because Lord all these things you went through because because we sinned against you and we could never make ourselves right with you you had to have a plan to be able to make us right with you and give us your righteousness and nail our sin to the Cross so I pray Lord that we would learn this morning well and then have an ample amount of information to think about as we consider our own salvation and I pray this in Christ’s name amen amen I say okay so far we have been remember uh we it’s we’re still it’s still Friday morning uh probably now around 6: p.m.

shortly after after Dawn the sun has risen uh a formal uh trial has taken place and of course the Sanhedrin uh got the Roman Court uh to have the trial but the only problem is the Roman Court Found Jesus not guilty and um that caused a problem Jesus is not found condemned is not condemned by the Roman court but he is found innocent actually by the Roman court and instead he is offered up by some Festival custom and a crowd that was persuaded by a jealous religious body who wanted Jesus dead at all cost so we see from last time pilot the politic ition cowers and caves in verse 15 it says wishing to satisfy the crowd pilot released barabus for them and after having Jesus scourged he handed him over to be crucified so pilate is willing like a good politician to satisfy the people’s wishes he washes his hands of the matter and of course to clear himself hopefully from the responsibility for the death of Jesus and then we have barabus who is the criminal uh convicted criminal he’s released and uh of course it says in verse 15 pilate released barabus and then Jesus the innocent is scourged and of course scourging many people die under that even because it really uh rips their back to shreds right down to the through the muscle right to the Bone and of course they did not want to kill Jesus in that way they wanted to keep him alive hopefully pilate was thinking if we beat him enough long enough maybe the people say okay that’s enough he doesn’t have to be crucified we get it but that’s not what happens of course uh Jesus the Guiltless one is handed over verse 15 over to be crucified so all the levels of people that are present we see that spiritual blindness Madness and Folly really Prevail in this day and when the soul is dead and the heart is numb people are capable of committing even the worst of brutal acts and this is what we see in this section of scripture The Suffering The mockery the torment of the servant King uh is what we see here in our text so this morning I’m asking you to focus your mind on the things about Jesus suffering and how the sinful mind concludes in a completely different direction than what is actually taking place as at least from God’s perspective and so this morning I want you to look at three things about what the Lord is going through the first first thing that should come to your mind and you should Ponder concerning the suffering of Jesus is that Jesus was mocked and he was smitten as a wouldbe king even though he was a great king now look at verse number 16 it says this the soldiers took him away into the palace that is the pratorum and they called together the whole Roman cohort now of course right here remember it is it is Friday at 6: a.m. in the morning Jesus is now handed over to the Roman soldiers to prepare Jesus for crucifixion it was their job to do that and Jesus is already badly beaten a cohort of soldiers is quite a few actually uh maybe even up to 200 soldiers some say that it’s even more the soldiers now have the authority over the prisoner and they took the liberty at that time to Mock and smite Jesus this would be king now I say it like this for this reason the soldiers say okay if you’re supposed to be a king we’re going to treat you like a king all right and so there are actually there’s six things the soldiers did to rid Jesus claim to be a king Mark makes really a vivid description of the horrific event the first thing is this what does a king need a king needs a royal robe right so in verse number 17 notice what it says they dressed him up in purple that that they put a really a robe of purple on him signifying of course mocking him as a king and then the second thing a king needs is a crown it says in verse 17 and after twisting a crown of thorns they put it on him so they put on his head this mock crown and then in verse number 18 a king requires adoration it says and they began to Acclaim him hail King of the Jews all in a mocking manner sarc a sarcastic acknowledgment of his Royal dignity and then a fourth thing is that a a king needs a staff now here it says they kept beating him they kept beating his head with a re so so Jesus is addressed as a king who is powerless to use his scepter here recognized as a reed so they beat him with it and then fifthly a king requires respect and they disrespect him by hurling upon him the grossest kind of insult in verse 19 spitting on him and then also in verse 19 the king requires worship so what do they do they are bowing before him and mocking Jesus in a with worship type of positions because he was supposed to be this great king now the tense of the verb that is used here denotes the soldiers actions were repeated for some time actually pilate let this barbarity go on for almost three hours from 6: a.m. to 9 a.m. the Apostle Peter said this of Jesus in his epistle he says and while being reviled he did not revile and return while suffering he uttered no threats but kept entrusting himself to the one who judges righteously that was the attitude of Jesus through all this so This shameful demeaning activity was only brought to an end for the purpose of keeping Jesus alive and preparing him for the ultimate death sentence and if you notice what the soldiers did in verse 20 after they had mocked him they took the purple robe off him and put his own garments on him now they probably did this out of respect of the Jews ultimately the Romans would just strip them down completely naked but they put his clothes back on him so that as they went through the procession through and of course uh the procession went through major roads now some people uh think that the Via delar Roa is the is the place that Jesus actually walked on that’s probably not the case the reason why is because Jerusalem has been destroyed and built and destroyed and built and destroyed and built from six times so the original road that uh Jesus probably walked on we don’t even know what it it would have been but we do know this that the Romans always brought the criminals through the most populated streets and then the actual site for the crucifixion was done off a major road they wanted people to see their power and their Authority and they also wanted people to see that if you live and respond against the Roman authorities this is what happens to you all right and so the people of course do get that message uh when there’s some public execution some public hanging the people watching do get a message that I don’t want to be the one getting home I don’t want to be the one getting crucified so the message is a pretty powerful one and so this is what Jesus is going through it’s completely humil humiliating and so this procession it says in the end of verse number 20 it says and they led him out to crucify him so the procession for criminals to be crucified was again as public as possible and usually the pro procession went through streets that were probably the bus busiest uh the most things that are going on would they would be paraded through those streets now in this part of the text Jesus is viewed in a different kind of way by the soldiers all right the soldiers are really running this and of course behind what the soldiers are doing is the Jewish authorities you know egging them on to do these things and so we see first of all that Jesus Jus is viewed as a man who needed some help uh Jesus was de debilitated at this point by the suffering already he already endured and so another Jew was compelled to carry jesus’ cross mark uh once again shows us Jesus in his weak Humanity breaking down under the load of the cross uh so completely that even the mean-spirited soldiers saw his present fail F Frailty and had to do something about it notice in verse 21 it says and they pressed into service of a bypasser by coming from uh the country Simon of sirene of course that was Africa he was from Africa he was probably in Jerusalem to worship and it says the father of Alexander and ruus uh to bear his cross so they pulled this guy off the street usually it was probably coming out of the gate of Jerusalem and they commandeered him to do Carry the Cross for Jesus and so that all that a Roman soldier actually had to do was to tap the soldier of any person they wanted to with the flat of their spear to press them into service everybody who was a in the Roman uh system kind of knew this this was made known and so really the term came to mean to requisition someone um it was a first used in a a Persian Royal post where um the Royal actually male service of the Persian Empire would requisition anybody they needed to accomplished their mission in Roman times it was used for military or Civil Service the term came to mean as the text uses it here to press someone into service in other words they didn’t have a choice all right when the Roman soldiers came and laid their sword on your shoulder you did not have a choice it wasn’t a up for negotiation it was do you’re going to do this or you know what’s going to happen you’re you’re going to be at the end of this spear all right dangling on it all right so that’s the kind of mindset that was they had uh it’s possible that something happened to Simon picking up Jesus cross on golgatha because that really dramatically changed his life he could have believed in Jesus on that particular day because it says here that he he had Sons named Rufus and Alexander and of course we find in Romans 16:13 this is what it says about a man named Rufus greet Rufus a choice man in the Lord now this could be the same man that was now the son of this man who was carrying Jesus cross we cannot know that for sure but the possibility is pretty high that that could be the case because he’s actually Simon is mentioned again in acts when Paul and Barnabas are sent on their mission to the Gentiles and it mentions Simeon which is another form of Simon called Niger and they know that those two put together mentioned when somebody’s called Niger that means that they were probably from North Africa because they came they had a a swathy skin because of the of the Sun and the climate in that part of the world and of course sirene in in it mentions it again in Acts is North Africa so it’s a great possibility that this man somehow was changed by this moment became a Believer his family became a Believer and they became very influential in the Church of Jesus Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel but it’s hard to make that hard fast but it’s possible a second thing that Jesus is viewed as an unclean man if you notice what it says in verse number 22 then they brought him to the place gtha which is translated place of the skull now why is that because no one could be killed inside the city walls of Jerusalem especially a Condemned criminal and so they had to take them outside the city to do the killing gtha was of course outside the Gate of Jerusalem um even Hebrews tells us the book of Hebrews tells us that therefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people through his own blood suffered outside the gate so there is an indication here that Jesus was unclean uh to the Jew and so therefore he could not be crucified in in the city limits but had to be taken outside the C city limits to be crucified so Jesus was taken to galtha which is translated the place of the skull now of course the Greek term here may sound very familiar to you uh it’s the word cron all right which of course here translated skull but it of course it’s the word cranium all right in other words the actual place of the skull refers to the shape of the Hill like a cranium the Round Top of the skull so it referred to the skull like Hill outside of Jerusalem which is now occupied by by a mam a mohamedan cemetery a hill that rises right above the garden tomb so this is uh most likely the very place that Jesus Christ was crucified and not too long ago they found the garden tune right below that so that was the place so this galtha really was a place that looked like when you look at it uh a cranium a top of a head and um so that’s why they called it that the place of the skull some say no it’s because of people who died there and all their bones were left there and all the skull uh you know skulls were left all around around and that’s probably not the case it uh it’s what the the way the hill looked so see so Jesus is considered an unclean man because of his uh being found guilty and and then of course taken out of the city to be killed and then the Third Way Jesus is viewed is he’s viewed as someone who needs drugs in verse number 23 it says they tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh but he did not take it see at galtha Jesus was offered a narcotic myrh was added to Wine to give a Stupify effect drugged wine was given for several reasons the first was uh of course the terrible pain suffered by such a death as crucifixion and secondly it subdued the criminal to make it easier on the soldiers to nail that person to the Cross however Jesus did not take it it says in verse number 23 he wanted to remain perfectly clearheaded and sober in order to take the full brunt of suffering so none of his senses could be dull a third a next way that Jesus is viewed is he is viewed as a man hoping hopelessly condemned in verse 24 it says they crucified him and divided up his garments among themselves casting lots for them to decide what each man should take see once they started casting lots for the clothes it is thought the person who’s dead doesn’t need their clothes anymore so the soldiers it was customary for the soldiers to cast lots to see what parts of the clothing they get usually there was four Lots three were blank one was marked with who would get the Garment because the Garment usually taken to the Cross was one piece uh so you couldn’t cut it up so it had to be given to at least one of them and so uh but remember this was also fulfilled prophecy it tells us in psalm 22:8 they divided my garments among them for my clothing they cast lots Psalm tells us that matter fact this whole section is can be verified by The Book of Psalms that all these things were prophetic they had to happen according to what the scriptures told us and then in verse number 24 it says to us that and they crucified him that’s the first part of the verse this is the reason why this was all happening and according to church history Jesus bore really was crucified on a t-shaped cross it really had no top piece at all like our present crosses would have Jesus was lifted up no more than 36 in off the ground so he was very close to the ground and the Great Nails that were driven through his hands and feet were done usually while the cross was on the ground and then lifted up into position and of course Luke tells us because some people believe that jesus’ feet were not actually pierced but there’s a problem with that and the problem is that there’s too many scriptures that say his feet were pierced in fact Luke 24:39 says see my hands and my feet all right and then of course in Psalm 22:16 it says for dogs have surrounded me a band of evildoers have encompassed me they pierced my hands and my feet so according to scripture Jesus hands and feet were pierced through with these Great Nails so crucifixion is a very horrible way to die it was agonizing it was humiliating it was exhausting because it was was designed to be a slow and painful death some say that one could Linger on the cross for four days before they succumb to death four days that did not happen with Jesus matter of fact Jesus died before the soldiers came around to break the legs of the people so they would die immediately and we’ll look at that some time later yet we we do know this and I I do don’t want you to get this impression because we see the greatest Agony Jesus suffers is not physical it was a rather the agony of Soul as he bore the guilt of the world’s sin that is what really made the cross a horrible place to be now the only thing is that we don’t exactly know the depth of the suffering that Jesus went through at that particular time the scripture does not go into great detail about what he suffered and what he did when he suffered the spiritual part of his death uh for the guilt of the world’s sin but nonetheless Jesus is also viewed as a guilty man in verse number 25 it says it was the third hour when he When They Crucified him now the third hour would be 9:00 in the morning so Jesus was on the cross at 9:00 in the morning and uh that’s what they wanted they wanted to get it done early uh Jesus is hanging there at that particular time and um then he right up until noon time which would been the sixth hour something changed in nature which I’ll look at next time but the superscript scription that um was actually displayed through the uh procession and held up by uh one of the sometimes one of the soldiers or again another citizen that they would commander and it would list on it on it in big letters why this person was being crucified what their crime was why they were guilty and of course in verse 26 the superscription uh publicly displayed the charge for which the person was guilty and it says this the inscription of the charge against them read the king of the Jews that’s why he’s guilty doesn’t seem like a legitimate charge does it but for the Jews it was a legitimate charge because they claim Jesus claimed something they think was not true and so they belied that he deserved this so as Jesus was raised on the cross the Jews noticed this superscription which pilate had caused to be placed above him and they insisted that he modify it but pilate refused to modify it in fact let’s take our Bibles and look over to John chapter 19 John Chapter 19 Verse 22 and I want you to notice John recording the same incident the same thing and he list and includes other things in John Chapter 19 Verse number 19 it said pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross it was written Jesus the Nazarene the king of the Jews therefore many of the Jews read this inscription for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city and it was written in Hebrew Latin and in Greek so the chief Priests of the Jews were saying to pilate do not write the king of the Jews but that he said I am the king of the Jews and it says in verse 22 pilate answered what I have written I have written so even though this superscription was used in a mocking way it was Pilot’s way of revenge against the Jews in other words if you want Jesus this badly you will have to have him as your king now of course what is ironic is that what is written is true Jesus is the great king even though it was used in a mocking way so that is what we see of the Lord Jesus Christ that Not only was Jesus was mocked and smitten as a wouldbe king even though he was a great king and Jesus was also led to the slaughter as a defenseless and helpless lamb even though he was the great Lamb of God a third thing about the Lord Jesus Christ is that Jesus was crucified to save others not himself even though he was the son of God and a great king so I want you to notice in verse 27 the great king was crucified with sinners in verse 27 They Crucified two Robbers with him one on the right and one on on his left now these convicted robbers were directly connected to Jesus because they were sinners they were not merely Petty thieves they were called actually highway men those who robbed innocent victims while they were traveling from place to place which included beatings and often murder and other crimes so these were not peaceful men who got caught robbing a penny store these were serious criminals that were being crucified with Jesus and Jesus is smacked right in the middle of two criminals Jesus that means is the most important person who held the center Place between these two Sinners who are dying justly for their crimes and for your information if you notice in your Bibles uh in verse number 28 uh either it is italicized or it is omitted or it is bracketed meaning that there was not enough textual support to include this passage in uh our Bibles however our text is so clear that Jesus was fulfilling prophecy and so the scribes who were writing scripture put it in the sideb of the text and it somehow got into it now if you have the new American Standard what does it read there in verse 28 and the scripture was fulfilled which says and he was numbered with the transgressors well that’s exactly what’s happening here right and so he got in there so I would say why don’t just leave it alone because that’s exactly what it says in Isaiah 53 because it says he was poured he he he was poured out he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors so Jesus was not about saving himself he was about saving his people which required Jesus to stay on the cross until the work was finished so not Jesus Not only was crucified with Sinners but but Jesus Christ was crucified for Sinners and in verse 29 through verse 32 we have actually a list of sinners in our text see Jesus was fulfilling his mission that he was not dying for the righteous for there are none righteous but he was the substitute sacrifice for all kinds of sinners sinners of all levels of all walks of life for the scriptures tell us in Corinthians he made himself who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf so that we may become the righteousness of God in him so it’s it’s kind of hard to believe that Jesus Christ would die for the help and would die for the ungodly and would die for all kinds of Sinners and would die for his enemies who dies for their enemies nobody dies for that you kill the enemy you don’t die from that Jesus dies for his enemies in fact scripture is pretty clear about this Romans chap 5 what the passage of scripture we we often would quote in in witnessing to somebody or evangelizing somewhere it says in Romans 5 verse number 6 for while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly for no one for one will hardly die for a righteous man perhaps though perhaps for a good man someone would dare to die but God demonstrates his own love toward toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us much more than having now been justified by his blood we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son much more having been reconciled shall we be saved by his life amen see Jesus Christ came to die for sinful Humanity so three groups of Sinners are highlighted Sinners who stabed Jesus repeatedly with their cowardly degrading and insulting tongues here’s the first group in verse 29- 30 and this group repeatedly derided him this first group is really the Jews from the city notice what it says those passing by verse number 29 were hurling abuse at him wagging their heads and saying ha you who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days save yourselves yourself and come down from the cross so see this first group were most likely Jews from the city and those visiting because of the Passover holidays who were just passing by trying to get a closer look at what was going on and they derided Jesus with the same charges of the false Witnesses in chapter 14 of Mark now this again was prophesied in Psalm 22 where it says all who s see me sneer at me they separate the lip they Wag the head saying commit yourself to the Lord so again everything being done according to what was written in the book of Psalm and of course they completely misread the real intent of jes’ words because he was actually talking about the Temple of his body that will be torn down in death and rebuilt in Resurrection they totally missed it so this group was actually chowing jesus’ power they were saying if you have the power then to destroy the temple and raise it up in three days then you can save yourself come on if you don’t come down you have no power your power is a sham that’s group one group number two verse 31-32 this group also repeatedly mocked Jesus who was this group this is the group that’s been with Jesus from day one this is look what it says in verse number 31 in the same way the chief priests also along with the scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying he saved others he cannot save himself let this Christ the King of Israel now come down from the cross so that we may see and believe hey guys it’s a little late it’s a little late the second group is the chief priests and scribes of the religious establishment and what they’re actually doing in this St stat is challenging jesus’ whole Ministry from day one to the Cross they’re challenging everything he ever did all right kind of saying this if you saved others then you can save yourselves show us a Sign by coming down from the cross come on you big talking King you must be false because you cannot save yourself so that means all your Miracles are Furious see you are no Messiah you are no King just show us a Sign by coming down from the cross and then it says so that we may see and believe well you know what what what they do here is not far off from what we all do give me some proof give me some proof that this is true and I’ll believe right but Jesus says if you want proof first you have to believe you have to believe that I am and a rewarder of those who diligence diligently seek me see faith comes first before we SE things matter of fact you can stack up all the proof in the world that Jesus did all these things to people and they can still walk away and many people do and not believe them because they have to be regenerated they have to be made new God has to convict their sin of righteousness of judgment and he has to open up their eyes to see so they can be born again into the kingdom of God in fact the Apostle Paul exposed the character of the Jews by writing this in 1 Corinthians the first chapter indeed the Jews asked for a sign right and the Jews uh we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block see Christ crucified will always be a stumbling block it is still a stumbling block to the Jews today it is still that why because they cannot believe that a messiah a king should be crucified that doesn’t show that that person is a king or that they have any kind of power it shows that they are weak and useless and they’re a sham and that’s exactly what they saying saying here that Jesus is a big sham but if you come down to the Cross maybe will’ll believe they’re not going to believe anything it’s too late for them and then there’s group three and group three is kind of a surprising group three repeatedly reviles Jesus and notice what it says in verse 32 it says those who were crucified with him were also insulting him that means the two thieves on his right and his left were insulting him now of course because of their criminal nature you wouldn’t think it would be such a surprise to to revile Jesus and and the word revile means to berate him to insult him actually that’s what it says in our text those who were crucified with him were also insulting him so the Rob robbers being crucified with Jesus both first joined in reviling with everyone else they just jumped on the bandwagon said well we might as well do it too until one came to see who Jesus really was and it’s recorded not in Mark but I want you to turn to Luke chap 23 and notice in verse number 39 through verse 43 in verse number number Luke chap 23 look at verse 39 it says one of the criminals who were hanging there was hurling abuse at him saying are you not the Christ save yourself and us but the other answered and rebuking him said do you not even fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation verse 41 and we indeed are suffering justly for we are receiving what we deserve for our de our Deeds but this man has done nothing wrong and he was saying Jesus Remember me when you come in your kingdom this is very significant passage of scripture because this man can do nothing at all to help himself this man man cannot go back and undo what he did this man is hanging on the cross as a genuinely Condemned criminal who has had all the proof to put him there on the cross and he admits it and he sees something in Jesus probably following the storyline through Jerusalem all this time and he sees something in Jesus that is innocent and he sees Jesus as a king hanging on that cross and he sees Jesus as the only solution he has to his problem and this is the only thing he asks him Jesus Remember Me When you come to your kingdom well what was jesus’ response to the criminal that this Condemned criminal well Jesus answered look at vers number 43 truly I say to you today notice you shall be with me in Paradise is that not Authority is that not acting like a king speaking like a King Jesus says today you’re going to be with me in Paradise that that means something you know what that means that means what Jesus was doing on the cross is efficacious and beneficial to those who believe in him who cannot do anything for themselves but have faith in Christ amen that means the same with us so see you see how a work-based religious system is totally negated in this one particular event it could have never happened so what what does this suffering and mockery and torment of the servant King do for those who repent and place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for Eternal salvation well it does many things and I in my reading I came up with several ones and other people that I read and included him in about eight things from this particular text but remember this before I say these things remember this it was us and our sin that were the cause of all Christ suffering it was us and our sin that was the cause of all of Christ’s suffering well here are eight things to ponder and try to ponder them often here’s the first thing Jesus suffering in our place brings us to God it tells us in First Peter 3:18 for Christ also died for sin once for all the just for the unjust so that he might bring us to God having put to get death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit secondly Jesus suffering in our place delivers us from the pit of Destruction and the tor M of the prison of Hell thirdly Jesus suffering in our place sets us free from every charge in the day of judgment and to present us faultless before the father with exceeding Joy fourthly Jesus suffering in our place is so that we might have glory and honor and eternal life through faith in Christ Aton atment and that we might be received into God’s kingdom with Triumph at the last day and receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away fifthly Jesus suffering in our place is that we might be clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ because we have no righteousness of our own not clothing defiled by sin but pure white unstained wedding garments for the presence of our King sixthly Jesus suffered in our place so that we may be be delivered from the curse of sin Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree seven Jesus suffered in our PL place so that we we may be reconciled or reckoned innocent for Christ’s sake and found worthy to escape God’s judgment and and be pronounced not guilty before Heaven and Earth and then lastly Jesus suffered in our place so that we may have a strong consolation when we walk down into the valley of the shadow of death hearing no evil all those things and more are accomplished for us and benefit for are a benefit to us every day in our Christian walk we have a confidence that you can get nowhere else than from when we learn the word of God and even a confidence to be able to be have a strong stamina when we are even Faith with with death right before us because we know that death is that doorway into the presence of God for even even Paul said therefore be always of good courage knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord but when we’re absent from the body we’re present with the Lord right so that Christ makes that way into his presence a way that something he accomplishes on our behalf that gives us a strong consolation that we know where we’re going because God has told us the truth and because he told us the truth and he cannot lie I will rest completely on him and what God says will come true it has come true and it will come true all of it will come true and we being as children are our privileged to know that let’s try to keep these things in mind these are the very things that will transform you then think often of the suffering of Christ done on your behalf and the benefits that secure your total salvation for those who believe completely in finished work of Jesus Christ these are the things that make us like him these are the things that make life worthwhile these are the things that make looking to a resurrection and the life of Christ something that Comforts and encourages us every single day as we live in this world with many discouraging things happening every day with negative news coming out from all parts of this planet uh and it seemed like there’s no longer any hope for anybody There’s Hope in Christ see and if you have that and you know that then you have benefits that other people sought their whole life to obtain studied their whole life to understand and didn’t the lord gave it to you don’t take those things lightly those are precious Treasures that need to be occupying our minds all the time let’s pray Lord thank you again for the word of God lord we as your people are are happy and joy filled when we know that these things are ours they’re for us and Lord as we understand those things I pray that you would just well us up with the peace of God and the joy that passes all understanding and Lord and make us through these truths transform our minds so we could every day give ourselves over as a Living Sacrifice to you which we know is to be holy and acceptable and reasonable Service as one of your children and Lord take us that we would not be conformed to the world but we would be transformed by the renewing of our mind so we can know the good and the acceptable and the perfect will of God and that Lord also that we wouldn’t think of oursel higher than we ought to or lower than we ought to but just the way you created us and then Lord send us out every day with Zeal and with love of God and love for people to do your work with the gifts you’ve given us and I pray Lord that you would not waste the knowledge that we gain from hearing and understanding scripture I pray that it would always strengthen us and make us mighty men and women of God I pray this in Christ’s name amen
April 23, 2017