Book: Mark

A Significant Training Mission

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all right let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to the gospel of Mark and we are looking at chapter 6 Gospel of Mark chapter 6 this morning we’ll be looking at verse 7-13 let me read that Mark 6:7 and he summoned the 12 and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over the unclean spirits he instructed them that they should take nothing for their Journey except a mere staff no bread no bag no money in their belt but to wear sandals and he added do not put on two tunics and he said to them wherever you enter a house stay there until you leave town any place that that does not receive you or listen to you as you go out from there Shake the Dust off the soles of your feet for Testimony against them they went out and preached that men should repent and they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them let’s pray Lord this morning as we look at this and examine this passage of scripture I pray Lord as we glean the truth from it that we too uh would be prepared to do some form of ministry within the church and that we would understand that it is not always an easy task or sometimes it is very difficult task but I pray Lord knowing that whatever you call us to do in using our gifts you always Supply everything to do it and so Lord help us to grow in our dependence upon you every single day and I pray this in Christ’s name amen now the last time we had learned that when Jesus visited his hometown of Nazareth where he was brought up from about Age 2 to 30 his hometown folk did not receive him with open arms or give him a grand welcome something was already happening uh taking place within the recesses of the towns people’s hearts the town’s people thought that they knew who Jesus was however the source of their conclusion was just fleshly worldly and demonic in other words they got Jesus wrong why did they get Jesus wrong because the greatest wickedness that exists amongst Humanity was present with with them and that great wickedness is the wickedness of unbelief that the town’s people by the town’s people incessant questioning asking actually asked in a derogatory manner just push the people further away from seeing the truth about Jesus and of course Satan will provide anything you can to keep people from the truth about Jesus but nonetheless the spirit of God through his word is about showing people who Jesus really is so it was and it is the sin of unbelief that is behind all rejection of Jesus Christ and as the gospel of Mark chapter 6 in verse number six says and if you look there it says and he wondered at their unbelief Jesus has wondered remember at several things in scripture one was unbelief one was great faith great unbelief and great faith and remember God will will not work where he is not wanted where he is not trusted unbelief leads to God resisting people and rejecting uh restricting his power amongst people but if you notice in the text in verse number six it says one thing it did do this this rejection did not stop Jesus nor hinder his mission for it says and he was going around The Village’s teaching that was his main task was to teach so there will be times when the message maybe more often than we would like the message is rejected we we shouldn’t be surprised when the message of the Gospel is rejected we shouldn’t be surprised when it is rejected in our workplace and in our families and in various places we go to share the truth in fact at this particular Junction in scripture Jesus commissions his Apostles and sends them on their first on the job training mission it was a very significant training Mission and the reason why it was significant is because it will reveal if the apostles are whether they learned anything at all it will reveal whether they’re ready for Ministry and it will reveal ultimately do they really trust Jesus it’s going to reveal certain things I mean we could talk about truth we could discuss it amongst each other but when you take truth and what you’ve learned and put it into practice it’s a whole another thing that goes on and God’s going to do that with all of us we can’t just be talking about Doctrine and truth and what we’re learning we have to be doing it now bear in mind that this conflict narrative is set in a similar Sage construction as other parts of Mark remember the top of the bread uh looked at last time that was that was the the rejection Story number one the opposition of jesus’ Hometown people but Jesus there was teaching his Apostles about re being rejected that and in being rejected re for the message that he would teach also that the mission to the Lost World often re will result in some kind of resistance or hostility and that those closest to those who are giving the truth out and teaching the truth and living the truth are sometimes not recognized as being uh Christians or being gifted or being called to do anything and then also that he was teaching them that those who are opened uh who are not open to Jesus may discover that God is no longer open to them so this Mission this first rejection mission was definitely part of training the apostles for what’s coming so this morning we look at the B section the middle of the samage uh type of construction and so this is going to to be the mission of the twel Apostles that this uh visit prepared the disciples for their first given mission where they would go out without Jesus but with all that is needed to accomplish the mission and then of course the next rejection story is going to be the next time I come and preach and that’s going to be the arrest and death of John the Baptist when John the Baptist shows up in scripture it’s significant all right so we remember he showed up at the beginning of jesus’ ministry right that’s when he was locked up Jesus started his ministry now we’re going to see a training mission of the Apostles and then John the Baptist being killed meaning that John the Baptist ministry in the world is finished and now the apostles are going to take over and they’re going to preach the truth so that’s how it’s packaged so far the apostles have observed Jesus for about one year they had firsthand experience regarding jesus’ Mission as the son of man they heard him teach they heard him preach they witnessed his authority over demons over diseases and his power over nature where even the wind and the waves obeyed his voice they witnessed the servants Heart of Jesus they witnessed his compassion and his care and his tireless Ministry towards all kinds of peoples they witnessed his dependence upon the father by his prayer life they witnessed all kinds of responses to his message from joyful reception to indifference to Violent rejection even his own Hometown Family rejected at least at this point in the ministry now it was time to send out the 12 on a test mission on a preliminary mission to get them ready to go out there there and do the work of God without Jesus going with them so the 12 went from being disciples to Apostles now remember a disciple is a learner they’re a mere student the 12 were then called to be Apostles an apostle is a sent one someone commissioned by his master accompanied by his master’s Authority and sent out in his master’s name if we Trace back backwards in the gospel of Mark we will find that there is a definite forward movement from God first calling them to be disciples to be Learners to now them being Apostles not now of course not everybody’s called to be an Apostles actually there’s only 12 Apostles and so let’s just Trace that back for a minute his calling back in chapter 1 and verse 16 through 18 and of course Jesus who is unqualified by the religious leadership picks unqualified people it says in verse number 16 of chapter 1 and as he was going along by the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea for they were fishermen and Jesus said to them follow me and I will make you become Fishers of Men and then it says immediately they left their Nets and followed him so see Jesus he wasn’t an official Rabbi or scribe he didn’t go to any of their schools or study under any of their rabinal teachers so in a very real way he was unqualified to call people to himself in in fact rabbis never called people to themselves people came to them usually by their own recommendation so Jesus is Calling unqualified fishermen as his students he makes a personal summons to four fishermen in that passage to follow him but without display of their knowledge of the Torah that wasn’t required nor was a qualifying exam given nor was any academic credentials required for them to follow Jesus the only requirement for a disciple is follow me and I will make you fishes of men and so they followed and they became disciples they became students they became Learners and Servants of Jesus Christ and he promised them I will cause you to become Fishers of Men and so only as Jesus is followed can he be known to learn to do can only be learned and done as one follows Jesus Christ so this call was based on the authority of Jesus they did not search for him he search for them and then called them to service for he saysf follow me and I will make you do something I will make you become Fishers of Men so at least seven of our Lord’s disciples were professional fishermen Peter Andrew James and John had met Jesus trusted him as their lord and savior they were called to be disciples and the process we have been seeing of being a disciple is slow and is often painful and heart-wrenching but nonetheless God will take us through that process even as he grows us so Christ called them away from their boats away from their Nets away from their lucrative family fishing Enterprise to be disciples and then they followed him and then there came a time that Jesus was going to make a designation between this whole lot of disciples and then the 12 that were among those disciples and so we see in Mark chapter 3 in verse number 13 how does he do that where it says there uh in verse number 13 of chapter 3 it says and he went out again by the seashore and all the people were coming to him and he was teaching them in other words in the Gospel of Luke when he went away from them he went to a mountain to pray and what did he pray for in Luke chapter 6 he prayed for who among the disciples would be the apostles and so it tells us in scripture he chose from those disciples 12 of them and then he named them Apostles so these 12 apostles were they were going to have a different calling than just a regular disciple they were going to he summons them in Chapter 13 uh in mark Mark CH 3 and verse number 13 He summons them to himself all right and then we notice that U they become his inner circle that only those that he chose become his inner circle and then it tells us in scripture he appointed the 12 that they would be with him and that he could send them out after he they spent some time with him and then this group of Apostles and faithful disciples were giving teaching along the way like I said he’s been probably been they’ve probably been with Jesus about a year the 12 are following him more specifically and closely than anyone else and then in chapter 12 in verse excuse me chapter 4 verse 10 we are given information about what he says about what they’re learning and he says in verse number nine he who has ears to hear Let Him hear and as soon as he was alone his father followers along with the 12 began asking him about Parables and he was saying to them to you it has been given the mysteries of the kingdom of God but those who are outside get everything in parables in other words he was saying to the twel some are given understanding others are withheld understanding well the Apostles of course are going to to get have the major amount of understanding given to them by Jesus and of course who were were this group of people they were the group of people that are found in scripture sitting at the feet of Jesus soaking up his teaching it was that they were doing the will of God by sitting at his feet they were being treated by Jesus as the true family of God it was those who have repented of their sins and turn to Jesus putting their full trust in him for forgiveness of sins and entrance into the kingdom of God so the mysteries of the kingdom of God were given to his faithful disciples specifically the 12 disciples that he had called so in other words he was saying to him who has New Life In Christ shall be given spiritual understanding but to him who does not have new life in Christ shall be given shall not be given understanding and so that is the inside crowd we’ve been looking at and the outside crowd so Jesus has now this Inner Circle of men that he is training and these men are going to take the gospel to the whole world and of course was their mission successful we’re sitting here as witnesses that their mission was and is successful and so will ours be ours will be successful too right so we come today to the test run of the Apostles the commissioning of the Apostles to be his official representatives and so here this morning from verse 7 to 13 in chapter 6 we see his commissioning so Jesus called the 12 together and gave them some marching orders right this is almost like a military thing the Lord’s doing he’s calling them together and he says okay here are your marching orders go out and do the ministry all right now we’re going to learn some things from it and the first thing we learn in verse S that they’re commissioned to go in pairs notice what it says in verse 7 and he summoned the twel and began to send them out in pairs so that means that Jesus divides his 12 Apostles into six pairs going two by two was really an advantageous way to do ministry in other words God doesn’t want us do to do ministry alone there’s really no such thing as lone wolves or loners in the church or in Ministry there shouldn’t be that’s a dangerous thing see Jesus divides them up and he divides them up for very uh for several good reasons number one going two by two provides companionship it provides encouragement all right one person may be doing being doing good one day the other person may not be doing so good and vice versa and so you can encourage one another all right and so you can pray for one another you can share the ministry of what’s going on with one another secondly it’s also a level up protection and what I mean by protection is a level of wisdom protection because in the Old Testament Ecclesiastes tells us in chapter four in verse number nine two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor for either if either of them Falls the one will lift up His companion but woe to the one who falls when there is no one there to lift them up so it’s a wisdom issue too and it could could also be that they are uh and of course that wisdom is still in the church that’s why the Lord calls for a plurality of Elders not just one Elder a plurality of deacons not just one all right there’s always this team effort and uh that goes in Scripture it also May provide or share uh share the responsibilities amongst each other because they’re gifted differently and so they would go out with different giftedness and then it will provide two witnesses to verify what was spoken and done because you’re going to find in Scripture that once they were done with missions they came back and reported to Jesus right sometimes one person don’t get all the facts right right but when two people are there they become the evidence that they gather Ed will be confirmed by two or three Witnesses in this case two so he tells them listen go out in prayers that’s the first thing of of their uh marching orders the second thing in their marching orders is found in verse 7 also that he will confer Authority on them to act look what it says verse 7 and he was giving them authority over the unclean spirits now he was Jesus was gifting and fitting the apostles with powers like his own he would give them Authority in other words he would give them the right to act it is both the right to do a thing and the power to ex exercise the right to do that thing and of course that thing is going to be preaching teaching casting out demons in this case they are coming not in their own power but they are coming in the power of God and so Mark highlights the greater gift the power to expel demons the power that is contained in the authority that has been given to them by Jesus Christ and what is going to be is that their main activity is going to be preaching the gospel which of course messes up the kingdom of Satan and then of course their other activity is going to be to cast out demons and to to further dismantle the kingdom of Satan so they were they were going to have authority to cast out demons the 12 are specifically appointed Servants of the Kingdom to car help carry out the work of Christ and then to prepare to help and spread the message and then exercise demons following jesus’ example in word and inde deed in fact in other missions this was so intriguing to the apostles and to others that went out that in Luke it said when they came back to report to Jesus one of the first things they said to Jesus was even the demons are subject to us this is an amazing thing we speak and they and we tell the demons to leave and they leave that’s an awesome thing but Jesus says don’t Marvel at that Marvel at this that your names are written in the Kingdom of God in the Kingdom of Heaven that’s what you ought to be marveling at because that’s where it’s all leading to and so this Mission clearly signals an in Breaking of the Messianic Reign into the world so in other words in the marching orders Ministry is to be done together not alone secondly Ministry is to be done in the power of God you and I have no power to do anything unless God gives it to us and because we have the indwelling spirit because we have the word of God then we are given power to do the work of the ministry not the same power the apostles had we don’t have the power to cast out demons right that was a gift given to the found laying the foundation of the church but that gift died with the apostles now if you preach the gospel the demons do leave because they can’t stay around where the gospel is being preached they can’t stay around where the gospel is being lived they have to leave and go somewhere else they still cause havoc and still try to mess up our testimony But ultimately they can’t stick around all right a third thing in their marching orders is maybe more hits more home to us and that’s this the command to learn dependence on the Lord the command really to learn dependence on the Lord the orders which Jesus issues are to teach the apostles as well as us absolute dependent on the Lord now this will be the most important lesson to learn and to learn it thoroughly and this is a life L lesson that we all have to learn all life and Ministry must be comp accomplished in the full dependence on the Lord see until this lesson is learned a person is is not ready for more extended or responsible Ministry this must be learned now how does how does the Lord help the disciples or the apostles learn the lesson well look in verse number eight there’s several things verse number eight and nine that are important that he tells them number one in verse number eight and he instructed them that they should take nothing for their Journey except the mere staff all right in other words take nothing except a staff for walking and protection against wild animals all right so that’s all you take take a staff and then he says in verse number eight no it says and he instructed them that they should take nothing for their Journey no bread no bag meaning that they weren’t to take anything to eat uh they weren’t to carry Food Supplies in their pouch or supplies at all and then in verse number eight no money they were to take for he instructed them that they should take nothing for the journey except their mere staff no bread no bag no money in their belt that means that no money for the belt in which coins were usually carried to buy bread and supplies and then he says in verse number nine to wear sandals in other words don’t go barefoot but don’t take another pair and then he says listen he added do not put on two tunics take the tunic that you’re wearing that’s the you know they used to have an inner garment and then an outer garment the outer garment was used in the daytime or taken off in the daytime but at night it was used as a blanket so that would be the tunic all right he says to them listen just take what’s on your back don’t take anything else don’t take two now this is significant the only other place that we find such a command like this is found in Exodus where God instructs the Israelites what to take on their flight from Egypt remember what he said to them now you shall eat it in this manner with your loins girded all right meaning clothe all right secondly sandals on your feet and thirdly a staff in your hand be ready to leave at the right time don’t take a lot and where were they going they were going into the desert and in the desert what’s in the desert nothing’s in the desert so see in the desert that’s the only place you can possibly totally depend on God you got to depend on God for food you got to depend on God for water you got to depend on God for how you’re going to stay out of the sun you’re going to have to depend on God about your sandals and of course it tells us that their sandals didn’t wear out so see this is a picture of what the Lord did in the past and now he’s doing it again now the Lord didn’t require his dis disciples his Apostles to do this on every Mission but this training mission was important for them Jesus was forbidding them from begging for their needs or for going other places to supply their needs so if one is really depending on the Lord to Pro to provide for their person then they will be freed up from worry they will be freed up from worry concerning their bodily needs so Jesus sends them out under his com command and will supply all everything in all respects to them while they actually minister so thinking about this for a moment what is the greatest way a Christian can show dependence on the lord well the greatest way a Christian can can show dependence on the Lord is when they fellowship with God In Prayer in prayer many years ago actually the year was 1898 right in New York City where there was a New York City Prayer Revival and one of the first meetings a lay person got up with a bunch of businessmen and asked a few questions to them the first question he asked to the group is this and he was speaking about their habit of prayer he said will everyone who spends a half hour every day in prayer raise their hand one person out of the whole group raises their hand he says how about 15 minutes not even half the group raises the hand he says well how about five minutes and of course everybody’s hands went up now of course that does tell us something now this is was this was in 1898 we have way more distractions today than then but they had their own distractions life was much harder in many ways right so the question came up in the group what is the cause of prayerlessness and one says is it not unbelief and of course the answer to that is unbelief but another question came up that says then what causes unbelief amongst Christians and one replied this well if the life is not one of self-denial of fasting and prayer that is letting the world go and letting the power of the flesh influence your service to God if you do that if you continue to do that the result will be the open sin of prayerlessness in fact it was amazing I was driving my car and you know sometimes churches have church signs with sayings on it I’m looking I’m driving and I’m going you know uh and I look at the church sign and it’s it’s funny this is what the church sign said on the road this church is not only air conditioned it is prayer conditioned I says I like that I would rather have a church prayer conditioned than air conditioned it is so important to pray even in the gospel of Mark we’re getting there when the apostles came to a group of people and couldn’t cast out some demons they came and asked Jesus why can’t we cast this demon out and Jesus said to them this kind cannot be delivered but anything by anything by prayer and fasting so see prayer is significant a life lived according to the Flesh and not according to the spirit is where prayerlessness originates now scripture does teach that there are two conditions possible for Christians one is walking according to the spirit and the other is walking according to the flesh now these two powers are in irreconcilable conflict with each other all the time so if you are saved by the spirit and each day live according to the flesh well the sad condition of deadness and failure in prayer in the inner chamber will be the result so if I were to ask those same questions today in our own prayer life that shows our real dependence on God how would it go in fact as I was reading this story one man came up to the person who asked the questions and saysi confess I don’t even pray five minutes a day and the man asked him why he says because I’m so busy and I think that would be a lot of our answers that were just so busy but you know what the apostles had to learn this important character quality of depending and trusting fully in God so what does he do he says listen I don’t want you to trust your supplies I don’t want want you to trust your money I don’t want you to trust your training I don’t want you to trust anyone on till you learn to trust me alone see that’s the lesson that we all have to learn to learn all Ministry is to be done in full dependence on the Lord and that is something that I would say that I myself have questioned myself on whether I really do that am I really trusting God or am I depending on something am I leaning on something else see I think if we really pray if we get to the place where we enjoy spending a half hour and an hour with God every day and we enjoy being there you know what we won’t want to leave but I tell you what we will be why why don’t we have victory over sin why aren’t our marriages better why aren’t we more Godly why haven’t we won more people to Christ the answer is prayerlessness because that’s where the power is because the power is when we’re dependent on the Lord that’s where the power is it’s not our skill our ability our knowledge how long we’ve been a Christian it’s are we dependent on God in prayer and we practice that so when when we leave that time we are ready for Ministry we are ready for anything Satan has to has to throw at us we are ready because we gained in prayer time victory over the flesh that when we leave there we know we won’t Walk In the Flesh we’ll walk in the spirit because remember that’s the only two things Christians could do to walk in the flesh or to walk in the spirit so Jesus sends them out under the command that I will supply all your needs in all respects you must learn that lesson if you don’t learn that lesson then you can’t do much else and then the fourth marching order is found in verse number 10 of Mark chapter 6 he commended them to the caring Providence of God now before I read the p passage it’s this Providence of God is that of an unexpected giving of hospitality by people you don’t even know so the apostles were to go out they were to go to a town and they were to go out with limited support to teach them they they must live by faith and proceed in dependency upon God look at verse number 10 and he sent said to them wherever you enter a house stay there until you leave see when the apostles entered a town or Village and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God and a person receives the message he will likely invite the two into his home to provide Hospitality that’s what they did did back then also it’s found this way in the gospel of Matthew chapter 10 it says in to whatever City or Village you enter inquire who is worthy in it and abide there until you go away and as you enter the house give it your greeting see Jesus is really saying to them listen go there until you leave until you’re finished ministering in that place don’t look for something nicer if you happen to receive Hospitality for somebody who’s a little poor doesn’t have such such good means don’t look for a nicer place don’t look for a place with more amenities stay right there and bless that house with your presence and with your message so see basic needs were taken care of shelter was taken care of in other words they were taken care of under the providential care of God another thing that we need to learn that the doctrine of Providence means god is actively involved in the world in the church in his people’s lives he is actively involved so that means that there are no events which appear to be quite ACD well there are are events which appear to be accidental but they are really controlled by God and in this case it was going to into someone’s house whom you didn’t know and them offering Hospitality to you and you receiving that Hospitality from the hand of God so everything in this trial everything in this trial mission was to give expression to the seriousness and the urgency of the message they brought and from whom they brought it now this becomes clear especially if their message of the kingdom of God was rejected and the apostles were to be prepared for rejection so while doing Ministry God’s Providence may be may appear to be be at times pleasing and at times hard but be be prepared for both because God is in control of both situations so he commended them to the Providence of God and then one last thing in verse number six chapter 6 verse number 11 through1 13 He commissioned them to stick to the plan no matter what and this is going to be a significant thing to the disciples no matter now no one wants to be rejected however the negative experience of rejection was to be followed by a response if some reject the message it might cause some to alter the message in order for it to be more receivable and that has been done let’s water down the truth let’s water down the gospel let’s make it a lot easier to take all right but remember God’s message cannot be changed he is the source of the message the message does not originate with us so we have no right to change it or fool around with it in order to make it more pal palatable for other people to receive and if you look at the first part of the Gospel of Mark chapter 6:1 it says and any place that does not receive you or listen to you as you go out from there you’re to do something so in other words he was saying listen you are going to go places that they’re not going to receive you you’re not going to be a welcomed guest amongst them so if a town or Village does not receive you or welcome you nor listen to what you have to say the apostles were not to stay there they were to leave but they were to leave with this message and if you notice in verse 11 that they were to leave and they were to do something they were to say something they were to act on something and it says as verse number 11 as you go out from there shake off the dust from The Souls of your feet as a testimony against them so remember the gospel is going out to do two things it’s going out to save people and it’s going going out to provide judgment for people and that’s what we see here that they were to shake off the dust that stuck to the bottom of their sandals and this signifies that Heralds of Jesus Christ have actually been in that place and have been rejected they did not welcome God’s message they did not welcome God’s messenger they did not believe his message and so it was a sign of judgment and exclusion from the kingdom of God and judgment will come to those who reject the gos gospel no one should ignore what God is doing through Jesus Christ the Jesus Christ of Nazareth no one should should ignore him or reject him and it is reported in the book of Acts that when the word of the Lord was spread spreading throughout the regions the Jews in instigated a persecution against Paul and barn Barnabas and drove them out of their D district and what did what did par Paul and Barnabas do in Acts 13 they shook off the dust on their feet in protest against them and then they went to Iconium but then it says this in Acts and the disciples were continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit you just got kicked out of a town nobody wants you nobody wants to listen to you and they they’re rejoicing you know why because they get it they understand rejection is a large part of ministry in this Lost World who’s control by S Satan who flesh dominated who a world system that is helping all those things go in the opposite direction not for God but against God so their unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ so polluted the ground that the Apostle Paul follows Christ’s command that if they don’t hear you shake off the polluted dust from your feet against them for judgment and it’s interesting that Matthew takes this whole narrative a little bit further and he says this in Matthew shake these things off your feet and protest protest to them and then it says this truly I say to you it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment then for that City that’s an a incredible statement that God did God judge Sodom and Gomorrah did he wipe it off the face of the map yes he did well judgment will surely come to those who reject the gospel and in some ways it’s not just IND individual rejection it’s regional rejection that whole groups of people reject the gospel and are under the Judgment of God that’s something that you know what the bottom line is when you and I come to the Judgment there will be really only one question for us what did you do about the Lord Jesus Christ that’s it that’s the question there’s really only one answer and that’s receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christ right so this all these things the Lord was teaching them to prepare them for the future Ministry and I think that there’s a lot of connections for us in our own life as we grow in Christ as we start ministering in Christ so what happens here this last one is that they stuck to the plan so when they left from that place that rejected them they did not deviate from the original message and Miss Mission the next verse gives really a summary description of the activity of the 12 and they went out two by two on their test mission and if you notice in verse number 12 the first great work which is the same work as Jesus Christ price is that they went out to preach that men should repent there’s the message right preach so that people may repent and believe and then secondly work the second work is to cast out demons and heal the sick with the application of olive oil see they were to cast out demons or anointing with oil many sick people and healing them those are the things that remember that Miracles were always to authenticate agents of Revelation until the apostles were able to cast out demons able to heal because they were agents of Revelation so they can again write the New Testament for us so they can receive God’s word and write it so see that’s what they were to do so they didn’t deviate from the original message the original message was always repent and believe the gospel what the message that John the Baptist preached repent and believe the gospel what’s the message that Jesus preached repent and believe the gospel of the Kingdom what’s the message that we preach repent and believe the gospel of the Kingdom that is the message there is no other message and so they didn’t deviate now there’s no more Apostles however the observations for Preparation in Ministry are still the same Ministry is to be done together Ministry is to be done in the power of God Ministry is to be done in full dependence upon the Lord as we walk in the spirit Ministry is to be done keeping in mind the Providence of God may bring acceptance or rejection but God will always supply for what we need and then Ministry is to be done while keeping true to the message remember we’re to pre it says in Timothy a pastor is to preach in season and not of season I don’t know what season we’re in we’re in and out of seasons in the United States but the thing is is that it looks like world there’s many revivals going on in the world there’s many people coming to Faith that we wouldn’t believe uh would come to Faith they are so see we’re still still in the time in which the gospel is being preached and people are coming into the Kingdom so it’s still an exciting time to live but God wants you to minister he wants you to use your gifts in the church body he wants you to take the gospel to those who have not yet heard it he wants you to realize it’s difficult to Ministry to minister to people and sometimes you will be rejected don’t worry about that get up and keep going God will take care of the rest and always stay true to the message don’t mess with it don’t mess with it and I think that all those put together is what Jesus prepares the apostles for because John the Baptist is going to be killed in the next passage and they’re going to take over to preach the gospel to the world to give us the New Testament and then to carry on the unfinished work of Christ when Christ ascends into heaven after the resurrection and then he sends his Spirit the F the promise of the father to indwell Believers to indwell the church to carry on the same message the same Ministry until the Lord comes again see that’s that’s the the job that we have is to carry on that work so I just pray that some of these lessons today you would take and examine yourself and one of the things that I I’m concerned about the most in our day and in our church is is the level of prayer that is taking place for everything that’s going on because I tell you what if we’re not praying we don’t have any power if we’re not depending on God then what are we depending on we’re depending on something else other than God we need to be praying way more than we do way more let’s pray Lord thank you this morning for the word of God I uh Lord appreciate how you lay things out in scripture for us to understand for us to weave in our own life so we can examine ourselves with it and I do pray Lord I I pray Lord that it surely would not just be an academic exercise but Lord I pray that we would really consider these things Lord prepare every one of us for a Ministry in your church that could benefit the health of the body Lord make us people of prayer I pray Lord that our our inner closets would be visited Often by us daily by us as we seek your face in prayer as we bring our request to you as we consider the needs of the body and the needs of our family and the needs of the world and bring them before you that you would Empower us to get out of there and go and minister in a way where we know we’re depending on you we know we’re going in your power and we know Lord that your Providence is going to be available to us wherever we go that we would take notice of it and I pray Lord that we would take a message to the people that comes from the word of God and not mess it up Lord help us to do that bring Glory To Your Name by The Works that you give us to do and I pray this in Christ’s name amen

September 13, 2015
Hometown Rejection

In this sermon, Pastor Babij examines Jesus’ return to Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown. Pastor Babij explains how the town’s inhabitants, as they continually question and take offense at Jesus, actually display the most heinous sin of all before God. Pastor Babij also points out how many today are just like the people of Nazareth and explains how Christians ought to react to similar rejection.

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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.

all right this morning let’s take our Bibles and turn to Matthew excuse me Mark chapter 6 verse one through six Mark chapter 6 verses 1.

through six and let me read that in verse 1 it says Jesus went out from there and came to his hometown and his disciples followed him when the Sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue and many listeners were astonished saying where did this man get these things and what does this wisdom given to him and such Miracles as these performed by his hands is not this the carpenter the son of Mary the brother of James and Josephus and Judas and Simon are not his sisters here with us and they took offense at him Jesus said to them a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household and he could do no Miracles there except that he lay his hands on a few sick and heal them and he wandered at their unbelief and he was going around the village teaching let’s pray Lord this morning as we look at this passage again I prayed Lord that as we study the gospel of Mark that we would get a understanding of who you are the way you reveal yourself and only that way I pray Lord that you would not allow us to add any more information or take away any any more information about you than what the scriptures revealed because if we do we will all be end up being wrong and I pray Lord being wrong about you is deadly don’t allow us to go there lord always feed our heart and soul with truth we can trust the truth and enable us to follow it and I pray this in Christ’s name amen title of my message this morning is Hometown rejection when Jesus visited his hometown of Nazareth that he had actually been brought up in um you would think that his popularity that preceded him would cause the hometown Folk to get together and receive him with open harms and give him a grand welcome wow this is Jesus coming to our town man we heard all about what he was doing but that’s not what happened something was already taking place deep within the recesses of the town’s people’s hearts in fact what was taking place was and is the greatest wickedness that exists amongst Humanity I will not at this point tell you what it is I will leak it out and let you find it out yourself but I’m sure by the end it’ll be clear to you what it is so in this narrative this is actually the second recorded visit Jesus makes to Nazareth his hometown was about 25 miles Southwest of Capernaum his previous visit did not go well at all in fact Jesus was Jesus was violently rejected it is recorded in the Gospel of Luke that the people were marveling over his gracious words that were coming from his mouth and they listened to him and as they listened to him speak about the electing grace of God toward non-israelites that the unbelief of Israel uh was apparent and they wanted to kill him by throwing him over a cliff but Jesus escaped from that situation so the visit in the Gospel of Luke came at the beginning of the great Galilean Ministry of Jesus that recorded here in Mark is a later visit to Nazareth in Luke’s account Jesus appeared alone announcing the beginning of his Messianic mission in the second visit he came as a well-known teacher accompanied by his disciples in the first visit Jesus invoked their violent uncontrolled rage and the second they responded with a cool indifference and a and actually a personal insult the violent rejection during the first visit did not keep the yearning Heart of Jesus from giving his home town folk another chance another opportunity to receive him now to get the background to this turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke and I want you to notice in Luke chapter 4 verses 14 through 30. this is one of the first visits some people say it’s the same visit uh the same event but it’s there are certain things that tell us different but notice in Luke chapter 4 verse number 14.

it says in verse 14 and it began teaching in the synagogue and was praised by all and he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and it was as it was his custom he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read and the Book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him and he opened the book and found the place where it was written the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor he has sent me to Proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to set free to those who are oppressed to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord in verse 20 and he closed the book gave it back to the attendant sat down in the eyes of the synagogues were fixed on him and he began to say to them today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and all were speaking well of him wondering at the gracious Words which were falling from his lips and they were saying is not this Joseph’s son and he said to them no doubt you will quote this proverb to me physician heal yourself whatever we heard was done at Capernaum do hear in your hometown as well in verse 24 and he said truly I say to you no Prophet is welcome in his hometown but I say to you in truth there were many widows in Israel in the Days of Elijah when the sky was shut up and three years for three years and six months when a Great Famine came over all the land and yet Elijah was not sent to none of them but only to zaraphat in the land of sidon to a woman who was a widow and there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elijah the prophet and none of them was cleansed but only Naaman the Syrian and all the people in the Son of God were filled with rage as they heard these things and they got up and drove him out of the city and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built in order to throw him down the cliff but passing through their midst he went his way and he came down to Capernaum a city of Galilee and he was teaching them on the Sabbath and they were amazed at his teaching for his message was with authority so in the sense that was the first visit now we’re looking in Mark I believe as the second visit and I the reason I believe that this is a separate event in Mark is because this time Jesus returns to Nazareth with his 12 Apostles accompanying him uh if you look at Mark chapter six back there in verse number one Jesus went out from there and came into his hometown and his disciples followed him so this visit to narrative came about a year after the citizens of the Town attempted to murder Jesus furthermore by this time Jesus popularity was at its height uh his preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom has gone out to many and many had come into the kingdom believing it plus his miracles were well and widely known and his Apostles had already been chosen at this point now however for many the verdict about who Jesus exactly is was still out for many people after the evidence was in deciding as to who Jesus is may turn out to be a very dangerous time for these people now just for your information uh this is another conflict narrative in this gospel and it has the ABA pattern to it remember I was talking about the sandwich pattern there’s the top of the bread the peanut butter and jelly in the middle in the bottom well today we’re going to look at the top of the bread and the top of the bread is opposition in his own town in the middle of the bread is really the point or the focus of this narrative and the middle is in chapter six verse 7 to 13 and that’s the visit uh where the disciples were sent out on a given mission where they would go out without Jesus but um would accomplish a mission with all the authority of God and then of course on the other side was the rejection Story another rejection Story the arrest and death of John the Baptist so right now we’re looking at the top and that’s the first rejection narrative and that’s where we’ll begin this morning so as Jesus was his practice uh he went into it was the Sabbath and he found every Sabbath you found him preaching teaching and doing Mighty works and so in verse number two of Mark chapter 6 it says when the Sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue and the many listeners were astonished I’ll let me stop right there now I want you to notice that the listeners response to Jesus teaching was that they were astonished now some suggest that this particular verb which is an unusual one can be translated dumbfounded I believe that is a good translation they were dumbfounded all right now remember he’s coming back to his hometown all those people in that town know everything that they can possibly know about Jesus probably in Nazareth the population was only around 200 people and Jesus spent from at least two years old to 30 years old there so the people knew who he was they knew his family they knew all those things so for them to be dumbfounded is a very very good word so Jesus Hometown folk were thinking he’s just an ordinary man whom we know so well we saw him grow up from the age of two into his 30s and he is saying astonishing things and we have heard about the incredible things he has performed which seemed to be utterly Beyond him what we know about him so this becomes a key thing in this passage listening to Jesus and receiving his message and his person with the wrong attitude can prove to be deadly to those that group of people or to individual people that we cannot make up things about Jesus we can’t just limit him to a certain category or a certain time frame or a certain amount of information we have to get the whole picture and that’s what the gospel does show us it gives us the whole picture so the characteristics revealed about the person of Jesus Christ can either go one way or the other in this sense there was a downward step into a vain very dangerous way of thinking and here’s the first thing that took place when you know someone’s heading in the wrong direction concerning Jesus you’ll find that they are limited in their knowledge of him so their astonishment the first thing is this their astonishment their bewilderment led to derogatory questioning they began to ask questions about Jesus so this astonishment led to a kind of derogatory form of questions which gave way to a different attitude towards Jesus an attitude actually of agitation and indifference actually in the next two sentences there are six questions one set of questions focuses on Jesus ministry the other set focuses on Jesus being just an ordinary Town homeboy and so let’s look at the questions that they ask concerning Jesus in verse number two it says this it says in the last part of the verse it starts asking questions it says they were astonished saying where did this man get these things that’s the first thing now what were they asking they were asking this what is the source of Jesus ability to do all these things to know all these things and so the source of things remember could be twofold it could be the source could be God or the source could be Angels or demons right that’s the source there’s no other sources that there are and so they’re thinking in this the in this frame with this framework in their mind and so the source of something is very important because the source could be either reliable or unreliable and just to remind you that the gospel of Mark informed us that the leadership of Israel had already concluded the source on which Jesus operated and of course the critics against Jesus accused Jesus of being a sorcerer In Cahoots with Satan so they all that was already in the mindset of the leadership that the leadership had already put out there and was trickling all throughout the land of Israel that Jesus listen he’s God he’s in cahoots with demons and that’s how he can do these things all right a second question in verse number two is this it gets more specific as saying and what is this wisdom given to him or again sort of wisdom could be God that means if it’s from God that it has to have a Heavenly Source it comes down from above all right it doesn’t originate here on the Earth or the source can be Earthly all right and that means it would be just human or demonic now so the town’s people knew Jesus didn’t study under any rabbis that he had no formal education so they concluded that someone had to give Jesus this wisdom because no commoner could have acquired what he was telling them and how he was explaining things but the Epistle of James of course later on that comes after uh this time uh brings our attention to the source of wisdom and there’s only two sources of wisdom or two forms of wisdom there is wisdom that comes from Below which is from the world around us it is a wisdom that is represents the best job that humans uh human intellect can can do to understand and execute life but that wisdom is apart from wisdom that comes from the fear of God from where it says in Proverbs Chapter 1 the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge right that’s apart from that that’s man trying to figure out life without God that’s what Earthly wisdom is all right and so in fact in James if you’d like to turn there in James chapter 3 verse 15 through verse number 17 it gives us a good picture of now remember James was the brother of Jesus at the time that we’re looking at this scripture James was not converted all right but we know that of course obviously he did get converted and he and he gives us probably the best understanding of what wisdom the two sources of wisdom are than anybody in scripture and it says in verse number 13 of chapter 3 who among you is wise and understanding let him show by his good behavior his deeds in gentleness of wisdom but if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth this wisdom is not that which comes down from above but is Earthly natural and demonic so he’s describing there there is a wisdom yes there is a wisdom that is from the Earth but that wisdom is limited to the the frail and finite life of ungenerate people trying to figure out the meaning of life without a relationship with the true and living God and then he said secondly that it’s natural that means it’s sensual it’s not spiritual it’s not possessing the spirit of God it’s just physical and material it’s life of the natural world the spiritual part of the world that people try to figure out without divine revelation wisdom from the mental and emotional impulses of Fallen Humanity depraved in their Concepts and their desires and their aspirations about what the true and living God is and then he says another thing about it in James that this wisdom is demonic it is demon fooled around with I call it it’s stuff that demons fool around with it’s it’s it is demonic in character proceeding from an evil spirit not necessarily Satan directly but demons and those who further Satan’s work in the world so James detects the work of demons as those who corrupt Harmony not only in the world but especially in the body of Christ where he says in verse 16 for where jealousy and selfish ambition exists there is disorder and every evil thing that is the result of worldly wisdom that’s all it’ll bring you it will not bring you anything else but that and that’s where it usually leads but James also tells us of another kind of wisdom in verse number 17 it says but the wisdom from above is first pure then Peaceable gentle reasonable full of mercy and good fruits unwavering without hypocrisy and the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in Peace by those who make peace in other words that this is wisdom that comes from God it is truly satisfying because it starts and it ends with the fear of the Lord the wisdom that comes from God is Not arbitrary wisdom based on subjective religious experience rather it is sourced in God’s revelation to man a revelation that is objective that is rational you can think about it that’s why the Bible always tells us that your mind needs to be transformed because it God doesn’t bypass your mind to teach you who he is he uses your mind he transforms your mind and he gives you Heavenly wisdom to be able to understand spiritual things from a perspective that is true and and honest and clear so see the word of God is Not only uh it is not only uh subjective but I mean it is not only rational but it’s also authoritative and clear and produces results and this wisdom is from above that’s why the Bible says here but the wisdom from above is first pure so Godly with wisdom is without hypocrisy it’s free from all sham and pretense it has nothing to hide it’s like an open book it’s straightforward it’s genuine and it’s sincere and the results of it is that the seed uh whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace so see the bottom line is that when someone receives the source of truth that comes from above they could have peace not only with God through Jesus Christ but peace with each other in families and in community and of course peace within their soul where the turmoil soul is calmed by their understanding of who God is see that’s the wisdom that leads someone to Salvation so people are going to search and obtain wisdom from some source the spiritual the God-fearing person will depend on spiritual wisdom while those who are unspiritual will follow after carnal and worldly and demonic and sense-based wisdom and the classic that classic allegory by Pilgrim’s Progress John Bunyan wrote If you never read that you should someday where he calls this particular person the Mr worldly wise man he’s wise but he’s worldly wise he’s not wise in the sense of scripture in the sense of getting their understanding from God’s word all right so back to the gospel of Mark and I want you to notice that so they’re asking these questions about who Jesus is and their their concluding their Answers by just Earthly wisdom and so that’s what it says in verse number two the last question there it says and such where did he get this power from uh it says and such Miracles as these performed by his hands so again they’re asking for the source what’s the source of Jesus power well the source is either going to be God’s spirit or it’s going to be good Angels or demons so that remember the scribes already documented as official opponents of Jesus that they were uh they could no longer downplay the authenticity of Jesus miracles so they had to come up with some explanation as to how Jesus in his power does what he does and of course they conclude in Mark chapter 3 the scribes came down from Jerusalem in verse 22 and we’re saying he is possessed by Beelzebub and he cast out demons by the ruler of demons in other words they were concluding that the source of Jesus power was demonic and they were concluding wrong so see there there thinking about what’s the source of where all these things are coming from so see these questions are not questions to get information to solve a problem these questions are derogatory questions these questions are driving them deeper away from Christ and not to Christ and that’s why questioning incessant questionly about whether the Bible is this whether Jesus is dead or on and on and on you know there has to be a time you have to stop questioning and start believing all right so questions could actually leave people in the worst state that they can possibly be in on this side of Eternity and that’s very dangerous all right so derogatory questioning led to rejection verse number three of Mark chapter six look what it says now they begin to question him as a common man they are saying in verse number three is not this the carpenter is not this the technon that was the that was a word used in the Greek that meant it was a general term referring to a Tradesman someone who worked in a variety or with a variety of materials whether Woodstone or metal now I know here it says in Scripture that is not this the carpenter but that’s very limited as to what this word actually means actually this some people say that Jesus was a stone Mason he was all those things because uh the townspeople concept of this long time Resident was that there was nothing extraordinary about him only that he was a skillful Craftsman in fact they most likely were recalling the things that Jesus made for them hey he made my plow in which I used to prepare my ground to plant crops he made the Yoke which keeps my oxen from wandering off while I worked them in the fields Jesus made my table in chairs and the utensils I use in my my house in fact Jesus Built the stone wall around my sheepen see they were thinking just in Earthly terms they could not get past this Jesus being just an ordinary man and some would say we remember him as a skilled Craftsman but not as a skilled Prophet or teacher we cannot picture Jesus as the bearer of divine truth we cannot recall him being very impressive or important so just imagine all those that time that Jesus spent in his own town being this Craftsman using uh tools and building things for people he never at one time displayed that he was any other than ordinary not until he turned 30. and he was called to the ministry of why he came into the world and that’s when everything changed Jesus laid down his hammer he laid down his tools and he took up the word of God in a way that no one could ever imagine in fact they go deeper into it and notice what they say in verse number three not only in verse number three is he just a carpenter but the son of Mary the son of Mary and brother of James and Josie’s and Judas and Simon are not his sisters here with us see what’s going on here Jesus is again being examined by them but in a very derogatory way Jews usually only name the father even after the father had passed away and here it’s recorded he’s the son of Mary now this this is an exceptional and out of the ordinary way of saying things because in his first visit to Nazareth it’s recorded in the Gospel of Luke if you remember me reading it there they were saying is not this the son of Joseph but here in mark they refer Jesus to Jesus as the son of Mary without reference to his father this is actually an insult and could even bring into question the legitimacy of Jesus birth now remember Mary was impregnated divinely Joseph did not know her sexually yet and so the people knew their people were thinking here we don’t even really know who who the father is you see this is very derogatory it’s very demeaning they are they are digging a hole for themselves that is not good and but you know what this type of reasoning happens all the time when it comes to the Bible when it comes to Jesus when it comes to truth it happens all the time and people think they’re Justified and uh and they’re even honoring the whole intellectual pursuit of finding out truth but in this case well we know that his brothers and his sisters were not the falling over to follow him we already found that out in chapter 3 verse 21 remember what happens in chapter three his mother and brothers come to get him because they thought he lost his senses that he was out of his mind the intention of the his family members was literally to get him in their power again his own family concluded that he had taken leave of his senses that Jesus had had kicked up so much dust and stirred up so much controversy it was time for him to come home and come less and be taught again that what he’s doing is all wrong but remember at this time his mother and his brothers were not Believers yet in fact that’s what it says in the gospel John chapter 7 it says this for not even his brothers were believing him remember his family was still part of the outside group they weren’t part of the Insiders they did not repent and believe in Jesus as of yet and of course the hometown folk weren’t helping anything there was nothing in this town that was leading to a proper conclusion of who Jesus is but remember thank the Lord for this that all of Jesus Brothers came became followers of Jesus after the resurrection we find evidence of evidence of this in other passages like it says in Corinthians the resurrection chapter Corinthians chapter 15 then he appeared to James that’s the brother of Jesus and to all the apostles and then in Acts chapter 1 these all with one of mine were continually devoting themselves to prayer among with among them the women and married the mother of Jesus with his brothers all right and then of course in First Corinthians 9 5 uh do we not have a right to take along a believing wife even as the rest of the Apostles and the brothers of the Lord and cephas all right so again in scripture the brothers the family Mary all were acknowledged as Believers in Jesus Christ but the townsmen could not solve the mystery as to how Jesus obtained these gifts the townspeople and his family members did not know that Jesus possessed such wisdom and miraculous power during his 30 years in Nazareth and if you look at the end of Mark chapter 6 and verse number three notice what it says and they took offense at him they took offense now this implies that these people in Nazareth were on the way of being trapped they didn’t think they were trapping themselves but they were actually trapping themselves trap being trapped by what well to come in contact with Jesus to recognize his word and his power is fatal for all who react to this contact in unbelief his homies refuse to recognize Jesus true personhood as Isaiah the prophet had displayed him where he read from the prophet Isaiah so that’s where Jesus says in verse number four that Jesus did grow up in an insignificant little town Jesus says in verse number four Jesus said to them a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and his own household so see Jesus home town of Nazareth was small and insignificant place but it was the place that God would raise up a prophet a prophet is someone who speaks to people in behalf of God someone who is commissioned and dispatched by one who has Authority author of the book of Hebrews highlights the authority of Christ where Christ is the first and foremost the one who has been sent by the father in fact Jesus said I speak nothing of my own authority I speak only with the authority of the one who sent me in other words God the Father sent Jesus to provide for man’s salvation if Jesus the prophet as said here brings a message from God the father and that message is rejected well then there is no other message he is the final word from God the Father there is no other message that comes from anywhere where men could be saved so Jesus said a prophet is honored everywhere except in his native town among his own relatives and in his own home have you felt that as a Christian yet that when you try to tell the gospel to your family it’s not like they’re opening their arms welcoming you me in and sitting at the table and listening to every word you say and responding to that in a very positive way usually they’re ushing ushering you out right they’re turning a deaf ear to you they’re not inviting you anymore when you walk in the room they walk out of the room see that’s a very natural thing because you’re bringing if you are faithful to bring the word of God and they know that they won’t want to hear it but there will be someone who wants to hear it thank the Lord for that so the townsman did not recognize that God was at work in Jesus in a new way inaugurating God’s Sovereign reign in the lives of those who who would respond in faith and repentance they thought they knew who Jesus was however the source of their conclusion was fleshly worldly and demonic they got Jesus wrong people don’t think that’s a big deal today but if you get Jesus wrong it is the greatest wickedness that will exist amongst your Humanity and what is the greatest wickedness that will exist amongst Humanity well if you didn’t figure it out yet it’s unbelief unbelief so rejection of Jesus by derogatory questioning is driven Now by the sin of unbelief look at verse number six and he wondered Jesus wondered at their unbelief and he was going around The Village’s teaching now the only time in Mark that Jesus is said to wonder or to Marvel well there’s only two times in Scripture that Jesus wonders and Marvels one of them is right here In this passage he wandered at their unbelief great unbelief and there’s a second place where Jesus marveled that great faith if you remember the passage it says when the the uh he was in Capernaum and the Centurion came to him and and treated him saying Lord my servant is lying paralyzed at home suffering and in great pain and he said to them I will come and heal him and then the Centurion answered and says Lord I am not worthy for you to come under my roof but just say the word and my servant will be healed for I too am a man under Authority with soldiers under me and I say to this one go and he goes and I say to another one come and he comes and to my slave do this and he does it and now Jesus heard this and he marveled and said to those who were following truly I say to you I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel see Jesus either Marvels at Great unbelief or he Marvels at great faith there’s no in between so no one should dare assume to be able to reject Christ repeatedly without impurity with impunity there are consequences that are eternal if you get Jesus wrong in fact back in Mark chapter 3 verse 29 it’s in there’s an eternal sin connected to it where it says but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin because they were saying he has an unclean Spirit see if you conclude Jesus wrongly and you don’t believe in him that is the sin that leads to death that is the sin that brings terrifying judgment that is the sin that leaves someone helpless and hopeless to ever have be able to have eternal life that is a sin that is the greatest wickedness that exists amongst humanity and that is the sin of unbelief and it’s not only the sin of not believing as Lord and Savior but it’s the sin a sin that’s also committed amongst God’s people when we don’t believe that he can do what he says he can do there should be no unbelief amongst us if we have the scriptures Hebrews gives us an exit or exhortation to avoid the sin of unbelief where it says in Hebrews chapter 12 it says take care Brethren that there not be in any one of you an evil unbelieving heart that falls away from the Living God see this passage is telling us to watch out for each other so there will exist no unbelief amongst us and it would be truly sad for someone to have such a heart because the term for heart is that term that talks about the center of our will who we really are the inner life and the trouble with unbelief is it always is in the heart it’s always deep inside of you it’s it’s the seat of your will so that’s why it’s the greatest wickedness that exists in the world is this thing of unbelief unbelief is is a special kind of evil because unbelief tends to make a heart evil and an evil heart has a tendency to turn from the Living God that’s what it says in Hebrews an unbelieved believing heart Falls away from the Living God that they are turning from the great and awesome and Dreadful God who is able to punish and avenge their sin for all eternity so not believing according to Hebrews not believing in Moses God’s faithful Apostle and mediator is one thing but not believing in the greater than Moses the faithful Apostle and high priest Jesus Christ is quite another thing because it is a damning thing if you reject God’s final Revelation and isn’t it a sad commentary and repeated so often today that people hear the message on how God provides Deliverance and they dismiss it and set it as uh set it aside as if it doesn’t apply to them what they’re really ex doing is expressing their unbelief they probably will not conclude that but that’s what the scripture concludes and the first thing really to notice if someone gets on the path of unbelief is that they will turn their affections towards the world and what it has to offer and how it concludes issues they will turn to serve and celebrate what their own hands can create and with their own minds can conclude that humans will idolize the wisdom from a human source from gurus and from imams and from priests priests and Shaman guides and fortune tellers and hand and card readers that are all over the place today and then some articulate professors and feisty talk show hosts who become moral and spiritual compasses of our day and people follow them and believe them and they are just using worldly wisdom and never will come to a knowledge of the truth with that wisdom to worship whatever went on in the culture is worshiping is is a deadly thing a second thing to notice if someone gets on the uh on and stays on the path of unbelief is that God will turn from them and give them up to the Twisted desires of Their Own Heart God will hand them over to worship the gods that they prefer like it says in Acts 7 verse 42 but God turned away and deliver them up to serve the host of Heaven as it is written in the book of the prophets it was not to me that you offered victims and sacrifices 40 years in the wilderness was it or House of O House of Israel you also took along the Tabernacle of Molech and the star of the god of Rama the images which you made were made to worship I also will remove from you who you beyond Babylon in other words if people if a person rejects God’s General Revelation and then when God gives them special revelation and that 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 to worship the figment of their own imagination and their own thoughts or whatever else anybody else presented to them so looking outside of God’s plan for deliverance and blessing always leads to further bondage the one useful way that we can prevent such evil amongst us as found in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 13.

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 that’s in the same context about talking about an unbelieving heart so here’s the preventive medicine encourage one another day after day that’s regularly do it continually what do you do you urge people you urge others to continue in the faith toward God and not to fall into judgment by turning away from his full and perfect provision for sins through the sun and the high priest Jesus Christ so salvation is not only a present experience but also a future gift and these can only be obtained by perseverance in Christian development that’s the sanctification of the spirit that once a person believes in Christ they continue in that belief for the rest of the life so in a very real way our belief in Christ should be getting stronger and stronger and stronger till we can say like the songwriter this morning I have decided this I decided to follow Jesus even seeing his family members being killed see that’s that’s real faith and that’s the kind of faith that God wants to build into us he wants to kind of faith that God does great things amongst his people because they believe him they trust him that God actually converts people to himself and delivers them from the condemnation of sin because they genuinely believe because the spirit of God is a work is at work amongst God’s people and God is going to save people genuinely transform them and rescue them from their sin now if you’re right there in mark look at the last passage verse 5.

the sin of unbelief does something quite disappointing it shuts out the mercy and grace of God from the people look what it says in verse 5. and he could do no Miracle there except that he laid his hands on a few sick and healed them see the towns people unbelief is is really is in marked contrast to the faith of those who benefited from Jesus ministry at Capernaum the gospel of Matthew attributes the small number of Miracles performed in Nazareth to the unbelief of the people where it says in Matthew 13 58 and he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief so God will not work where he is not wanted he will not work where he is not believed unbelief leads to God restricting his power to restricting his blessings now the encouraging thing about this passage is that I think our Lord knew a few Believers were there and so because of that his mercy and Grace healed a few that’s it and so Nazareth the pla the very Hometown that Jesus grew up outright rejected the only one who could save them that’s a sad story but that is a story that’s often repeated so what was Jesus teaching his apostles from this first reject rejection narrative well this question was succinctly synthesized by professor and author Grant Osborne in his teaching on the text commentary on on the gospel of Mark where he says this in conclusion this is what he was teaching that mission to a lost world often will result in resistance and hostility God didn’t promise us a Rose Garden matter of fact people say to me oh since you know I’m sure when I become a Christian things will get better no things may get a lot worse when you become a Christian because now the flesh the world and Satan are against you before they were kind of you were flowing together with them but you have the spirit of God you have the word of God so there’s going to be resistance and hostility as a believer secondly those closest to a person often are the last to recognize that person’s gift and calling matter of fact they may be the ones like the townspeople and relatives that totally reject you that cast you out that writes you out of your their will because you became a believer of Jesus Christ that that’s part of the turf that proves you’re doing something and then the last thing that those who are not open to Jesus may discover that God is no longer open to them that the spirit of God may not be speaking to a person once they reject outright reject Christ so see this passage of scripture has many things going on in it and it’s something that we can learn from as we live our Christian Life that there shouldn’t be any unbelief amongst us that our faith should be growing strong that we should use our gift and if it’s not recognized by people so be it just use it tell the gospel but telling the gospel will bring resistance and hostility those are Givens don’t give up throw in the towel because those things happen matter of fact those are greater confirmations and you’re doing something than anything else and keep going and let your faith grow as you’re studying the word of God and the knowledge of God is getting more clear in your mind about what God has done what God is doing and what God is going to do live your life there and believe me I know one thing it’ll be an exciting life it’ll be an exciting life to live for Christ so that is the first rejection narrative next time we’ll pick up the middle of the sandwich and then the other slice of bread underneath and we’ll see what the main point is let’s pray Lord thank you again your goodness to us in allowing us to know the word of God to have it in our hands to be able to Grapple with it to be able to see how other people responded to it and we see the same response today gives us confidence and just helps us to know that this the word of God is the truth it is the very Revelation that you’ve given us on this side of Eternity to strengthen our faith once we believe not only the belief first in Christ as the only provision that God’s given for our Eternal salvation and the Forgiveness of sins but once we believe you and have your spirit and your word our faith just grows stronger and stronger and stronger where we realize Lord that we are just sojourners in this world we are just passing through and what we want the most is we want you to use us we want to be the the witness and the testimony to our families we want to have the faith in God where we see great things happen we see miraculous things happen we see that there’s nothing impossible with the god who’s created the Heaven and the Earth The God Who has given us our final Revelation in Christ Jesus and Lord Jesus you the very one who died in the place of Sinners who satisfy the wrath of God who shed your blood to forgive us our sins who rose again to defeat Satan in death and who ascended into heaven and is seated at this moment at the right hand of God and you are coming back again and we’re all part of that plan is Lord truly exciting and Lord use us and Lord please keep us away from the mindset that leads to unbelief and let us grow in faith and I prayed this this morning in the precious and the holy name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and all God’s people said amen

September 6, 2015
Revelation on a Seemingly Hopeless and Desperate Day (Part 2)

In this sermon, Pastor Babij finishes analyzing the narrative sandwich of Mark 5:21-43, this time focusing on Jairus and the death of Jairus’ daughter. Pastor Babij explains how Jesus’ power, compassion, and authority are all put on display as Jesus raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead. Pastor Babij also discusses how this episode previews Christ’s ultimate victory over death on behalf of all believers as well as the coming resurrection of those believers.

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all right let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to Mark chapter 5 and we’re going to be looking at verses 35 through 43 this morning as I continue to look at Revelation on a seemingly hopeless and desperate day let’s pray father this morning as we come before you we are thanking you Lord Lord for your tremendous love and grace to us we thank you Lord for the privilege of being able to have the word of God in our hands to be able to open it up and read it I praise you Lord for um for all that you have given to us and now Lord show us the things that are contained therein about who you are and how you’re revealing yourself and Lord how that really affects us today in our life as we walk with you uh every day and I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ amen Mark chapter 5 we’re looking at verses 35 through 43 now up until this point as I mentioned the Revelation has been about Jesus Christ uh un him unveiling himself to people uh as has been very uh significant and he’s been in a sense leaking out little by little who he is and we saw Jesus as the powerful God who brought about calm out of chaos and stealing the storm where the winds and the waves obeyed his voice uh that particular event was designed specifically to increase the disciples faith and to show himself as the Cent and all powerful Lord then on that dark and demonic Seashore Jesus brought sanity to Insanity by commanding the Legion of demons to leave the man they possessed and after they did leave there that Untamed wild ferocious demon-possessed man was now tame and calm and clothed and rational and want to go follow Jesus and stay with Jesus and Jesus told him no stay here and be a witness that demoniac experienced the Redemptive Touch of Christ next jesus’ Mercy went out to a woman we saw last week who had an incurable minstral hemorhage for 12 years her plan was to privately Touch The Fringe of jesus’ garment she did so and to her surprise was a immediately healed and she felt it in her body and though she wanted to keep it that event very private and touch Jesus be healed and get out of there Jesus wanted that event to be made public and so when the eyes of Jesus rested on her she did something normal actually when confronted with Holiness it says in verse number 33 of chapter 5 she fell down before him and then what happened is that she confessed in verse 33 and told Jesus the whole truth she bore her whole heart to Jesus so here her experience actually turned into a blessing and in spite of her shame in spite really of her her shame and fear and so now today we go and we see the the samage event that happens and what I mean by that remember this is packaged uh in a very specific way in scripture these two narratives are are like a Sandage I mentioned there’s a top piece of bread there’s a bottom piece of bread and then in the middle there’s there’s peanut butter and jelly well last week we looked at the peanut butter and jelly because it has an AB kind of construction or structure to it in scripture and so now we look at go back to the top piece of bread and then look at the bottom piece of bread and see how these these all fit together now there are several things that need to be mentioned again concerning these both stories both stories are females healed by the touch of Jesus both females are called daughters by Jesus both the women’s disease and the little girl’s age are 12 years both stories are met with rebuke both stories bring Jesus into contact with the unclean in one case the minstral Hemorrhage of the woman we looked at in the Old Testament and then also the corpse of the child uncleanness is transferred to Jesus Jesus bestows the cleansing cleansing wholeness of God upon both of them so both find hope when all human help is exhausted and so now we come to we go back to the time priest of bread and we look at the public official now let’s go back up to verse number 22 the public official with the dying daughter and um if you notice first in verse number 22 it says one of the synagogue officials named J Iris now uh there’s about three pronun pronunciations of this name probably the correct one is J Iris instead of jeris uh and then there was another pronunciation too so uh this synagogue official had a certain status to him it says he came up and seeing him that’s Jesus he fell at his feet now this person was definitely privileged because he was one of the elders who managed the services and the other Affairs of the synagogue he was a prominent Layman he wasn’t a priest and he came humbly to Jesus weighed down with something that was going on in his life and came to Jesus with this burden and what was his peti petition in verse number 22 it says he was pleading for his only child a daughter she was 12 years old and she was at the end of hospice care where it says in verse 23 and implored him earnestly saying my little daughter is at the point of death please come and lay your hands on her so that she will get well and live so J Iris has faith that she can be saved through the intervention of Jesus and what’s jesus’ response in verse number 24 and he went off with him and a large crowd was following him pressing in on him so Jesus what does he do he aceds to the petition of Jirus and he he rushes off to his home where his daughter lay sick at the point of death Jesus is then interrupted by the woman with the incurable disease and as the crowd is very large everyone is seems to be pressing on him as he moves to go to the house of the sick child a woman stops him and Jesus shows Mercy to the woman as I just already mentioned that this woman displayed faith in Jesus and now becomes the strength an example for J Iris the synagogue official to be able to to recover his faith in Jesus after hearing the devastating news of course gyrus uh J irus and the woman have only one thing in common actually both are victims of desperate circumstances who have no hope apart from Jesus that’s what they have in common however Jirus is armed with the visible example of a woman a woman’s genuine Faith who heal who of course who was healed by the Lord Jesus Christ when she had no human help uh and everybody body who tried to help her Physicians miserably failed her and so she went to Jesus and Jesus of course healed her by just touching she just touched him and she was immediately healed and so what was the devastating news now J iris’s daughter is dead and so that’s where we pick it up so it’s jarus coming to Jesus being interrupted by the woman’s problem Jesus now heals her and that J iris is looking on he’s probably a little bit impatient wanting to get to his house not knowing the fate of his daughter and so he those has this whole scenario of this woman believing in Jesus and how Jesus brought it all to the surface and made it all public and he did it really for his sake so he his strength his faith could be strengthened by this devastating news so now we have this public official with a dead daughter so he comes face to face with the Ultimate Reality look at it says in verse 35 while he was still speaking they came from the house of the synagogue officials saying your daughter has died why trouble the teacher anymore so this is what’s happening here in other words words whatever one of the relatives or families or friends that came up from the synagogue officials house they concluded since the child is dead not even Jesus could do something about it it’s was just too far reaching to believe that Jesus could restore the little girl if she had already passed away see the point of the reality ity of death has come in and and death is a reality it is the Ultimate Reality death is still very much an enemy in this Fallen World in which we live it causes more confusion turmoil grief than anything else in fact it produces more doubt in the ability and existence of God than almost anything else even those who believe that there is a God may think of God as Cosmic dust or atmospheric energy or some kind of higher power or influence they do not think of God as imminent and near and personally involved with the Affairs of people they do not see him as dynamically alive and one who cares and gives and makes and keeps promises these people at the end of the day actually deny the existence of a good and merciful god because they forfeit trusting in self-made worthless Idols which do nothing for them except shut them out forever from the kingdom of God if one just takes a quick search of the Old Testament we’ll find ample amount of verses that describe God for example in Psalm he is good in Deuteronomy he is faithful in another passage in Psalm he’s compassionate and gracious in Joel he’s abounding in love and in the gospel of Mark we’re going to see in chapter 12 he is the god of the living not the god of the Dead however when human despair comes in contact with Jesus Christ well then Divine possibility has the upper hand the true God makes possible all things that are impossible even when it comes to death so in other words that this man J Iris must have faith in the impossible he must have faith in something that really rarely was ever known only in the Old Testament can you see some examples of someone being brought back to life so we must never forget that Jesus Christ is the great disruptor and destroyer of death he has the defeated Satan and Death on the cross in fact if you would like to turn there in Hebrews keep your hand right here but Hebrews CH 12:4 and 15 a very specific passage of scripture addresses this where it says in Hebrews chapter 2 excuse me chapter 2 verse4 it says therefore since the children share in Flesh and Blood he himself likewise also partook of the same that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death that is the devil and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives so again this is the Ultimate Reality in fact the Book of Job describes death in this way bildad one of job’s supposed it friends speaks to job about God’s punishment of the wicked kind of referring to job as being Wicked and he says listen death is described as like this it’s the king of Terrors it is also considered to wipe the memory of the person off the face of this Earth in fact that job it says it chases the person from the inhabited World which it really does does it brings person and drives them from light into darkness and then in job it tells us that such are the dwellings of the wicked and this is a place of him who does not know God where death is is where God is not known so see the thought and the reality of death definitely brings all kinds of fears to people even today all of us in some way have been haunted by the F the fact of death one fear is the fear of the unknown we live in a world which we are familiar every day is filled with sights and sounds that give a sense of belonging we are surrounded by our possessions we are surrounded by our families and friends our minds are filled with our hopes and our plans our Ambitions and our dreams death removes all these and launches all of them into the unknown where everything is dark and fearful emptiness seems to consume the room countless people are feel fearful of the prospect of death there’s also the fear of meeting God many people give little thought to God perhaps when attending a funeral they may think of God I try to remind people that funerals are really not for the person who died but for the living to remind them that this is where they’re going so how are you living your life where do you stand before God so from time to time people do think about death this nagging disturbing Instinct that someday they will stand before their maker so there is a fear there there’s also the fear of final judgment that’s connected with that it’s a time when one comes face to face with God like like Hebrews tells us in chapter 9: 27 in so much as it is appointed for men to die once and after this judgment it will be a moment when their lives will come under the searching review of one who is utterly righteous and holy and one who has said of his future kingdom of heaven and in Revelation and nothing unclean no one who practices Abomination or and lying shall ever come into it but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life so then there is an insanity surrounding the reality of death and the only sane approach the only Saint approach to take in dealing with death is to bring it to the only one who has overcome it that’s the only thing we could do in fact in Ecclesiastes at the end of Ecclesiastes he reminds his readers about God and he says this in Ecclesiastes 12:6 remember him before the silver Co cord is broken and the Golden Bowl is crushed and the pillar by the well is shattered he’s describing the breakdown of the body you know the limbs go you know the Pains come in the the Mind goes everything goes when we’re getting older everything’s going south but he says this remember in your youth God before you get to the place where where everything comes apart and then he says this then the dust will return to the Earth as it was that’s your body and the spirit will return to God who gave it see that should be on our minds all the time so Jesus deals with this situation with this man and his daughter in a completely different way than the private woman with the Inc incurable condition that became curable after touch Jesus see Jesus Takes this public man and his serious situation and makes it a private event he switches it for specific reasons he does maybe one particular reason but before we look see that there are six actions that g takes in regard to J iris’s painful heart-wrenching situation and it shows the compassion and the authority of Jesus all wrapped into one and then also the power of Jesus and his person and so let’s look at each one of them and here’s the first one they’re evident in Scripture that the first action Jesus Takes is he pays no attention to the messengers in verse 36 of chapter 5 of Mark but Jesus overhearing what was being spoken all right what was being spoken of course in in the verse before that in verse number 35 that the message came that his daughter was dead so why trouble the teacher anymore so see now the the Greek word for um overhearing also can be translated probably more rightly to ignore or to refuse to listen so I think this is what’s going on See Jesus ignored the word they spoke about the dead child and he the teacher not being needed and they’re only looking at Jesus as a teacher they’re not going too much further than that so that’s the first action he he takes he ignores the message the second action he takes is that Jesus addressed the distress father with a negative and a positive admonition and we see that Jesus is complete control of the situation the negative admonition is found in verse number 36 and it’s says and he said to the synagogue official do not be afraid now again I just mentioned the fear that goes with death and especially the fear not only in this case of his own death but the death of his 12-year-old daughter that’s a heart wrenching thing everything’s going on in your mind you’re just pulled from all kinds of Direction and he’s specifically addressing him calming him down and saying to him listen do not be afraid he admonishes actually he admonishes him quite literally to stop an action in progress what was the action in progress fear hopelessness helplessness unable to do anything to save her with this bad news see that’s where death usually takes a person and keeps a person it keeps them in the fear real and in the Hopeless realm so J iris is is actually driven to trust Jesus in his helplessness you know what you may think that’s the worst place to be that’s the best place to be the best place to be is when you are utterly helpless and of course where are we utterly helpless the most in Saving ourselves right we can’t save ourselves from the condemnation of sin and the wrath of God we can do nothing to save ourselves and so when we come to the sense of being helpless then what are we to do look at the second admonition he gives as he dresses this distressed father well let me just mention one thing uh before I go there it would be very cruel to say to someone don’t be afraid of death if you could do nothing about it right because it would just be it wouldn’t be true you would be lying to the person to somehow Comfort them what does Jesus tell him in the second admonition the positive one in verse number 36 he says he said to the synagogue official do not be afraid any longer only believe now Jesus encourages him to keep his faith alive to believe in God who makes things impossible possible and how could he do that well he has a fresh example in his mind about the woman he can gain strength from how the woman believed in Jesus and now that is fresh in his mind and that’s exactly what is going on and that’s why this is a sage because this in Inside Story helps him to know what it means to have faith and then what faith produces once you have it in Jesus it produces results there’s a third action that takes place in verse 37 and verse 40 this is the action Jesus rids himself of the crowd now remember I’ve been looking at the outside crowd and the inside crowd in the gospel of Mark right the outside crowd is really the crowd Around Jesus but just because people are following Jesus and pressing on him and just because they’re in the crowd don’t mean that they’re in the inside crowd and so what Jesus does is he actually gets rid of The Outsiders and chooses the Insiders whom will accompany him inside the home of J Iris look at verse number 37 and he Allowed no one to accompany him except Peter James and John the brother of James in verse 37 there see Jesus only allows the in Inner Circle to come in the house with Jesus the three of the 12 apostles to witness this event and I just want you to note that this could also be that he’s following an Old Testament passage of scripture whereby two or three Witnesses were required by law to establish any fact that might be otherwise questioned all right so there is the witnesses so Jesus brings three of them two are required but he brings three of them and of course remember Peter James and John are going to be significant Inner Circle um that is going to be very important because where does Mark get his material from to write the Gospel he gets it from Peter so Peter has to be the eyewitness Mark wasn’t there all right Peter’s the eyewitness so Peter relates to Mark what he’s to write later on because Mark was in a sense under a disciple of of his and so that’s what’s going on here and of course they began laughing at him in verse 40 but notice what it says but verse 40 but putting them all out he took along the children the child’s father and mother and his own Companions and enter the room where the child was so who was in the room well Peter James and John were in the room the mother and father were in the room that’s five Jesus was in the room and of course the dead little girl was in the room all right so that’s it the door was shut the crowd was shut out to this event that’s very significant it’s significant even in relation to The Parables where Jesus is speaking in Parables to shut out those who are outside and to in form those who are inside to those who sit at his feet and want to listen to his word and want to follow him as their lord and savior that’s what he is doing here and so in this event he doesn’t allow the crowd to be part of it all right now let’s go a little bit further into that there’s a fourth action Jesus Takes in verse number 38 Jesus what what he does is he cleanses out the crowd of professional mourners now what do I what do I mean mean by that well Jews uh had professional mourners come when someone died because don’t forget depending on what time you died you either are buried at Sunset of that of that day or you’re buried very early the next morning all right so there’s very little time at all whatsoever look at verse number 38 it says they came to the house of the synagogue official and he saw a commotion and people loudly weeping and wailing and verse 39 and entering in he said to them why make a commotion and weep this child has not died but is asleep see uh Mark Matthew mentions that there’s also flute players there uh these were professional mourners this type of artificial mourning started way back in the Prophet Jeremiah Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet but if you if you he said back when in Jeremiah listen call for the women who are mourning and then send for the Wailing women that they may come let them make haste and take up a wailing for us that our eyes may shed tears and our eyelids flow with water see it was real in Jeremiah’s time and in a sense it’s real here but these people who came came in who were still on the outside Jesus did not let them in in either he actually got rid of this group too and they left but something significant comes up in this group of Believers I mean this group of unbelievers all right and just professional mourners look what it says in our passage in verse number 39- 40 it says the child has not died but is asleep and they began laughing at him that that’s a significant uh addition In this passage of scripture their derisive laughing only reinforces what was already true that professional mourners recognize death when they see it all right but if you notice what Jesus says that she has not died but is asleep now how do I how do we take this when we read this in scripture well when Jesus is around death is like sleeping because sleeping was often used as a euphemism for death in fact Jesus at other times spoke of death as sleeping in other places it spoke it speaks of death as sleeping and one great example is John 11 I like you to turn there all right look at John 11: 11-15 just to give you a sense on how Jesus often used this word sleeping to mean actual death in John chap 11 look at verse number 11 it said it says here this he said and after that he said to them our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep but I go so that I may awake him awaken him out of sleep verse number 12 the disciples then said to himl if he has fallen asleep he will recover verse 13 now Jesus had spoken of his death but they thought that he was speaking of literal sleep and so in verse number 14 Jesus sets the record straight so Jesus said to them plainly Lazarus is dead and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe but let let’s go to him so see this is another way and place in which Jesus used sleeping to refer to death and there’s other places in Scripture that the same thing is going on so but it becomes clear that the little girl was dead because the Gospel of Luke recording the same event leaves no shadow of a doubt that the girl was dead when it records in Luke chapter 8 in verse 40 54 and 55 he however took her by the hand and called saying child arise and her spirit returned and she got up immediately and gave orders for something to be given her to eat in other words that this child was really dead uh it was recognized that she was dead there’s no way that uh someone could be alive if their Spirit their soul is not in them who is their real person so in Luke it records that her spirit returned to her and so remember death is not termination death is separation death brings about a temporary separation of body and soul right now in Scripture it mentions three kinds of death there’s physical death which talking about here there is spiritual death where everyone born into the world is spiritually dead until they come to Christ and Christ makes them spiritually alive to believe in him to repent and by faith follow him and then there is eternal death that is the death someone experiences after they die from this world physically and they are eternally separated body and soul from a good and merciful and kind and loving God see so someday this separation will end and body and soul will be reunited so that all who have died will be whole human beings again see see while people say be dead and buried they are that person is never dead and gone instead there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust that is in scripture and from then on everyone concerned will have resurrected bodies the unjust will have resurrected bodies and the just will have resurrected bodies identify identifiable by those uh they had here on the earth yet not identical to them but designated to fit their new Eternal destination whether it will be in God’s kingdom forever and ever or whether it’ll be in a place called a lake of fire where someone is separated from God for all eternity but in their resurrected bodies meaning they can never die again so Eternal punishment is that eternal it will never end according to scripture so see the only solution to death is Christ he’s the only solution in fact the fifth action back in the gospel of Mark chapter 5 is that very thing that Jesus touched and spoke to the little girl in verse number 41 notice what he says to her Mark 5:41 taking the child by the hand he said to her talitha talitha Kum which means or translated means little girl I say to you get up now that’s Aramaic uh Jesus speaks in a completely different language I think just to remind and Ed upon the minds of his disciples especially Peter James and John of what’s going on there they will never forget this particular event this very private event that was for their eyes and their seeing uh and their ears on that particular day see Jesus in Aramaic says quite literally little lady arise and by the grasp of his hand and a word from his mouth he restores life and health and full strength to her lifeless body and it says in verse 42 immediately the girl got up and began to walk for she was 12 years old see Jesus by his omnipotent power will change death into Life by his word by his word his word is effective over death dead stood stood powerless before the word of God Only God Can unseparate the soul from the body Jesus as God already demonstrated that he was able to heal diseases cast out Legions of demons have authority over creation and on this occasion he actually raised the dead it is this Jesus fully God fully man who is our means of escape from the horrors of hell and death and someday when the kingdom of God comes in its fullness then will come to pass the scripture that says in the Book of Revelation and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the Tabernacle of God is among men and he will dwell among them and they shall be his people and God himself will be among them and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will no longer be any death there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain and then it says the first things have passed away see this is what we are looking forward to In this passage of scripture because what the woman experienced and what J Iris experienced with his daughter being brought to life is the same thing we are going to experience because we know Christ see the reaction of this The Insider group in verse number 42 should be our reaction it’s this Insider group they were overwhelmed greatly with amazement where it says and immediately they they were completely astonished would you not be completely astonished when you never expected to see a resurrection you never expected that now God now Jesus has authority over death nobody could do that no one’s ever done that only God has done that in the Old Testament so that means that Jesus must be God he has an authority that nobody else has death obeys him he brings someone who died back to life he is the god of the living not the god of the Dead in fact we know that even those who fall asleep asleep in Jesus the Bible tells us in Thessalonians even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus that when Jesus rose again Jesus rose Victorious over death it was the resurrection of Jesus that demonstrated that death really was conquered that God will bring them with Jesus this Jesus who by his death and Rising fashioned our Eternal salvation and my friends Christians sleep only and do not go through the Terrors of death and why because of Jesus see Souls of Believers enter into an enjoyment and a perfect honor and happiness in Christ their death is untinged the sting of death has been removed and why by the virtue of Christ’s blood applied to all who believe in him if they have died in Christ they do not have to be afraid if you die in Christ you do not have to be afraid because the same thing that happened here will happen to us see your loved ones who fell asleep in Christ will not miss their share in the coming of Jesus Christ however I just want to make note about this point concerning sleep again and or fell asleep metaphor of dying physically as I already said see Paul in thessal iians did not say that the soul went to sleep at death he made it clear that the soul went to be with the Lord even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus in other words he cannot bring them when he returns unless they are with him it is not the soul that sleeps it is the body that sleeps the soul the spirit goes to be with the Lord if that person has trusted Jesus Christ as 1 Corinthians 5 tells us we are of good courage I say and prefer rather to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord but there’s a sixth thing and a last thing that comes up in our passage in verse number 43 this is the sixth action of Jesus Jesus gave strict orders to keep this event PR private look what it says in verse 43 and he gave them strict orders that no one should know about this and he said that something should be given her to eat he’s taken care of two things there let the crowd think and say what they want this event will stay stay private for now it was only for the eyes of the disciples and the mother and father even though the parents were ready to run outside and make whatever happened in their home very public Jesus wanted all them to keep the event private most likely to keep down excessive the excessive popular Acclaim that goes with such event like this I mean come on all the things that that led up to this you can you can heal somebody you can you can tell the wind and the waves to stop you can do this you can do that but to raise the dead that is a spectacular event matter of fact if that happened and someone did that there would be all the roads from to that event will be blocked off because everybody would want to go and meet this person that’s what would happen but there’s something else going on here Jesus did not want the crowd to know they didn’t he didn’t want their eyes to behold what took place there he didn’t want the false mourner ERS to Revel in this event and he did not want the mockers to Revel in this event he wanted to keep this vent very private so in all these events where Jesus has power over nature in calming the storm where Jesus has power over the Demonic real realm where Jesus has power over disease and death itself shows us that he has brought the kingdom of God near to us this is what’s going to happen when the kingdom of God comes in its fullness we can never forget this Jesus is the Lord God in whom we place our trust for Eternal salvation and for all things for all time we can trust him in all our circumstances we can trust him for our present and our future we can trust him in all things now that brings to mind certain considerations concerning this passage the first one is death here is a pre preview of what will take place on the cross the death of Christ becomes Our Hope and way out he would become unclean for us for our sake he would bear our guilt and our judgment against our sin and he would pay for it before God in full so that there could be nothing against us nothing us holding us nothing holding us back from the presence of God see Jesus takes care of death in every realm physical spiritual and eternal he takes care of all of all of it for us and so that is the encouragement for us to not be caught in fear but to believe and to live your life with a boldness in your belief but it’s also a preview of the Resurrection a preview of what Jesus will do at the end of time when he will take us by the hand and say arise when he will give us new bodies that we will live in his presence for all eternity see that is a promise that is given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ and then there is their consideration of the Kingdom it’s a preview of the fullness of the kingdom of God the second coming of Christ the restoration of all things where the word of God tells us in in Acts and that he may send Jesus the Christ appointed for you for you whom Heaven Must receive until the period of restoration of all things see Christ will come back to re constitute the universe when the curse of sin came it brought with it disease and thorns and Briars Wars and murders and rebellion and all kinds of social disorders it brought earthquakes it brought hurricanes it brought everything that was wearing the whole creation down when God sends his Christ his son into the world again when he sends him back here he will put it right again Messiah was to lead the whole universe from bondage to Paradise that’s what his job was in fact the passage of scripture in Hebrews where it says in his much as is appointed for men to die once and after this the Judgment well the that’s not the whole passage the rest of the passage says this so Christ also having been offered once to Bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him so here is the response of Believers while the plan of God is working out and God has left us here to do the unfinished work of of evangelizing the rest of the world what do are we to do we are to wait for him eagerly eagerness is an example of what real faith is I’m eager about serving Christ I’m eager about the truth I’m eager about my present I’m eager about my future I’m eager about the plan of God I’m awaiting being in Christ’s presence that’s what it is and that’s what scripture does and that’s what the spirit of God helps us do so if God is speaking to you today day ask him to give you faith if you have none Jesus will heal your uncleanness be because of your sin he will give you what no one else can give you forgiveness of sin could be yours if it’s not already or it says in the word of God everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through his name that you could be free from any fear of condemnation on the day of judgment knowing that Jesus Paid the full penalty that you deserved peace with God could be yours scripture assures us we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and by Nature we have a built-in hostility towards God and are exposed to his righteous anger every day but if you put your trust in Christ the war will be over you will have an inner peace and a Transcendence of all understanding that will remain even when we Face Life’s greatest storms there’s a peace that God that no gives us that no one could give also eternal life could be yours while sin brings physical and spiritual death the Bible says in Romans the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ Our Lord you know that means infinitely more than living forever it means doing so in a right relationship with God it means enjoying the presence of God every day it means joyfully worship worshiping him every day and then someday face the faith it means rejoicing in his Beauty and reveling in his in the spiritual blessing that he will shower upon those who are his children and believe me if you are an Insider all the promises of God are yours if you are in Insider all the things in this scripture are yours if you are an Insider someday the kingdom of God you will be in it you will be with Christ and it will be yours yes these narratives are a preview of what we have and will experience when we put our faith in Christ freedom from sins pollution and condemnation transfer from Death to life and a hope of an astounding present and future because of Jes of Jesus Christ so he becomes the center he becomes the one who does the impossible he becomes the one who raises the dead and gives life to those who are dead spiritually that’s who he is and that’s how we ought to understand him and live every day of Our Lives so our faith grows deeper and wider every single day and that the Lord constantly removes from us the fear that binds us and enslaves us that’s what he does and I pray this morning that the Lord would do in your life the things that need to be done for you to live a free and bold Christian walk and life let’s pray Lord thank you this morning for the word again I I praise you for the things that are contained therein I thank you Lord that you are the one who has authority over death and that In this passage it’s even a preview of what will be and what you have done on the cross it is a preview of the the resurrection that what Jesus will do at the end time where he grants to us not only spiritual life but eternal life and new bodies to live with him forever and then Lord a preview of the fullness of the kingdom of God when when that comes Lord all these things that we know about now all these things we spe experience the crying people dying the mourning the sorrow that goes in this life will all be gone it’ll all be in the past none of it will happen again and Lord that is the hope that we have enable us to trust you for it and live every day in that light and I pray this in Christ’s name amen

July 26, 2015
Revelation on a Seemingly Hopeless and Desperate Day (Part 1)

In this sermon, Pastor Babij looks at the narrative sandwich regarding Jairus’ dying daughter and the woman with the bleeding issue. In part 1, Pastor Babij focuses on the desperate woman with the bleeding issue, explaining how her encounter with Jesus reveals more about the identify of Jesus, the compassion of Jesus, the power of Jesus, and effectiveness of faith in Jesus.

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okay let’s this morning take our Bibles and turn to the gospel of Mark chapter 5 the gospel of Mark chapter 5 and as you turn there let’s bow together in a word of prayer let’s pray father as we come before you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we come father wanting to uh understand more of your word we come wanting to see more of who Christ is so our faith would increase we want to come father giving ourselves to you knowing that being a Christian is different than any other thing that we have ever done and have ever been involved in so Lord teach us to be faithful and to trust you in all circumstances because you love your children and whatever you allow to happen in their lives is always always for their good and so let us understand that and live accordingly so Lord we can live out our faith um in a Victorious and a bold man Manner and I pray this in Christ’s name amen now this morning uh as I look at this passage of scripture I put in um uh the bulletin that I was going to be doing Mark chapter 5 verse 21 to uh verse 43 but I decided because of the largess of this text uh to do it in two parts and uh but I have to explain to you what I’m going to do because the verses 21 to 43 is one package all right and so I’m going to divide it up and let it end where it ends this morning then pick it up next week all right let me just back up for a minute now until up until this point so I’m going to be starting in verse number 21 up until this point uh the Revelation about who Jesus is is becoming more evident to his disciples and to those who are crowding around him we saw that Jesus we saw Jesus as uh the powerful God who brought calm out of chaos by stealing the storm in which the waves and the wind obeyed his voice of authority it was of course an event specifically and providentially designed to increase the disciples Faith specifically about who Jesus is they are now beginning to see him as God as a powerful Lord and they did not see that before and so as the boat that they were in makes his way to the other side of Galilee there was no time to settle when there arose another storm of a different type on a dark and demonic seasure Jesus brought sanity to Insanity Jesus commanded the Legion of demons to leave the man they possessed had to obey his commanding voice and so they left and after they left this Untamed wild ferocious demon-possessed man was now tame calm clothed and rational if you look at chapter 5 verse1 15 it says they came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down clothed in his right man mind and every man uh the very man who had the legion the Legion of demons and of course remember Legion was a very large amount of demons that were possessing this man the Demonic uh demoniac experienced the Redemptive Touch of Christ then he became a witness to his family and to his friends and he reported verse number 19 of chapter 5 what great things the Lord has done and how God had mercy on him that’s what he reported to the people so jesus’ Mercy went out to a man who had been held captive in pain and in Shame by evil spirits this man like us are by Nature slaves to evil we are not free as we think we are we are actually bent on self-destruction everyone is left to ourselves we will destroy ourselves we’re incapable incapable of breaking the powers that have bound us our sin uh the world system and Satan are controlling us we are really not in control so it is Christ Alone who can break the power of sin and Satan in our lives and set set us free to finally serve God and that’s what the whole Gospel of Mark is about serving God Jesus being the model servant and all those who follow him to serve him in the kingdom of God preaching the gospel of repentance and Faith so others come into the Kingdom so that’s where we were now in verse number 21 it says when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side that’s the of course the other side of the the lake of Galilee a large crowd gathered around him and so they stayed by the seashore or he stayed by the seashore now so next we find Jesus hanging out around the seashore uh and most likely he was doing that because he was dining at Matthew’s house which was right on the seashore remember Matthew was the tax collector got saved and now he’s following Jesus uh and then of course Jesus and his disciples crossed over to the western shore of the lake of Galilee and so that’s what’s going on now and what he runs into is two people the first one is jarus in verse number 22 one of the synagogue officials named jarus came up and on seeing him fell at his feet and then in verse 25 a woman who had a hemorrhage uh in verse 25 for 12 years those so these are the two people that Jesus is going to meet so there’s two stories in this section of scripture and it’s packaged like a Sandage all right you have the top piece of bread you have the bottom piece of bread and then you have the peanut butter and jelly in the middle all right that’s how it’s packaged now this morning I’m going to spend time on the peanut butter and jelly I’m going to say a little bit about the top slice a little bit about the bottom slice slice but I’m going to focus in on the peanut butter and jelly the reason why is because that’s what the text does the text focuses in on the narrative that is driving these two stories and it’s laying the foundation and for for what comes at the end so there are several things that I would like to bring to your attention concerning these stories I’m not going to read the whole text this morning because it’s a large section but I want to just throw some things out to you in in these two stories of the jarus and his daughter and this woman that both stories highlight females healed by the touch of Jesus also both females are called daughters by Jesus both women’s diseases uh actually one’s woman disease was a disease she had for 12 years and the little girl was 12 years old uh both stories are met with rebuke both stories bring Jesus into contact with the unclean in one sense the minstral Hemorrhage of the woman and then the corpse of a dead child unclean is then transferred to Jesus and Jesus bestowed the cleansing wholeness of God upon them and then both find Hope in Jesus when all human help has been exhausted so all those things are going on in these two narratives uh in this section of scripture so now let me move on this morning to the top slice of bread and look at it say what it says in the narrative and this is talking about the public official with his dying daughter his daughter’s not yet dead his daughter is dying and notice three things about this man jarus all right his status his actual petition and then jesus’ response to him and I’m just going to look at this one briefly in verse number 22 all right jarus was a person of status and privilege and he was in other words in Hebrew the rash ha knesset uh and it says there verse number 22 one of the synagogue officials named jarus came up and on seeing him fell at his feet so this man definitely had status he was matter of fact he is named not many people are named in the gospel of Mark but he is named here so what is he he’s one of the elders who managed the services and the Affairs of the synagogue he is not a priest he is a lay person but a prominent lay person and he comes running humbling himself at jesus’ feet and weighed down with something very heavy and what do he weighed B down by well his petition in verse number 23 is that and he implored him earnestly saying my little daughter is at the point of death please come and lay your hands on her so that she will get well and live so that was his petion that was his prayer he was placing uh he was pleading for his only his only daughter she was the only daughter child that he had a daughter who was 12 years old we find out that later in the text that she was 12 years old and she was at the end of hospice care she had no other hope except Jesus and this synagogue official recognized that now what’s jesus’ response to his request in verse number 24 and he went off with him a large crowd was following him and pressing in on him all right so Jesus aceds to the petition of jarus and he rushes off to his home where his daughter lays sick at the point of death that that’s what’s going on and so it says also in our narrative that a very large crowd was following them and pressing Around Jesus as and his disciples and jarus as they rush off to his home so this is in a very imperative situation uh this is an emergency I mean the first day squad has to get there or this little girl’s going to die every second count it now you would think um in our own minds that Jesus would rush off uh with him to garrus’s house and take care of business but something else takes place and this is the peanut butter and jelly in the sandwich of this narrative that’s how we’ve packaged and so this centerpiece becomes the most important aspect of these two stories and let’s see what happens now I said the first one was the public official with his dying daughter this one is the private woman with her incurable condition now let’s look at her status and situation in verse number 25 and 26 now I just want to mention that she had no status she had no privilege in fact she is nameless she just called the woman she’s unclean she’s ashamed and there’s I want you to notice three significant things about This Woman’s situation the first thing is this she was desperate why is she dep desperate she has a flow of blood all right in other words some type of uterine bleeding that no one could stop and notice what it says in verse 25 a woman who had had a hemorrhage for 12 years she was suffering with this thing and most likely because of her disease she’s probably unmarried uh without children which added to her desperation in in this particular culture as as a Jewish woman she should have had a family by now and been going on but now she’s not in that condition so she is very much suffering and she’s desperate so she’s definitely desperate the second thing though she is destitute right she exhaust Ed her wealth notice in verse number uh 26 and had endured much at the hands of many Physicians and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all but rather had grown worse so she spent all her money on fruitless cures many Physicians had bungled the woman’s case they took her money and left her in worse condition however it doesn’t seem that there was any wrongdoing on the part of Physicians only that they didn’t just they didn’t have the medicine they didn’t have the tools they didn’t have the knowledge uh at their disposal at that particular time in history to relieve her of her condition so she tried everything she could and she was destitute so that she had no more money she couldn’t pay any more doctors she was also a third thing dejected and the reason why she was deject dejected because it says there that she had a flow of blood that means she was declared in society with this major Purity that made her unclean and so that means that she was socially an outcast she couldn’t go amongst the crowd of peoples she couldn’t do those things and the reason why she couldn’t is because of Le Leviticus chapter 15 I’d like you to turn there to see the context of what is behind this Leviticus chapter 15 um I guess verse number 25 that’s Leviticus chapter 15 and if you notice verse number 25 it says this it says now if a woman had a discharge of her blood many days not at the period of her minstral impurity or if she had a discharge beyond that period all the days of her impurity uh discharged she shall continue as though in her minstral impurity she is unclean verse 26 of Leviticus chapter 15 any bed on which he lies all the days of her discharge shall be her uh to be to her like her bed Administration and everything on which she sits shall be unclean like her uncleanness at that time verse 27 likewise whoever touches them shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening when she becomes clean from her discharge she shall count off for herself seven days and afterward she will be clean then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtle doves and two pigeons to bring them to the priest to the doorway of the tent of meeting the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering so the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the Lord because of her impure discharge and then verse 31 thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separate from her un from their uncleanness so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling my Tabernacle that is among them so in other words this woman because of it says in the levitical law was almost as unclean as a leopard no one was allowed to touch her or her clothes if they did they would become unclean too and so she was excluded from the worshiping Community how much worse could it get for someone during this day she contaminates people she can’t even go around those that she loved anyone who came in contact with her by lying on a bed or sitting on a chair or touching her would require to go through the process of being washed washed her clothes and the PCT the the ritual Pur uh Purity ceremony that they went through so a person could could become clean so this woman in other words despaired because no human could help her no one could help her and so what happens now well a second thing uh considering this woman being that she had no status was she had no petition necessarily in verse 27 and 29 the woman had no petition but only had heard about Jesus which gave her a thoughtful plan in other words she’s been hearing about the miracles of Jesus she’s been hearing all that’s been going on it’s been coming to her the news has been traveling to her and she heard about this and she thought to herself that he could help me and so she made a plan to try to get to him so see Jesus can succeed when other sources of healing and salvation fail that is definitely true here she thought if I could only touch his cloak His Garment and remember that this woman was ceremonially unclean and should not have been in the crowd let alone reaching out to touch someone making them ceremonially unclean or ritually unclean but she was hoping that no one would take notice her she wanted to keep her situation hidden and private that was her plan and so let’s look what happens here uh she comes behind Jesus the crowd is crowding around him touching him all kinds of stuff is going on and she comes behind him and notice in verse number 20 27 after hearing about Jesus she came up in the crowd behind him and touched his cloak for she thought if I just touch his garments I will get well so the only cost you didn’t have to pay any money for this like the doctors the only cost would be Faith that’s the only thing that she would have to do she would have to have faith but just a note to give you some of the things that she was going through in this text is that Jesus wore a Shimla a large Square cloth that was used as an outer robe it had tassels on the Four Corners according to the requirement of Deuteronomy chapter 22 where it says you shall make for yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself see two of the corners of the Shimla were worn over the shoulder and as you wore it throw it over threw it over the shoulder the the tassels hung behind him well that’s what she touched and she was probably thinking I’m going to touch the least amount of His Garment so he won’t feel me touching him and maybe I won’t transfer uncleanness to him all right in fact uh the gospel of Matthew uh tells us in 9 chapter 22 the same passage it says that it says it this way and the woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for 12 years came up behind him and touched The Fringe of his cloak that’s the castle of his cloak The Edge the border the Hem that’s what she desire desired to touch and so she didn’t want him to feel that she was touching him or to see anyone think that she was pressing just in case she uh was revealed and people saw who she was and then she would be her plan would be done well that’s what she did she reached out and touched The Fringe of his cloak and to her surprise something happened uh in verse 29 look what it says immediately the flow of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of her Affliction so she was taken very much back by surprise and what kept flowing like a spring now uh and no man could was able to stop now disappeared completely dried up as if it never oozed from her body before in other words she had sub a subjective realization that at the moment that she touched the end of the tassel of Jesus she had been healed and immediately felt it in her body immediately it it is expressed in our text by the perfect tense which simply means I’ve been healed that’s what she was thinking she didn’t say that out loud because she wants to keep everything private and quiet and she wants to touch Jesus and get out of there because she doesn’t want to be noticed however what she did not want to happen happened she was found out her secret plan all of a sudden became public Revelation see this brought this is really brought to our attention by jesus’ response to her in the next passage but before I read that see we need to be aware that when we go to Jesus for any kind of help whether it’s in Salvation whether it’s in in our prayer requests or petitions uh we will give we will both give to and get from him more than we bargain for when we come in contact with Jesus we will get more than we bargain for and he will require more from you than you think see that is something the woman never ever thought of and so that’s what’s going on here so what is Jesus response look what it says in verse number 30 immediately Jesus perceiving in himself that power proceeded from him and gone forth turned around in the crowd and says who touched my garments who is it see she was not healed without jesus’ notice or will many people had been touching Jesus but this woman purposely touched him with her faith in fact it says in verse 31 and his disciples said to him you see the crowd pressing on you when you say who touched me and he looked around to see the woman who had done this so see in other words Jesus knew the touch of Faith he knew what genuine Faith was he knew her ailment he knew her healing he knew knew her desperation he knew her plan he knew he she wanted to stay private so Jesus realized that power had went had gone out of him to work this miracle and so he had taken her un cleanness and sickness and imparted to her his Purity and health see Jesus overcame her uncleanness and actually reversed it now but you have to think of it what’s really what else is going on in this particular narrative well the possibilities of her private plan being made known are really three-fold there’s a reason why Jesus exposed her the first one the plan is to reveal herself he wanted to reveal the woman she did not have to hide her ailment and its miraculous removal he also she also needed to know that only the power of Jesus healed her that this was no Hocus Pocus healing it is probable that her hope was based in some measure on Superstition because remember her plan was just to touch him and get out of there right and that was going on the word was out that if you just touch this guy named Jesus whatever’s going on in your body whatever healing you need whatever demons you have they’re leaving all right so this gets around so that was her plan in fact if you look at back at chapter 3 in verse number 10 if you remember what it said there it says it said in verse chapter 3:1 for he had healed many with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around him in order to touch him all right and then we’re going to see it again in chapter six of Mark in verse number 56 it wasn’t really a bad plan because if you look look at verse 56 of chapter 6 it says whenever he entered Villages or cities or Countryside they were laying the sick in the marketplaces and imploring him that they might just touch The Fringe of his cloak and as many as touched it were being cured so her plan wasn’t that bad the only thing is that her plan most likely had some roots in Superstition just like people today in other words there’s something there Superstition verse Real Faith what which is it you know when I when I was uh in Rome many many years ago and I was at the St Peter’s Basilica there’s a there’s a huge statue of of a liking of St Peter who’s sitting in a chair and right at the level of someone’s eyes there his feet are and one of his feet were touched so many times it was just a wedge where the other ones was was up a little bit higher and it wasn’t touched so much so you could still see the you know the toes and stuff like that and the reason why people do that is it because if I touch this statue of Peter somehow I’m gonna have some connection to God that will help me if I wear the St Christopher metal he’s gonna he’s going to protect me on my travels around the world if I put a statue of Mary in front of my house I’m going to my house is going to be protected see that’s all Superstition that is not Faith at all whatsoever and people are are I was you were any many other people are they’re steeped in this kind of thing and Jesus would not have her come to him with some superstitious notion so in other words her theology need to be corrected also her plan was exposed for the crowds this the crowd sake who were thronging around him see the crowd was only eager to see another miracle but he provides none for their eyes this time nobody saw this woman get healed this was all done very covert covertly and in private the healing was so the crowd didn’t see a thing he only provides to the crowd a private woman’s testimony that she had been healed from her incurable disease by Jesus and they wouldn’t find that out till later well in a few moments and then the plan is revealed for the sake of jarus and jesus’ disciples see this kind of Faith met by the touch of Jesus could not go unpublicized this is a great example of faith and Jesus did not want this to be private he wanted to be brought out into the open for everyone to know so the woman worked her plan but got more than she anticipated she got more than she bargained for she came to Jesus for healing she wanted to touch him and get out of there she wanted to say I’m better I’m I’m leaving but Jesus would not have it he would not allow her to do that Jesus forced her into the public eye Jesus requested that she identify herself that was a very frightening thing for her and so you would think in a way why is Jesus Jesus doing this why is Jesus Jesus uh exposing her when This Woman’s intention was to to stay private and quiet and get out of there and and not hurt anybody and all those things and the reason why is because Jesus wanted more much more for her than physical healing he wanted her to be spiritually healed he wanted her in his kingdom and so just to be healed doesn’t get you anywhere it just makes you well physically it doesn’t get you into God’s kingdom even if Jesus heals you it doesn’t get you into God’s kingdom see there must be some other healing that takes place and so so remember one enters the kingdom of God by repentance and Faith so in other words she needed to be exposed in order to correct her theology it was not just a touch but it was faith in Jesus that healed her also she needed she needed to be exposed in her heart to bring out what she was really up to because if she had touched him she did break the law right she did and she knew that and she was trying to keep it all quiet and get away but Jesus says oh no that’s not going to happen that’s that’s not going to help anybody so what happens well here’s the woman’s response look at verse number 32 it says when now now just get this when the eyes of Jesus rested on her verse 32 and he looked around to see the woman who had done this see the woman’s response to Jesus look could you imagine Jesus looking at you and pointing you out and seeing right through you like a sharp sword seeing everything that you ever done in your life he sees everything right and what what kind of response would you have if you come face to face with Holiness well look what it says in verse number 33 but the woman fearing and trembling of aware of what had happened to her let me just stop there see this woman was frightened and trembling because she knew what had occurred in her body when she touched Jesus so she was seized with fear when he looked upon her but something else happened even though she wanted to keep the whole event private Jesus wanted it to be made known and made and make it public and when the eyes of Jesus rested on her she did something normal when confronted with Holiness in verse number 33 notice what it says she now only came fearing trembling aware of what happened to her and came fell and came and fell down before him she fell down before him so in other words she was guilty she comes he he got her he he had he has her in his sights she is now feeling guilt of what she’s done all right he knows I wanted to touch him and I transferred uncleanness to him he knows everything that’s been going on in my heart but I want you to notice in verse number 33 there is something that this brought out you know what this brought out of the woman confession of sin look what it says in our our passage she fell came and fell down verse number 33 down before him and told him the whole truth you know the saying raise your hand right and uh listen are you ready to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God she comes and tells him the whole truth in other words him looking at her seized her with fear made her guilty of her sin in her heart and she’s ready to confess she’s ready to say I’ve I was 12 years old in a desperate condition I had nowhere else to go I spent all my money on cures never looked to God for help my condition got worse I’m ceremon ceremonially unclean and I touched you and transferred uncleanness to you I broke the law I did unlawful conduct I disobeyed the law and made you unclean by touching you and what I heard about you you became my last hope so I had a plan and my plan was just to Touch the Hem your garment and get out of there and so nobody would know so she she suspected that possibly the response of Jesus in this situation would have been scolding her but he doesn’t scold her in fact she was healed by touching Jesus that’s for sure and that becomes evident but Jesus wanted to bring out what was going on on inside of her he wanted to bring out the guilt and the confession why it’s by repentance of sin and faith that anyone is saved so she she needed to know that Jesus is powerful and loving to her astonishment Jesus treats her with profound tenderness which becomes clear in chapter 5 in verse number 34 look what he says to her he said to her daughter your faith has made you well go in peace and be healed of your Affliction now this is an a Very telling statement that Jesus makes here he’s calling her daughter welcoming her into the kingdom of God he commends her faith your faith has made you well in other words that her faith was trust and confidence in Jesus from the from the report she was hearing about him and his miracles and so she made her plan to come and touch him that was an Act of Faith these inspired her her faith inspired her to seek out Jesus to move towards him and to do something that was unacceptable and that was to touch him and that’s what she did however her faith did not rest in the physical touch but in the person touched Jesus answered the secret unspoken Trust of her heart with saving Faith uh he he commends her for her faith after her confession after she tells him the whole truth see theologically thinking about this there is no intrinsic power in her faith or our faith see her faith was the instrumental cause of her healing her faith was not the efficient cause of her healing Jesus was the co efficient cause he is always the efficient cause in other words it was Jesus who healed the woman not her faith but her faith being the instrument in the right person Jesus Christ then the opportunities for healing here and salvation become a reality it was RC Sproul who says just as in our justification God does not CL declare us righteous because there is any inherent righteousness in our faith prompting God to say because you have faith I will save you no that’s not way it goes at all faith is the instrumental cause of justification because it is the tool it is the instrument by which we take hold of of Christ Christ is the efficient cause of justification and in the same way it was Jesus who healed the woman and so the compassion of Jesus sends her off with a blessing and I want you to notice what he says to her in verse number 34 not only did he say daughter your faith has made you whole but go in peace now the only ones who leave Jesus in peace are people who have peace the peace of God and have peace with God so yes and the Very word that he used for uh healing her is the word for salvation too that’s used many times in the gospel and in other places in scripture so see Jesus reassures her that because of his will she need not fear the return of her old ailments she need not fear uh it says and be healed of your Reflections Jesus was not would not settle for just physical healing spiritual salvation must be experienced also and so he uses the word go in peace and peace uh even in Hebrew means uh wholeness well-being Prosperity uh security friendship salvation is all wrapped up in the world word peace so he is telling list listen to her not only have have you been healed but you have been brought into the kingdom of God and the way he says it here is calling her in a relational way a family way daughter uh your faith has made you well salvific too not just physically so see this is the the the peanut butter and jelly in the middle of the sandwich that sets the story about jarus that’s picked up in the next passage now in closing this morning just in keeping this in your mind Jesus singles out those he chooses to give individual care he does that when he does that you can no longer remain anonymous once God Saves a person cleans a person makes them his disciples and puts them in his family you are no longer Anonymous so Jesus is going to require more from you than you thought you cannot have an encounter with Jesus without knowing who healed you who knows you who saved you and who cares for you you cannot go on in your Christian Life without knowing more and more and more and more about Jesus Christ he’s going to be the one that we fall in love with uh more and more he’s going to be the one who we know is the source of our Salvation it was the source of her healing and salvation and so Jesus is the source of our Salvation so again be aware that when you go to Jesus for help you will both give to and get from Jesus far more than you bargained for but it will be the blessing of sending you away knowing that you have peace with God knowing that you’re a child of the Kingdom knowing that God cares for you in a very specific way and knowing that he pays attention to you he singles us out he puts his gaze upon us that’s what Jesus does he’s wants a personal relationship he doesn’t want you to touch and run he wants you to touch and stay and as you touch and stay he wants you to grow in him he wants you to get close and understand him he wants you to see who he is and what he’s done for you he wants an abiding relationship with you now all that leads to the next section of scripture which I’ll bring up next week but I want to leave you with the passage that it leads to so remember jarus comes to Jesus his daughter’s dying Jesus gets interrupted by this woman but it’s amazing Jesus is an interruptible God you can interrupt him right because he is in control of all things in fact we understand that Jesus knew the little girl was going to die right and so look what it says in verse number 35 of this chapter while he was still speaking they came from the House of the synagogue officials saying your daughter has died why trouble the teacher anymore now what’s the significance of that now I’m sure that jarus would say all right my daughter died what else could I do not even Jesus can help her now right that would be very common thing to think right but there’s a problem this is the problem jarus has been watching this event with this woman this whole time so it was increasing his faith that’s what’s going on and so that’s why Jesus says to him in verse number 36 Jesus overhearing what was being spoken said to the synagogue official do not be afraid any longer only believe so see without the visual story of this woman maybe he wouldn’t been able to believe but with this story now in his mind watching probably being being impatient listen we need to go to see my daughter we need to see her before she dies Jesus says listen only believe so see something happened in that moment not only to the disciples but to jarus his faith increased in who Jesus is and and what he could do and how he speaks to people and how he cares for people and so now next week I’ll pick up the rest of the story you know here’s the rest of the story all right and that’ll be next week so just keep that in mind as we’re thinking through this that Jesus is designing these things and the the the Father the scripture is designing these things to increase his disciples faith and everybody around them and specifically this one man jus’ Faith because of what’s going to happen next so let’s pray Lord thank you this morning for again the the scriptures they are an incredible thing to gaze Our Eyes Upon Lord what we see happen is just amazing because of who you are because of what you do because of the very person you are and how you want to make yourself known to people in the right way in the right manner so they get you so they can either believe in you or reject you not stand in the middle ground because there is no middle ground with you lord it’s either we follow you or we go our own way so I thank you Lord for this Narrative of this woman I pray Lord as we think of it ourselves it would increase our faith that sometimes Lord we want to stay Anonymous as Believers sometimes we want to hide but Lord we cannot hide from you everything in our life is an open book to you so let Lord let us live in truth let us live in honesty let this live as an open book before your eyes and I pray Lord as we do that Lord require from us the things that you you want and Lord help us to understand more about who you are so we can continually grow in our faith and trust in you in all the circumstances of life and I pray this in Christ’s name amen

July 19, 2015
The Lord of Demons

In this sermon, Pastor Babij investigates Jesus’ interaction with the man possessed by a legion of demons in Mark 5. Pastor Babij explains that this account is really focused not on the demoniac, but on Jesus, showing the following about Jesus: His preeminence, His power, His mercy, and His mission. Jesus directly contrasts everything that a demon is.

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I’m often amazed that um the testimony that was given this morning by Duna right something like that was quite amazing uh he probably didn’t have a theological education like some would have and he was right on the money so that was amazing and he was saved out of a demon infested tribe that’s amazing and it’s also amazing that I’m preaching on what I’m preaching on this morning uh the Revelation Revelation on a dark and demonic Seashore Mark chapter 5 let’s take our Bibles there Mark chapter 5 and we’re going to be looking at this is a larger section chunk this morning 20 verses so I’ll not read all of it now because I’ll be going through the verses but let me just give you um some of the background of where we came from where we’re going Jesus and his disciples had been teaching remember in the open air and ministering to the crowds every day Jesus made a proposal in the evening of the day when he was preaching on Parables from the boat and his proposal was let’s go across to the other side of the lake of Galilee now last time we saw that Jesus looked a lot like the powerful God from the Old Testament he brought calm out of chaos by steing the storm in which the wind and the waves obeyed his voice of authority it was an event specifically and Pro providentially designed to increase the disciples Faith specifically in who Jesus is and that who is he he is The Sovereign all powerful Lord and remember the Lord is kind of leaking out information about who he is he’s not giving it to them all at once he’s been the disciples have been with him for quite a while now and so they’re they’re still processing that event in their mind and so we come to chapter 5 verse number one and if you notice what it says there it says and they came to the other side of the sea that’s the Sea of Galilee into the country of the Gans now this country some archaeologists will say we don’t know where this is um well they didn’t know where it was for a long time they were basing it on on the the word itself and you find that in other gospels they use a different word uh for this particular location uh but they did finally uh land on a place and of course the word the name of the place was was really gessa origin preferred that location long time ago because what surrounded the ethology of the word that gessa meant dwelling of those who have driven away now what does that mean in verse number 17 of chapter 5 it says and they began to implore him to leave their region after this event happened the people didn’t want Jesus sticking around in fact in 1970 a bulldozzer cutting a ran along the eastern shore of the lake of Galilee Unearthed the remains of an ancient Town immediately south of of the wadii samac of the valley of KY of course the local dialect would be gersa so probably KY or gessa was the place and so then they now know where it was because it uh was found within the administrative District of hipo hippos uh in the major city of decapus was which is right next to this uh that is going going on here right in the text all right the reason why I am bringing this to your attention is because this location has been found and this location lines up perfectly with our text about 2 miles south of gessa a ridge extends from the Eastern slopes of decapus practically to the lake of Galilee The Ridge terminates in a steep embankment and fits the the destion of Mark 5 verse number 13 because if the swine go Rush down the Steep Bank into the sea the swine have to be near the sea uh some of the other locations they found with that particular name where was five miles and sometimes 30 mil Inland that was that would not go along with the text so that’s why they think that um this is the place and I believe it is so they found it so second thing I want to bring up before I have a word of prayer is that this demon possessed man that we’re going to look at it says in verse number two when he got out of the boat immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean Spirit met him and he had been dwelling among the tombs and no one was able to bind him anymore even with a chain that this man was banished to the tombs because of uncleanness and tombs were chambers that had been yed out of rock walls or the sides of cliffs matter of fact if you go to the middle least you’ll find all over the place there’s all these holes in the mountain and that’s really tombs uh where they would bury the dead so this man uh was banished to that particular place by the lake uh from and of course because of that people would stay away from that area so certain tombs had been abandoned and provided the dens for the demoniacs to live in these unclean places of the dead so the Old Testament law said contact with a the dead would defile a person for seven days in fact Numbers Chapter 19 says the person shall be cut off from the nation of Israel who touches a corpse and shall be unclean for seven days and then they had to go through some cleansing ritual so again we’re looking at a place that is unclean we have a man filled that is a a demon who is unclean and so everything about this place is unclean another thing about this demon-possessed man is that he’s a ferocious he’s he’s pictured as a ferocious animal this man had Supernatural strength and insanely destructive Behavior avior attempts had been made to chain this dangerous de demoniac without success and the supernatural strength is expressed in negative terms like in verse number three where it says no one was able to bind him and then verse number four no one was strong enough to subdue him that the demoniac was free to ram wild and naked day and night amongst the tombs and in the mountains and human power was unable to do anything to control him he was an evil force that could not be tamed at all whatsoever it is possible it is possible that the demon was trying to get the man to commit suicide by cutting and bruising himself with stone in order to end his horrible existence if you notice what it tells us in the word of God at the end of verse verse number five constantly day and night he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains and nashing himself with stones or cutting himself with stones you know people uh are involved with cutting themselves today uh while demon had a corner on that market so uh it comes from him because he wants to destroy human beings we already know from scripture that Satan has a dubious dangerous character and tries to deface and Destroy anything that bears the image of God or his creation that Satan is a murderer of human beings while Jesus is their savior in fact in John chter 8 Jesus said to a bunch of Jewish people you are of your father the devil and you want to do the desires of your father he was a murderer from the beginning and he does not stand in truth because there is no truth in him when he whenever he speaks he speaks a lie he speaks from his own nature for he is a liar and the father of Lies so the Bible reveals to us the character of of Satan himself now now almost all wild animals can be tamed but this man after many tries and many different restraints could not be brought under control naturally his ferocious action and destructive abusive Behavior struck Terror into anyone who came near him so the word was out in that region don’t go wandering in that area don’t take your boats and get off the beach in that area stay clear from it and that’s exactly what people did but it was to this very dangerous place that Jesus lands his vessel the Providence of God brought on this demonic Encounter With Jesus before the wide eyed disciples who were still processing the essential question that the storm had brought up in their mind who then verse number 41 of chapter 4 who then is this that even the wind and the Sea obey him they were still trying to think that through and they are pondering that Jesus is look looking a lot like the Old Testament how the Old Testament describes God and they’re thinking is Jesus God is he the anointed Messiah is he it sure looks like they haven’t concluded that yet but it sure looks like so the purpose this morning of this narrative is not about us it is about revealing the character of Jesus Christ in this narrative we will see the Majestic preeminence of Christ we will see the Magnificent power and authority of Christ we will see Christ as the merciful Miracle Worker and we will see Christ pushing His Marvelous Mission and getting the gospel out that’s what we’ll see and so let’s look at that this morning because we need to know more about Christ also today let’s pray Lord this morning I do ask you that you would enable us to be absorbed in the truth of this text so Lord we can understand who you are we can understand your power we can understand that only God can do these things and that we would we would worship you and we would praise you and we would follow you with great confidence that you are who you say you are and you have done everything that you said you would do and for for that Lord we want to praise you make us aware of these things in Christ’s name amen let’s look at the first thing and that is found in verse number six and that is the Majestic preeminence of Christ in verse six and seven it says in verse number six seeing Jesus from a distance well let me let me uh remind you that in verse number two when Jesus was not even out of the boat yet immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean Spirit met him and he had because he had been dwelling in the tombs no one could bind him verse number five constantly day and night he was screaming among nashing himself with stones and then verse six see seeing Jesus from a distance he ran up and bowed down before him now this is an incredible thing why is it incredible because this man could be bound by no human being by no strength by no kind of shackles that were formed in those days the demoniac knows who Jesus is this demonic encounter with jesus takes place in a place that is unclean and all the feeble efforts of trying to restrain him this Untamed man never happens but now something unparalleled happens he just sees Jesus and he runs up and bows down before him now the the demoniac for sure knows who Jesus is that the will and the power of Jesus did not allow him the demon to run away and hide but the demon came and Drew Drew near and prostrated himself before the feet of Jesus Christ it says that he bowed down before him now don’t mistake this for real adoration this is not adoration this is a mere bowing that is necessitated by the power and position of a superior the demons are recognizing that Jesus is superior to them Jesus is the Supreme Master of the Demon World demons must obey him he is the cre Creator and they are the creatures and creatures in fact creatures that are still in Rebellion to uh jesus’ Authority in fact the Demonic yelling with all his might at Jesus while he’s bowing down before him is not the conduct of honor and respect but a vicious Spirit if you look at verse 7 it says and shouting in the middle of the verse and shouting with a loud voice and said what business do we have with each other Jesus Son of the most high the demoniac expresses the humanity of Jesus by referring to his name Jesus and then he expresses the deity of Jesus by calling him the son of the most high God that is showing something very very important that Jesus is preeminent over the demons and the demons are definitely acting that way they have no power in the presence of Jesus they must bow down to him in fact the term used here in scripture is an Old Testament term that shows often shows the suprem the supremacy of Israel’s God over all pagan gods we find that one demon is speaking for all the other demons and the demons ask Jesus a question and the question is what business do we have with each other Jesus the son of the most high God and then the end of the verse it says I implore you I singular I implore you by God do not torment me now this is this is something that you don’t see everywhere the demons try to to get Jesus to swear because the very word I implore you is TR trying to get Jesus to swear that he’s going to do something for them so the spokesman for the demons tries very very hard to get Jesus to swear that he would not torment them now now did you get that the very presence of Jesus and him commanding the demons to leave in verse number eight it says for he had been saying to him that means soon as Jesus got out of the boat Jesus already was saying to the demon leave leave the man so now in verse number eight because it gave us some background it it says for he had been saying to him come out of the mount man you unclean Spirit see the very presence of Jesus caused the demon to be stricken with fear so he implores Jesus by appealing to God’s mercy for he says listen don’t he he it says in scripture here I implore you by God don’t torment me please you I know your mercy I know your compassion and so that’s what they do they appeal to his Mercy in a parallel passage of scripture if you’d like to turn there in Matthew back to Matthew chapter 8 verse 29 this is the same story in Matthew chapter 8 notice what it says in verse number excuse me ma Matthew 8:29 it says and they cried out saying what business do we have with each other Son of God have you come here to torment torment us before the time Matthew Matthew adds a little bit more information for us there all right so the demons feared that a part of jesus’ mission was to dismiss them to their place that jesus’ mission is not just to defeat one demon but to lay waste the entire demonic power structure that’s what the cross is going to do this is surely born out of other p mage of scripture that say God’s son appeared for this purpose that he might destroy the works of the devil so the demon understands in God’s Plan of Redemption God has appointed a day when Satan will be bound and all the forces of Hell will be crushed once and for all that day is coming his power is being curtailed all along but a day is coming where demons will be judged also and they will be sent away into the Lake of Fire forever and ever and all who did not believe in Christ will be sent there with him so their days are numbered and they know it but they know this too their days are not numbered yet that day is coming so the demons the demon spokeman actually negotiates for more time the preeminence of Jesus displayed in his ability to restrain violence and get demons to tremble remember what James says you believe in God you believe that God is one you do well the demons also believe and they what they shudder they tremble in fact the word means to be struck with extreme fear to be horrified that’s how they they are in the presence of Jesus Christ because Jesus reminds them of judgment he reminds them that they’re not going to get away with anything they will be judged completely and fully so the preeminence of Jesus Christ Rises to the top over all demons now second that brings us to the second characteristic of Jesus it’s the Magnificent power and authority of Jesus for in verse number eight it says Jesus command of course when Jesus commands the demons they must leave at once he says in verse eight for he had been saying come out of the man that’s a command you unclean spirit that the demons as created beings had no choice than to obey the voice and command of their creator and their judge that Jesus Christ Jesus the strong Son of God prevails over e evil and binds the strong man as already mentioned in mark chapter 3 and verse number 27 but in this section of scripture in verse number 9 and 10 we see the demonstration of a king’s Mastery and what do I mean by that ltic says it says he was asking him what is your name Jesus was asking and he said to him my name is Legion for we are many in verse number nine and he began to implore him earnestly not to send them out of the country in other words anybody who would have been a place to say what your name has Authority how many people go around asking you what’s your name with authority usually when you get stopped by a police officer they may ask you what is your name right and you give them your license and stuff and why can they do that because they have Authority or a judge in the courtroom will ask you what is your name and you tell him your name why because he has authority to ask that but how many people do that but in this case in that at that time if you had Authority you would ask someone what is your name and he says my name is Legion for we are many see for your information a legion that’s a number consisted of 6,000 men some say 5,600 or it would be considered a large host see it it’s a chilling reminder that the number and power and intention of demons is a reality demons are fallen angels and Powerful Spiritual Beings they are never up to anything good so in other words Jesus Takes full control the non-con conversation that is going on here and he intends to expose the demons before the disciples because Jesus knew he was not just dealing with one demon he was dealing with a legion of demons so again we have something that the disciples are beginning to see here wow Jesus has nobody can bind this they thought one demon now Jesus has authority over thousands of demons with no issue and no problem at all so the demons begged Jesus not to banish them to the abyss in verse 10 and he began to implore them erly not to send them out of the country now of course to send them out of the country is another way Luke chapter 8 says it this way we implore him not uh to send us away to the the abyss and the abyss was actually a place like hell and the abyss was the holding place is the holding place for demons before the final judgment hell is actually a holding place for human Souls before the final judgment when those places will be emptied out in the final judgment and the Lord will judge both demon and humans and then like in Revelation 20 then those who are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire that’s the second death that’s going to take place so the what’s interesting here is that Jesus did not command the demons to go into the abyss because they had a request he actually gave them permission to do what they asked at verse number 11 now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain the demons implored him saying send us into the swine so that we may enter them Jesus gave them permission and coming out the unclean spirits entered the swine and the herd rushed down the Steep BL Bank into the sea and about 2,000 of them and they were drowned or choked in the sea they were drowned in the sea so Jesus did not send them to the abyss he gave them the request to go enter into the pigs now just for your information this region would have been mostly Gentile a mixture of Jew and Gentile some assume that the country was Gentile and the owners of the Hogs were pagans however some have discovered that the Eastern shore of the lake was in the authority of Phillip and was part of the Jewish land the land of the Gans was some say Jewish territory that means the owners of the pigs could have been Jewish now if so what were Jews doing hurting pigs could it also be that the demoniac was being used by them as a deterrent to keep people out of the area so they would not find out about their forbidden hog raising business we cannot be sure but the evidence seems to lean that way in fact the Old Testament gives warning to Jews in both oral and written law that they are forbade of uh by of rearing swine the mishna outright says that’s the the the Jewish written uh law apart from the scripture none may rear swine anywhere so it was completely forbidden of for Jews to even of course eat let alone have a business providing food or work uh sacrifices for other Pagan religions and uh for others we don’t know though definitely so why did Jesus allow the demons to enter the heart of pigs well there’s two plausible reasons and I I believe both of them are are uh are included together the first one is that Jesus recognized that the time of the ultimate vanquishment of the Demonic principalities and Powers had not yet come Jesus must wait for the appointed time just like anyone a second thing is that Jesus allowed the demons to enter the swine to indicate Beyond question that their real purpose was the total Destruction of their Host this man if left in that condition would have died and most likely he would have pushed him to the brink to commit suicide Satan is behind suicide because he wants to kill God’s image he wants to bring people to the place where they see they have no hope that all the Avenues have been exhausted and he never brings in the light of the Gospel he would never do that see Jesus I mean Satan is about protecting his own territory he cares nothing about anything else he’s about building his kingdom and keeping his kingdom remember Jesus has come in and he is plundering the king om of Satan taking Souls from him so it is only Jesus who overpowers Satan and takes his possessions away Jesus then is the great disruption in a world controlled by Satan Jesus overcomes Satan’s kingdom plunders it and then enables Believers to be released from his captivity now don’t get me wrong not all people are demon possessed yet according to Ephesians 2 by Nature all people are ruled by dark and Sinister forces everyone is Satan is the ruler of this world principalities and Powers work behind the scenes behind government you think all the stuff that’s happening today all the rulings that coming out of uh our Supreme Court and and our non non you know our Congress that’s saying nothing you think that’s not him manipulating things he’s manipulating things he’s behind the scenes that’s what he’s doing and he he fears the church he fears Believers because Believers have the truth we are still plundering his kingdom but remember Satan’s Mission his goals in his mission is to destroy us because we bear God’s image he it is to overthrow the kingdom of God it is to regain control of what he still possesses it’s to regain lost territory his strategies are to Tice us to sin to in hinder our spiritual disciplines to misrepresent God and the truth to keep you from the truth to to oppose our sanctification that the spirit of God is producing and his devices are his devices are strategies but different devices and methods that he’s used like it says in Corinthians chapter 2 so that no Advantage would be taken of us by Satan for we are not ignorant of his schemes who are not ignorant of schemes the church the people who are following the word of God are not ignorant of it schemes because it’s only in the Bible that reveals who he is and what his schemes are and what his goals are so the church has to know its enemy and not be ignorant of the Unseen spiritual realm remember though Satan is not all knowing he cannot be present EV everywhere Satan is stronger than we are and is a form formidable en enemy against but us but he is not God he’s not equivalent to God he’s scared of us because we have the spirit of God in us and we have the word of God he cannot no longer get a hold of us he cannot get his hands on us we are protected by Christ it’s just like in the testimony of the man that spoke this morning he realized that he was delivered from Satan see the Devil is a slanderer who deliberately advances his false charges is against God and his people so what are Christians to do are they to cast him out no are they to rebuke him no are they to exercise him no are they to bind him no we have no power and authority to do that we are in scripture exhorted to resist him how do we do that we resist him only in the truth as we submit to God and stand in strength then the devil flees for a season until then we we get we we continue to grow in the truth and we become more skillful with the sword of the spirit to resist the attempts to oppose God’s word and to interject falsehoods into our mind don’t ever forget Believers we are no longer under the Dominion of Satan no matter and he wants us to think that we are still under his Dominion we are not so God’s recipe for right living begins with right thinking we are better equipped to thwart the adversary when we are nourished by sound Doctrine by scripture scripture Transforming Our mind scripture guiding our path scripture showing us the potholes scripture giving us the wisdom of God Scripture turning on the spotlights to everything that’s going on and giving us a world view that’s God’s view of the world so living in and for the truth does have a jagged Ed Edge to it God does not promises promise US health wealth and that everything will be fine because we are Kingdom Kids no living for and proclaiming the truth will put the World the Flesh and the Demonic Realm against the Disciples of Jesus Christ and that’s in a sense what Jesus is teaching his disciples here that demons are real and they’re against God’s people but we have won the victory in Jesus Christ all right now let’s go on to the third characteristic verse 14 to verse 17 and we see the merciful Miracle of Jesus and the people’s response now back up to verse well before I get to verse number 14 and we see the swine the swin herders report we will find that the the people saw this Untamed wild ferocious demon-possessed man now tame now calm now clothe now rational they saw a redeemed demoniac they saw the fruit of the Redemptive Touch of Christ Jesus brought calm to chaos and Sanity to Insanity you know according to the wisdom of Solomon insanity is an observable trait within the fabric of sinful humanity is it not in fact this is what Ecclesiastes says this is an evil in all that is done under the sun that there is one fate for all men furthermore the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insane insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives afterwards they go to the dead afterwards they die so in a very real sense a person can be considered somewhat insane until they come to Christ and they be begin to see more clearly what God has done and will continue to see more plainly as they are transformed by the word of God see The Narrative of the demoniac man from the country of the Gans surely demonstrates this look at verse number 14 it says this their herdsmen ran away and reported in the city and in the country and the people came to see what it was that had happened they came to Jesus and and observed the man who had been demon possessed sitting down clothed and in his right mind the very man who had had the legion and they became frightened so here it is Jesus Mercy to a demon possessed man a legion of demons Jesus comes into the area he commands the demons to leave they leave and what is left a man who’s sane spiritually sane he’s sitting down he’s clothed he’s in his right mind see jesus’ Mercy went out to a man who had been held captive in pain and Shame by evil spirits and for Jesus one man ‘s Deliverance is worth more than the loss of 2,000 pigs what Mercy is that for Jesus to go to such an extent to save one man this man like us are by Nature slaves to evil we are not free we are not bent we are actually bent towards self-destruction we’re in Inc capable of breaking the powers which have bound us it is Christ Alone who can break the power of sin and Satan in our lives and set us free to serve God and that’s the point he’s the only one who could do it so what is the response to God’s mercy to this man amongst the locals in verse number 15 it says this they became frightened remember After the Storm did the disciples become frightened yes they became frightened about what who the who is this guy see when the Holy is manifested in the midst of Unholy people the appropriate human response is dread when a holy God comes into the life of a person they don’t continue to do what they’re doing they tremble because they realize what Holiness is and then something else happened to these people they were actually quite angry now it could be they’re angry for several reasons Jesus messed up their lucrative industry they have no more pigs anymore to sell they have no more income so they’re angry look at verse number 16 and 17 those who had seen it described it to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man and all about the swine verse 17 and they began to implore him to leave their region they did not want Jesus around that should that’s the case most of the time either you want Jesus around or you don’t you can’t have both you got that there’s no middle ground you have you got to have either Jesus and follow him and serve him or you don’t want him around and in a sense if you don’t want him here why would you want him after you die if you don’t want to follow him now why would you want to spend etern eternity with him in heaven why doesn’t make any sense if somebody thinks like that but that’s how people think I can live my life the way I want to live it I can sin the way I want to sin and I could go to heaven because I was a good person no sorry that’s not what Jesus says but that brings me to another characteristic of Jesus his mission the mission The Marvelous mission of Jesus look at verse number 18 see once the man is now sane what does he want to do the people don’t want Jesus but the man wants to go with Jesus that’s the natural thing I want to be with Christ right look what it says in verse number 15 or excuse me verse number 7 18 it says and he was getting into the boat and the man who had been demon possessed was imploring him that he might accompany him look at verse number 19 and he did not let him Jesus would not let this man go with them now let me just step back for a minute he was a first generation Christian matter of fact he was the first to be saved in his region could you imagine if you were the first saved in this whole country and you knew you were because you believed the truth and the spirit of God was in you and you it was the of God was already teaching you rapidly see he didn’t want to stay there amongst all this unclean stuff he wanted out of there he wanted to go with Jesus and that’s why a lot of people they they get saved out of a life of sin and immediately they they would rather be with Jesus but see Jesus doesn’t always take us right away does he most of the time he doesn’t he leaves us here why does he leave us here right sometimes it’s I think it’s easier to die for Christ than to live for Christ it’s hard to live a Christian Life not easy I I haven’t found it easy at all it’s getting harder every day there’s pressures all around us he doesn’t want want to be left alone amongst his countrymen he knows his countrymen but he saw Jesus and he didn’t see someone to fear he saw someone to love he saw saw the mercy of Christ he experienced conversion so it was a reasonable request however Jesus did not permit the man to go with him instead what did he do Jesus commanded him to go to your own people report to them what great things the Lord Has Done look at who it says in verse number 19 who is he who is he to report to that means redeemed people have a report to give they have a testimony to give and verse number 19 he said to them go home to your people and report to them see there is a group of people to go to and then secondly what is he to report in verse number 19 what great things the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you you know what Mercy is Right Mercy is is God not giving you what you do deserve that’s what Mercy is and what did he deserve he deserved to be killed by the demons and go to hell but God’s mercy snatched him God’s mercy rescued him because that’s what the Messiah does he rescues people he rescues people from the clutches of Satan and from the condemnation and bondage of their sin that’s what he does so there’s a there’s a basic principle that underlies these commands that Jesus gives to this this new converted demoniac the first is this a person is not delivered from bondage merely for his own enjoyment of god-given freedom and secondly the person is also delivered in order to give testimonies to others concerning the Divine deliverer Jesus Christ therefore this cured demoniac was urged to broadcast his story to his people in that region and not go with Jesus and what is amazing don’t have time to go there now what is amazing is that in Mark 15 and in Mark 7 that region of decapus look at verse number 20 of Mark chapter 5 it says and when he went away he began to Proclaim in decapus what great things Jesus Jus had done for him and everyone was amazed by time you get to the place where Jesus comes back around and goes into that area and has him and his disciples preach there’s great crowds following I wonder why why were the Great C crowds maybe because when this man went out with this message people began to get saved they began to repent and believe in Jesus Christ and to enter the kingdom of God they began to have the spirit of God indwell them in other words they became real Believers and they had something to say they had something to tell someone this is not oh I’m religious now no not at all this goes way deeper than that so how did how did you become a Christian please don’t tell me that you have always believed and so conclude that you have always been a Christian please don’t do that do you know that that cannot be true or the very thought of conversion loses its meaning in order for anyone to become a Christian something has to happen to them something has to take place in them so no matter what happens we cannot make ourselves Christians you cannot make yourself a Christian Christi no one can make themselves a Christian no one can deliver themselves from the condemnation of sin and the clutches of Satan people become Christians when the holy spirit of God comes in power and brings the truth of God’s word home to your hearts in a particular way in which the truth about Jesus Christ is expressed his death his burial his resurrection what he did on the cross and when you believe that well when that happens it’s when you realize your true condition and standing before God that all your accumulated righteousness and religiosity is useless it is garbage it cannot save you you realize how wrong you have been about Jesus and see how much you need to be saved by Jesus Christ the righteous one that the Holy Spirit shows you that Jesus Christ came into the world to save Sinners and that the world is in a state of sin and that include you and I you then realize you need to repent repent of your unbelief and turn to Jesus Christ in complete submission confessing your sin and sins to him then with childlike faith Faith a person receives Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior and you know what God does he saves you and the next thing you do you get ready for baptism that’s the next thing you do so see becoming a Christian means to undergo a complete change a change in thinking a change in Action a change in Direction you were dead you are now alive you were lost you are now found you were blind you now see you are an enemy of God now you are a born you are born again to God into God’s family you are insane now you’re sane that’s what a Christian is so have no fear jesus takes care of the Demonic realm and he does it by his Majestic preeminence over demons his M magnificent power and authority over demons and then he rescues those under demonic influence by his mercy and Grace found in the gospel and then he send you and I out into the world to tell our families and to tell our friends about Jesus Christ and to preach to them the gospel of the kingdom and then when we do that other people get born again other people come into the kingdom and the kingdom and the church grows and grows see that’s what he’s telling them but it’s not without a struggle it’s not without a fight and we’re in that battle we’re in that struggle but Jesus is the vi Victorious one I just ask has anyone here today not been rescued by him yet today may be the day you get rescued by Christ today is the day and if you are rescued by Christ you have everything to praise him about you realize that you have everything to give him glory every day every day you wake up you have something to thank God about because of what he’s done for you see we we are not without praise and without Thanksgiving and now without rejoicing we are not without any of those things in fact in the last verse of scripture it says when he gave testimony to the his family members and to the locals they were amazed amazement always brings some kind of result because they’ll say I want to hear more about this wow this is incredible but that’s Jesus Christ that’s who he is and if he’s your lord and savior thank him live for him serve him do it every day wherever you go you live under the eyes of God and I pray that you would live that way forever until you see him face to face and I see him face to face then we will really Rejoice so until then let’s pray Lord I Thank you this morning again for the incredible word of God thank you Lord how the word of God Bears testimony of who you are and it does it with Incredible accur accuracy it does it within narrative and real life situations it does it in a way that we still can Proclaim it with power and the demonstration of the spirit of God I pray Lord today that if there is someone here that has not been rescued by Christ today they would come and ask Christ to rescue them from the clutches of the enemy and from the condemnation of their sin and they I pray they would come and believe in you as their lord and savior and you would grant them eternal life you would grant them faith and repentance that they may believe and be saved I pray for that Lord and for those who are I pray Lord that you would not allow us to fall into despair of the things that are going on in the world but help us to be encouraged every day by what you’re doing in your plan and Lord please open our mouth to speak the gospel to our family and friends that we haven’t spoken to yet Lord don’t allow our tongue to be tied allow us to speak if we know you allow us to speak you left us to speak and I pray Lord that we would know the gospel to be able to speak and that we depend on the spirit of God In Prayer to give the message to people and I pray Lord that you would save our family and friends thank you for the ones you have saved Lord continue to use us till the day we die continue to allow us to speak forth the Gospel of Jesus Christ like like this man did and I pray when we do people would be amazed because they never heard it before and I pray as they are encouraged in that way they would come to ask more questions and we can answer them and they would become your disciples and come into your church and get baptized and make Proclamation about what the great things you have done thank you for your mercy and Grace and I pray it in Christ’s name amen

June 28, 2015
Revelation on a Dark and Stormy Night

In this sermon, Pastor Babij examines the account of Jesus calming the wind and waves on the stormy Sea of Galilee. While this event is instructive when it comes to how the believer perseveres through trials and suffering, Pastor Babij explains that this episode is ultimately about who Jesus is. Truly, who Jesus is and who we are in relation to Him are the truths that enable us to succeed in life’s testing storms.

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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.

all right let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to the gospel of Mark chapter 4. the gospel of Mark chapter 4.

and this morning we’ll be looking at verse 35 to verse 41.

verse 35 to verse 41 of the Gospel of Mark chapter 4.

and once you find that let me read that section of scripture verse number 35 chapter 4 it says on that day when evening came he said to them let’s go over the other side leaving the crowd they took him along with them in the boat just as he was and other Boats were with him and there arose a fierce Gale of wind and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up Jesus said Jesus himself was wit was in the stern asleep on the cushion and they woke him and said to him teacher do you not care that we are perishing and he got up and rebuked the wind and said to the Sea hush be still and the wind died down and became perfectly calm and he said to them why are you afraid do you still have no faith they became very much afraid and said to one another who then is this that even the wind and the Sea obey him let’s pray Lord thank you this morning again for the word of God Lord impress upon our heart the needed lesson for us so Lord we can take it and use it in our life for Lord it is an important one for all disciples that’s why it’s placed at this juncture in the gospels where the disciples are still growing Still Getting to Know Who You Are and so Lord we’re all in the same place we’re we’re still getting to know you and I pray Lord you would help us know you better so we can live by faith and I pray in Christ’s name amen all right so I titled the message this morning Revelation on a dark and stormy night now I don’t I don’t know if you know those dark and stormy night you know stories usually on the dark and stormy night you tell the story to somebody you know uh we were parked by the park and um we heard that there was a man in the area who had a uh clawed hand and the next day we woke up and we we had the claw on the side of our door handle you know that kind of stuff uh now it is interesting that this storm and this boat ride that was taken by the disciples was done at night um or actually at least the storm was done that night Jesus and his and his disciples had been teaching in the open air and ministering to to crowds all day and Jesus made a proposal in the evening of the day when he was preaching on The Parables from the boat his proposal was to go across to the other side of the lake of Galilee that would be into the country of the garrisons and we see that in chapter 5 verse number one where it says they came to the other side of the sea into the country of the garrisians so that’s where they were heading and Jesus said let’s do that but remember we ended last time Jesus first went home and instructed his disciples privately and as Mark chapter 4 verse 34 informs us and he did not speak to them without a parable but he was explaining everything privately to his own disciples so how privileged is a person to be called his own disciples and that’s who’s in the boat with him now his own disciples so today our passage is about a providentially designed trial and let me say at the get-go this is not an event that teaches us about Jesus Jesus getting us through the storms of life it’s not about that that’s taught in other places in scripture but not here instead it is events specifically and providentially designed to increase the disciples faith in who Jesus is that is The Sovereign and all-powerful Lord up until this point they weren’t getting that see we will learn three things about our lord Jesus and let’s learn them well because it is important for us to know to live life now we’re going through the same things if we’re Disciples of Jesus Christ we’ve been repented and believed in Christ as our Lord and savior we will go through a storm that has been specifically designed by God for us here’s the first thing that we’ll notice in our passage that Jesus directs his disciples Into the Storm because he says in verse number 35 let’s go over the other side so most of his disciples remember our sailors so they took charge of the vessel once they get into the boat this is their home this is where they operate the most efficiently and as you notice in verse number 36 that’s what it kind of communicates it says leaving the crowd so a new crowd had formed they took him they took Jesus along with them in the boat and then notice what it says just as he was and other Boats were with him see Jesus had finished a hard and long day of work but Jesus was not a sailor and so they treated him as someone not being a sailor so disciples took him along with them in the boat just as he was that means that Jesus was taken aboard tired and weary as he was without going ashore to rest or make preparations now for your information in 1986 a first century vessel was found in the mud of Lake Galilee after that area had experienced a drought for some time the boat that they found was 27 feet long seven and a half feet wide and four and a half feet deep the the fishing boat was capable of holding 12 to 15 people Some Gave it to name the Jesus boat and the reason why they did that is because it most likely it was the closest type of boat to what we read about in scripture matter of fact you can go to Jerusalem and see that boat on display and it’s interesting that um that boat is uh it’s there and it was captured uh it was a unique uh archaeological find and they dated back to the first century now notice in our passage that there’s a flotilla that went along with him it says other Boats were with them now which means anyone in this new forming crowd who had a boat try to follow Jesus and the disciples now that lead boat had probably around 13 passengers 12 disciples and Jesus then something suddenly happened in verse number 37 a storm it says and there arose a fierce Gale wind and the waves and let me just stop right there one thing you and I can Bank on we can Bank on the truth that if you were called to Salvation and repented and believed in Jesus Christ that at some at the and at the same time you were called to be Sanctified that means you were called to be set apart to God you were called to grow in the knowledge of God along which salvation came sanctification that means practically God is definitely working in the circumstances of our everyday lives maybe one of the doctrines that have has been lost in the church today is the doctrine of God’s Providence in everyday lives sometimes we live from Sunday to Sunday but we don’t live on Monday that is as if God’s involved with our life in the details of our life and the circumstances of our life but I tell you what he is and he’s doing it in order to teach us what we cannot learn in the Sunday School lesson he’s doing it in order to teach us what we cannot learn uh in the Lord’s Day preaching message we will learn that God does his greatest work in trials and tribulations and difficulties and the stressed moments of daily living that’s where he does his work the most so in these circumstances that is when we’re going to really find out if and how we have been listening to the preaching and to the Sunday school and to what the word of God actually says see do you really know who Jesus is do you really know who you are do you really know what you really need do you know those things usually it is in the storm we receive more Revelation to answer the most vital questions so see Jesus directed his disciples into this it wasn’t a storm when they left it was a storm when they got in the middle of the lake of Galilee that’s when it became a storm matter of fact the storm came about when they could not it was so violent that they could not find their way to the shore they didn’t know what direction the shore was and these were skilled fishermen these were skilled sailors so that’s the first thing Jesus is going to direct us into that storm secondly we find this about Jesus that Jesus prepared a providential test of uncontrollable power that means in verse 37 and 38 that he takes to control away from his disciples they can do nothing about it except lean on their past understanding of what they ought to do and if you notice in verse number 37 it says and there arose a fierce Gale of wind and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up see the storm was unusual because it was in the evening it was an evening storm many fishermen did their fishing at night to actually avoid such evening storms or excuse me to avoid the day storms because the evening storm seems to be lighter and calmer however the Sea of Galilee is notorious for the danger it’s dangerous storms without warning they come up in fact our text wants us to get the sense that this was a mega storm actually one of the Greek words there megalay which we get the word Mega means great it was a great storm in fact the fierce Gale winds could also be translated hurricane power winds so this was no little storm now the climactic and geographical reasons surrounding the Sea of Galilee would include first the surface of the sea is 700 feet below sea level the lowest freshwater lake on the earth is the Sea of Galilee it’s the lowest freshwater lake on the earth second thing the lake sits at the bottom of the Jordan Valley surrounded by steep hills and mountains the valley and Gorges between the mountains can funnel the wind from the West off the Mediterranean Sea or from the East off the desert and these winds can stir up a violent storm in an instant without any warning because of the situation there now we know of course of course it wasn’t because of those things it was because of God’s Providence that it was happening now if anyone has ever been on a large body of water and is stored in a storm suddenly arose that took you by surprise immediately you feel very vulnerable and helpless you quickly assess that the only thing you could do is try to stay above water and do everything you can from sinking and try to make it to shore now I’ve never been in a little boat when a storm came up but I was on an aircraft carrier when they had done they were done flying planes and so the planes were put in the bottom deck and a storm came up carriers don’t usually fly uh sail into storms because they fly into good weather so they can fly planes but being that the planes were now put away the captain wanted to make a shortcut and go through and get home quicker and so we got caught in the storm and I was up on the tower looking out and the waves of that the ocean the Atlantic Ocean was coming over that the bow of that ship like it was tossed around like a little toy boat this is a massive gigantic ship and it was frightening uh to see that I could imagine what it would be in the smaller craft where you uh there’s not much you can do so these expert sailors who knew how to handle a seaworthy vessel had even at times handled a similar craft through other storms even they became afraid these seamen were matter of fact greatly afraid because a night storm is extra scary even for seasoned fishermen so the rough eight to ten foot waves beat on the boat and sloshed over its side and began to take on large amounts of water so sinking and drowning was staring them in the face the disciples are sure that death by Drowning will soon come and they resent the fact of what Jesus is doing and what is he doing well look at verse number 38. Jesus himself was in the stern asleep on the cushion now the gospel of Mark’s aim was to give a picture of Jesus as he was what Jesus said and what he did but there’s no gospel that gives us such a picture of Jesus humanness in fact some people uh have concluded that one way you know that the gospel of Mark is genuine and that it was done by a an eyewitness of course Peter being the eyewitness and Mark getting his information from Peter is that he includes details like Jesus head being on a cushion a pillow but it was important because here’s this storm is Raging and Jesus is asleep now the the Sleep the peaceful sleep of Jesus is really due to the perfect absence of fear in his heart and to the absolute trust that he has in his father’s care while in the storm now so the disciples are clearly upset of what Jesus and this test this providential test this that of uncontrollable power really brings to the surface what’s going on in the disciples heart what they really do believe and what they don’t believe the first thing that comes Rises up in their hearts that the disciples still need much strengthening and conviction about the identity of Jesus the disciples who were privileged insiders in regard to the mysteries of the kingdom of God by being taught privately as his own disciples however what is interesting in our passage is that it doesn’t seem to move past that Jesus was more than a teacher because it says in verse number 38 and they woke him and said to him teacher other gospels say master see we must painfully see ourselves and the disciples we have to see ourselves there because we’re just like them same things going on see their growth was slow second thing that comes to the surface is when the storm Rises the disciples doubted whether Jesus really cared about them look what it says in verse 38 the last part it says and they woke him and said to him teacher do you not care we are perishing now we do the same thing when in the midst of a difficult situation or trial we lose faith in God’s love and care for us don’t we that’s the first thing that seems to go out the window a third thing that comes up is that Jesus has spoken about going to the other side of the lake but they had failed to trust Jesus word it was a man named uh actually Timothy Keller brings up an interesting observation here he said that this picture goes to our hearts because everyone who’s ever tried to live a life of faith in this world has felt this at some time what have they felt everything’s going wrong in my life I am thinking and God seems to be asleep absent or unaware have you ever felt like that I have see but what do we do at that point it’s going to be based on what we know about Christ it’s going to be based on that because that’s the most important when we get to that place we begin to think this if you love us you wouldn’t let us go through this storm if you love us we wouldn’t be about to sink if you love us you would not allow us to endure this deadly peril that’s what they begin to sing think that’s what we begin to think but the problem is that they’re concluding everything they’ve learned in the wrong way in fact they’re actually being ignorant of what the scriptures teach because if they understood what the scriptures teach and what Jesus taught them they should have known better and we should know better that God does allow people that he loves to go through storms in fact he ordains them he provides them he directs us into them and he keeps us there until we learn because we haven’t learned and we don’t learn other ways you know there was a young man who was trying to establish a a farm as a peach grower he had worked hard and invested all his time in his peach orchard which blossomed wonderfully and then a frost came he didn’t go to church the next Sunday nor the next nor the next and his minister went to see him to find out the reason and he this young fellow explained I’m not coming anymore to church do you think I can worship a God who cares for me so little that he will let a frost kill all my peaches the old Minister looked at him for a few moments in silence then said kindly God loves you better than he loves your peaches he knows that while peaches do better without Frost it is impossible to grow the best men without Frost the object is to grow men not peaches see God is going to grow Us in the storm but what we try to do is get out of the storm but the problem is God’s providential storms you can’t get out of matter of fact you can’t even pray out of it you can get you can’t get other people to pray you out of it the Lord will keep you there because God does allow the people that he love to go through his storms but at that point he’s going to teach us something very important he’s going to teach us something that we maybe knew theoretically but did not know practically he’s going to teach us something that while we’re in the middle of the storm we can actually put it into practice not at the end of it in the middle of it because it won’t be the first time a storm comes up in our Christian walk right it won’t be the last time that that happens it’s going to happen and God is going to disciple us and he’s going to teach us and he’s going to do it in this way because this is who he is a third thing about Jesus is this that in the middle of the storm well actually in this case at the end of the storm he gives a glimpse of the Wonder and the awe of his glory and that’s where he was taking this whole event because if you notice in verse number 39 it says what did Jesus do he says and he got up from sleeping on that pillow because he was woken up by the disciples and rebuked the wind and said to the Sea hush be still and the wind died down it became perfectly calm so the the the domain in which Jesus showed his power was absolute astounding within the mighty limits of sea and wind these were now subject to the word of Jesus command that Jesus positions himself over creation by his mere spoken word of power and authority and what does the Bible say immediately the wind and the Sea obey him see we need the storm because in the storm and after the storm we will learn more about who Jesus is see the sea has no ears yet it listens to the command of King Jesus and ordinarily the waters would remain rough for a time after the wind stops but not this time the wind has no knowledge and yet it stops blowing when King Jesus says hush be still that literally would mean put a muzzle on it and keep it on stop it see all the components of this Mega storm obey Jesus Christ like a compliant child so what does Jesus do he Reveals His omnipotent power over the vast forces of nature so here’s as if the disciples get a sense that all of nature obeys him all of nature obese and what kind of person is this see the conclusion would be this who but God can make the Raging wind and the heaving see obey a word by any consensus no one can control the wind and the sea no one except one God can see a miracle does not break the laws of nature or dismiss them or set them aside it acts above them and puts power into them it uses them with all the power of God and therefore shortens everything and makes the impossible possible only God can do that matter of fact we learn that from the word of God just a moment take your Bible and turn to Psalm 107 for a minute Psalm 107 and notice what it says in verse 28 through 30.

it says in Psalm 107 verse 28 Psalms right in the middle of your Bible so if you’re opening up to the mill you’ll usually find Psalms and then turn to 107 it says this in verse 28.

then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he brought them out of their distresses he caused the storm to be still so that the waves of the sea were hushed then they were glad because they were quiet so he guided them to their desired Haven that’s only one of other passages of scripture Psalm 89 says you rule the swelling of the sea when its waves rise you still them in other words the Old Testament they used to sing about God’s power over nature God’s power over the elements like the water and the sea and so the disciples are learning something but before that before they asked something Jesus has a question for them and this is very interesting back to the gospel Mark chapter verse number 40 chapter 4 here’s the question now you would you you would think maybe Jesus would say to them listen you had every right to be afraid you’re just human you’re just weak but he didn’t do that you know what he does he rebukes them look what he says in verse number 40 he says well Jesus didn’t say to them you had every right to be afraid no he actually rebukes them for their lack of faith look at verse 40 and he said to them why are you afraid do you still have no faith the disciples showed Mighty little faith in this test see the storm brought out the measure of faith that they really had and it wasn’t much feared showed their lack of faith the disciples still do not understand the mystery of Jesus nature so God provides a very unique miracle an unusual and acceptual exceptional situation and Designs it to magnify the person of Jesus Christ and lay bare before them the issues of their own heart and what is that they really don’t have faith what have they been doing what have we been doing because if you remember from the beginning of the Gospel of Mark till now see these disciples acted as though the teaching of Jesus the miracles of Jesus up into this point the training that Jesus had given them privately had not produced faith in them the disciples already experienced the authority of Jesus teaching and over demons they saw him cast them out they experienced Jesus as the perfect servant who cares about the physical and spiritual needs of people without being sidetracked by his main mission to preach the gospel of the Kingdom so people can be born again and be saved they saw Jesus demonstration of the power of compassion over the uncleanness represented by leprosy they experienced the right and the might of Jesus the son of man in his authority and his right to forgive sins on Earth and to instantly heal the paralytic the disciples further observed Jesus as a friend of sinners when Jesus wanted a man whom nobody wanted he called a man to be his disciple with a dubious and a sinful character the tax collector you remember him who was despised by the people and despised by the respected religious leaders it was there they got the SK they got the picture of the Scandal of Grace that Jesus can take a sinner and turn them into a mature image Bearer who reflects his glory but you know what I think this seems to be the problem that we all face as Christians no matter how long you’ve been a Christian the problem is well the problem is not that we don’t know what to do the problem is not is that we don’t know how to live we do know what to do we do know how to live see the primary problem is we don’t live up to what we already know the gap is not in our knowledge but in our obedience how do we address the gap between what we know and what we do well our passage helps us to see more of who Jesus is it helps us to see God and love him Anew it refreshes a deep reverential fear of our Lord Jesus Christ see the gospel begins to Begins the slow transformative work of changing gusts from the inside out which ignites a change in our behavior that comes through a heightened sense in what we love the most who we love the most because what we love is what we do what we love to do is what we do if you want to if you do something a lot you love to do it and so here are the disciples they are lacking Faith No Faith and Jesus rebukes them so in a sense we need to be rebuked too for our lack of faith but look at the two effects of the miracle there’s two effects in verse 41.

the first effect on the disciples is again the Greek uses the word Mega they had Mega fear it says they became very much afraid verse number 41. matter of fact it’s like saying listen you’re more afraid now than you were in the storm why is that the greatest fear came after the threatening storm had been removed this came from their new depth and understanding concerning the power and the authority of Jesus they saw Jesus in a way they never saw him before they saw the glory of God in Christ Jesus in that they never this uh experienced up until this particular point and that’s what they needed that’s what they needed to increase their faith and so that’s when it brings us to ask the vital question the essential question what is the essential question for all of us what is the essential question for any person who’s ever lived actually the essential question is who is God and in this case the essential question is who is he matter of fact it it means that who then is this one look at it says in verse 41.

it says they became very much afraid and said to one another who then is this that even the wind and the Sea obey him see the conclusion is this is God only God can do this see if his disciples really had known that Jesus cared about them and loved them and understood that he’s powerful and loving they would have not been scared they would not have been afraid they would have had Faith now you say well if you look in the gospels this becomes a very pivotal point in the ministries of the Apostles because the ministry of the Apostles is not going to be any Cakewalk they are going to be ridiculed they are going to be beaten they are going to be mocked they’re going to be thrown out of cities they are going to be stoned that in the sense is a storm that they’re in because of the Gospel they must have faith in God when the the effects of what’s going on seems impossible for them to be rescued they must be trusting God that God knows about this in my life they he knows about this storm he knows about this trial and he will give me everything I need to have the faith to what to trust him to bring me through it in the sense of I grow in my understanding and my knowledge of Jesus Christ see the gospel of Mark is so needed in our times this first century account of the person of Jesus Christ is just as a radical today as it was among the first Jew the Jews of the first of first century Palestine radical because the testimony of the Gospel Mark pushes against the preconceived expectations of the Messiah in their day in other words there is always a danger in misrepresenting the truth about Jesus and the essence of real genuine biblical Faith this situation this ordained storm by God showed who really Jesus really is so they would not at all be confused about following him and serving him confusion still abounds in our day as to who Jesus is today there remains a profound need to take a fresh look at the person of Jesus and the purpose of his life on Earth and believe me that the gospel of Mark is a reliable witness of the astounding person and the transforming mission of Jesus Christ in the in the context of the in-breaking Eternal rule of God where Jesus shows his disciples what happens when the king of the kingdom comes to Earth and not in its fullness demons are cast out people are healed and in the person of Jesus Christ the Sea and the waves are commanded by a word from a human being called Jesus Christ who now they’re walking away saying this is more than a man this is God and that’s exactly what it was designed to do so the two essential questions as we go through the gospel Mark will be apparent to all of God’s true disciples who do you perceive yourself to be and who do you perceive God to be now if at this moment you are in the midst of the storm don’t forget it’s not a mistake God is too wise to make mistakes it is not unkind God is too good to be unkind to his disciples and it is not uncaring because God is too compassionate to be uncaring to those who are his own now it was Daniel Atkin Akin who said this there must be a contrast between those disciples in US because they’re at a disadvantage we’re not at a disadvantage we have the whole Bible we have no excuse we know Jesus is all-powerful and all-knowing we know he has taken care of us and all our sin by nailing it to the cross and giving us his righteousness we know he rose from the dead and defeated Satan and death we know that we know he can be trusted no matter what because of who he is he is a God who cannot lie he is a God who says every who does everything he says he’s going to do to its completeness so trials and difficulties are Divine appointments to strengthen our faith so why are we still afraid do we still have no faith and remember this God did not abandon you in the Ultimate Storm he will not forsake us in the less lesser storms the only storm that could have ultimately drowned us is God’s Own wrath and judgment upon us because of our sin that storm was calmed forever by the object of our faith Jesus Christ our Lord and savior so see Jesus directs us into the storm by Jesus power he protects us and cares for us in the storm and by Jesus person in character put on display before us From The Storm in a more revealing way than we knew before we grow in our faith in trust in Jesus Christ that the more we learned about Jesus Christ the more we practice what we learn the greater our faith in trusting God than in every circumstance of life every circumstance of life his disciples should display Trust in Jesus Christ because if it’s happening in your life if you’re going through a trial or a tribulation God has directed you there and he’s teaching you something there and he because he’s he sanctifying you you will learn what you have to learn and come out and you will increase your faith in Christ Jesus that’s what will happen because that’s how God works and that’s why this is placed right there in this story uh in this gospel because it it’s disciples needed that their faith to increase so that your knowledge of God will increase your faith proper knowledge of God will increase your faith you know what we all need it nobody can everybody’s in the boat this morning there’s nobody outside the boat we’re all in the boat all right and we’ve all gone through storms if you’ve been a Christian for any length of time you’ve gone through many more probably more than one storm in your life all right and if you’re still here and you’re still praising the Lord and you’re still witnessing and you’re still thanking God for so great of Salvation And if you if the goal of the earth is growing dim and you’re looking forward to being his presence then God’s done his work if you’re grumbling and complaining and moaning and all those things you have not learned you have not learned what God wants to teach you because those are not fruit of the spirit those are fruit of the flesh right you know the fruit of the spirit is right love joy peace long-suffering gentleness kindness goodness right all those things that’s what God’s going to make you to be and then when you go out in that world you’ll be a light of the Gospel you will be a testimony to those who are around you you have people come up and you say how could you go through that and have that attitude how could you go through that and not have a problem with God and you’ll have a you have a reason to give an answer of the hope that lies within you right with fear and reverence that’s what you’ll do so I guess this morning I need this passage of scripture uh this week and I wrestled with it and struggled with it and it wrestled with me and struggled with me and it got me on on the mat and uh and I thank the lord it’s there because I believe this is the key is trust in Christ and all God’s people said what amen let’s pray Lord thank you this morning Lord again Lord your word is so penetrating as we look at the details of the text and we see the the details of the narrative Lord we we see how you put yourself on display and Lord in this case you put yourself on display to show the disciples a part of who you are that they did not see before and Lord they lacked faith when the storm came but Lord After the Storm was over they did ask the right question and they did get the answer they began to see you more than just a teacher more than just a master but they began to see you now as the God man as someone who has come into this world to do with a great task to accomplish and Lord even though that didn’t become real clear to them until after the resurrection Lord it is clear to us because we have the whole message so Lord we are in a very real way without excuse but I just pray Lord that you would build our faith and that we would see the powerful hand of God work in our life because we are your disciples and we would see you use us in the situations and circumstances of of life to be a testimony and to be a light and to be a person who gives the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who do not know you yet and I pray that we’d also be someone who can strengthen new disciples to learn how to walk by faith and learn how to trust in Christ in all situations situations so I thank you Lord this morning I pray that you would use this in the way you see fit and I pray in Christ’s name

June 14, 2015
The Parable of the Tiny Mustard Seed

In this sermon, Pastor Babij explains Jesus’ Parable of the Mustard Seed. This parable, too, speaks of God’s Kingdom, and how a humble and insignificant looking beginning will later result in a globally significant dominion containing all nations of the earth. Pastor Babij also summarizes the parables presented in Mark 4 and asks how Jesus wants us to respond.

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alright let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to the Gospel of Mark the gospel for and we’ll be looking at verses 32 34 this morning let me read it mark chapter 4 verse 32 34 and he said how shall we picture the kingdom of God or by what parable shall we presented it is like a mustard seed which when sown upon the soil though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade with many such parables he was speaking the word to them so far as they were able to hear it and he did not speak to them without a parable but he was extinct disciples let’s pray lord thank you this morning again for allowing us to be in the Word of God to have the Word of God to listen to it give us ears to hear to be able to properly handle the Word of God but Lord just the practical application of it that we may know the truth of the word of God that we may know the meaning of it that we may know what we should be doing as believers help us to now understand it and do it and I pray that it would be done to the glow of your name Christ I pray amen so again remember Jesus is by the sea excuse me the lake of Galilee even though it’s called the sea alright where as he is there they said that in this area this is where the Sermon on the Mount was being given to so when he gives these parables it’s when the fields give promise of a harvest to be gathered in in due time that Jesus began to speak in parables concerning the secrets of the kingdom of God something that is kept secret for a long time and then unveiled by the Lord and that’s what’s going on here and so he is teaching them remember in parables a comparison and analogy an earthly story with the heavenly meaning and so far we have looked at the parable of the sower or betel better the soils secondly the parable of the lamp third the parable of the growing seed and usually the growing seed and the parable the mustard seed kind of go together as one parable and each of these parables remember is showing that the kingdom of God will grow by the power of God until it takes every true disciple from every people group in every nation so we’re looking this morning at the parable of the mustard seed or the tiny mustard seed and remember the mystery phase of the kingdom of God has some progressive things to it it has some hidden things to it and it has some dynamic facets to it and it has some very strange things to it alright so this morning there are actually two things that are we’re looking at with several sub points the first is that God’s kingdom program will experience extensive yet hidden growth and that’s what we read here in this portion of Scripture so let me move on to some of the details of this passage of this parable the first thing is this the smallness of the seed if you look at verse number 31 it says and it is like a mustard seed which when sown upon the soil though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil so the mustard seed was the smallest of garden seeds use in of course first the first century by the first century Jewish farmer the mustard seed was often referred to in the Jewish Mishnah as an illustration of something quite little quite tiny in fact in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 17 jesus uses the mustard seed in a proverbial way where he says to them because of the littleness of your faith for truly I say to you if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you will say to this mountain move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible to you so in that proverbial sense Jesus is still using it like that this is of course remember not a conclusive botanical statement on the smallest seed in the world but it was the small seed at that particular time where the farmers would use the seed and sometimes would grow wild so the focus is the smallness and insignificant beginnings of the mustard seed now how can something so small produce anything grand several different influential groups have already made a decision about Jesus ministry and the perception that he may be the Messiah remember his family members have concluded that he had overstepped his boundaries and have has really taken leave of his sentence senses and is out of his mind and needs some time of rnr and maybe some therapeutic counseling and that’s what it says in of course chapter 3 verse 21 he says when his own people heard of this they went out and to take custody of him to seize him for they were saying he has lost his senses a second a group of people were religious leaders and they just concluded Jesus was also insane and he was possessed by an evil spirit and then of course all the others had come to get close enough to Jesus to touch him so they can be healed or maybe as we go on in the gospel to have a Jesus perform a miracle and feed everybody so they were there for the food and it becomes very apparent that the crowd thought that Jesus was mad most of them or that he was just the man and they were starting to conclude that his ministry was really insignificant they were not seeing anything really great about it because remember the concept in the mindset of the day was the kingdom was going to come with all his fullness and power and here’s Jesus just the man teaching these things and the people seeing his healing yes part it should be showing the kingdom of God is coming but seeing those things but now it’s been some time that they’ve been around him and they’re not really getting thrilled too much about he what he’s doing and so they’re concluding that what he’s doing is insignificant and for sure not many people wanted to be part of anything insignificant they wanted to be part of something great they wanted to be part of something big everybody does but it’s at this very juncture that this parable makes a contrast between the insignificant mustard seed and the full-grown plant that it produces so the second thing in the details is in verse number 32 of chapter four and that’s the greatness of the plant and it says there yet it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants so a very small seed grows into a sizable plants one larger than all the plants of the garden in its mature state and becomes literally as Matt as actually Matthew brings out it becomes a tree it becomes that extensive so Jesus draws an analogy between the mustards bush microscopic beginnings and its large mature state in other words the smallest seed produces something completely out of proportion to itself so like the mustard seed remember he’s talking about the kingdom of God the kingdom would begin very small but it would end in of a grand mature state the many who had fallen into the group that thought it was insignificant would of course be be proven wrong in the days of its full appearance or as full maturity so everyone wants to be part of something grand not many you want to be part of humble beginnings however if they get the sense of what Jesus is saying they would come to know that humble beginnings humble ministry will finish with tremendous and great results but they have to get it they have to get the whole thing because if they don’t then they’re going to conclude like the people work including insignificant a little nothing spectacular just maybe another teachers come along so see the kingdom of God starts off small at christ first come first coming matta fact at his first comedy coming you don’t really see the how were and the glory and the majesty that’s going to be but at his second coming all the world will see the kingdom of God has grown to the point that it will see Christ’s Kingdom surpass all of the Earth’s kingdoms in its power in its glory and it’s in His Majesty so again one must have faith to believe that one must have faith to live within that context and there’s a very important reason Jesus is teaching this this way to his disciples because remember they’re going to go out into the highways and byways and preach the gospel but are they going to be received everywhere they go no they’re going to be mocked and ridiculed and they’re going to be stoned and they’re going to be killed so unless they have this future perspective in their mind they will soon give up and conclude with the rest of the group that this is really insignificant in Christ’s ministry is insignificant but the next section that we will look at in our text is is really a section that supports this view for look what it says in verse number 32 the last part of that verse in other words that this next the third thing is that the birds roosting in the branches just fills out the picture of the tiny seed growing into a tree where it says this in verse 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches but then notice the result so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade now many interpretations have been given to this but I’ll not go into those right now what I believe and what is saying here is that actually this is a common representation of kingdoms from the old test the men that a tree whose wide spreading branches afforded lodgement to the birds of heaven was a familiar old testament figure for a mighty Kingdom that provided shelter to the nation’s so let’s take our Bibles for a minute and tarrant turn back to Ezekiel the prophet Ezekiel and the Old Testament and then we’ll look at Daniel because Ezekiel remember speaking of the kingdom of Assyria wrote something quite similar it was something where the kingdom provided shelter to the other nations and I want you to notice the language that it uses in Ezekiel 31 and verse number 6 Ezekiel 31 and verse number 6 it says in all the birds of the heavens nested in its boughs and under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth and all great nations lived under its shade in other words that the kingdom of Assyria was providing this shelter for other nations and this protection for others nations where they came and nested there now nesting is really a picture of something not something rear a person is getting a benefit they’re getting a protection they’re getting something we’re like a bird when they make their nest they put their young it in and they protect that nest and so that’s what the picture is being given they’re also in the prophet Daniel you don’t need to turn to this one but in Daniel chapter 4 verse 10 it says kind of the same thing in in verse number 12 it says its foliage was beautiful and it’s fruit abundant and it was food for all the beasts of the field found shade under it and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches and all living creatures fed themselves from it in other words that again the picture is that the nation the kingdom of Babylon is supplying this nesting this protection this shelter for the other nations that are around them and they come under that of course that is something that is a picture there and so I believe that in the parables that’s exactly what he’s doing he is saying that when the nation when the kingdom of God gets huge and it becomes visible it’s going to be a shelter to the nations of the world then we see this in other passage of scriptures to but I have no time to go there I’ll pick them up later in this gospel but there is one place I want you to turn in Ezekiel and that’s Ezekiel chapter 17 verse 23 and 24 because this passage is really a passage that illustrates the Messianic Kingdom and notice in these two verses Ezekiel 17 verse 23 in verse 24 it says on the high mountain of Israel I shall plant it that it may bring forth bows and bear fruit and become a stately cedar and birds of every kind will nest under it they will nest in the shade of its branches in verse 24 and all the trees now the trees being referenced to the nations of the field will know that I am the lord so this is going to be a worldwide thing where people are going to come in and find shelter under the kingdom of God so these verses picture a great Kingdom as large as large as trees with birds flocking to its branches the kingdom’s start off of course this kingdom starts off seemingly small and insignificant but in the end it grows and who will be extensive it will be a great Kingdom and the other kingdoms of the world will in the end benefit from its greatness so the nesting of the birds in the branches is a symbol of the formation of Imperial control over many people’s the inclusion of many nations into the future kingdom of God all peoples of the world are going to be there and all nations will enter in and in actually enjoying it joy at find nests ting in it another person added the kingdom would grow from tiny beginnings to a great tree and would ultimately provide shelter protection and benefit to the entire world so in other words this is giving us true disciples an understanding of the mystery phase of the kingdom and the mystery of phase of the kingdom is go and have some evil aspects intermingled with it it’s going to have some opposition to it for example the hardness of men’s hearts as we saw in the parable of the soil and that of course Satan planting his workers right along true wheat in the church aids so within the spiritual part of the kingdom which is the church age that his kingdom will start small but will spread in power and influence and become victorious so pretty much that is the the package that Jesus is given to those who are there by the seed listening to him and now what it’s doing L it’s doing something else besides just explaining that the kingdom is going to become large and it’s going to provide shelter for other nations and this is what he always does in the parables which is an amazing thing I believe he narrows he’s narrowing down in other words the parables remember are almost a teaching that’s going to divide people it’s going to put a separation between two groups of people that’s what it’s always doing it’s separating the people and it’s causing them it’s putting them in a position to make a decision do I want to be part of this what I think insignificant tiny beginning which I don’t see going anywhere or am I going to understand that this tiny beginning this humble beginning is going to turn into something grand over here and I want to be part of that and it’s going to take faith to be part of that see that’s what the parable is doing and so that’s exactly what goes on in verse number 33 notice what it says in mark chapter 4 verse 33 now this is the 10th time that the Lord is talking about hearing and look what he says with many such parables he was teaching the word to them so far as they were able to hear it so even though the people were there listening and of course Jesus being the good teacher is leaking out the information not giving it to them all at once because he said he has other parables that he’s going to take care of so what makes a person a able listener what makes a person able to hear well so far we saw that it’s the person who has active listening active listening enlightens the mind active listening creates a desire to understand understand what understand the role of the kingdom of God to understand the nature of the kingdom of God to understand that Christ and the Word of God play what it would they play the development of the kingdom of God that remember Jesus ministry is about preaching that’s his main thing he’s teaching it’s not about his miracles it’s about his teaching that’s going to be the main thing so look at what it says that Jesus is teaching and he did not speak to them without a parable now so Jesus Christ remember must preach the kingdom for the purpose that’s for that purpose he came into the world only the presentation of that Kingdom must now be for a decision it must be we must separate two classes of people remember there’s going to be the insiders right and who are the insiders those are the ones who listen actively and it leads them to a clearer understanding of the mysteries of the kingdom but then there are the other class and that’s the outsiders and outsiders of course would now regard these mysteries as wholly untellable unintelligible hard to believe and even now to be rejected by them and the ground of this really lays in the respective positions that these two classes have towards the kingdom of God so the mysteries the mysterious manner in which they were presented in the parables the mysteries of the kingdom are now set forth not just an initial instruction but in final decision you must make a choice about Christ you must make a choice about the kingdom of God I remember if we go back in our our text to verse number 11 that we see that the outsiders fail to listen it doesn’t mean that they don’t have ears they just don’t understand what they hear because they have concluded in their mind otherwise not everyone was given the understanding about the mysteries of the kingdom of God and if you look at verse 11 it says but those who are outside get everything in parables verse 12 and here is the prophetic nature of Jesus teaching in verse 12 of chapter 4 so that while seeing they may see and not perceive while hearing they may hear and not understand otherwise they might return and be forgiven so he he said to them do you not understand this parable how will you understand all the parables so the outsiders who are not listening actively who are coming to different conclusions get no more explanation from Jesus as long as they follow Jesus for the wrong reasons as long as they remain in unbelief and resist the gospel they will not receive any more revelation if they did according to chapter 4 verse number 13 and four they would get more they would they would be able to return and be forgiven but that’s not the case here the persons who fail to listen will not be enlightened by the Word of God nor will they desire to understand the nature of the kingdom of God so active listening determines whether a person is an outsider or they are insider weather and if they are insider we will know that they will desire fellowship with Jesus and they will desire also a fuller understanding of the kingdom of God now just in our minds remember the two groups that are outsiders ruler there’s one group there’s only two groups insiders and outsiders but the outsiders from chapter 3 verse 21 were Jesus family remember who seemed to misunderstand him in the beginning and so they concluded that he needed some help because he was insane as I mentioned already but remember outsiders can become insiders if they repent and believe the gospel they don’t have to stay in that position but then of course there’s a group of outsiders like the religious leaders who were critics who accuse Jesus of being a sorcerer and because in cahoots with Satan they would be of course Jesus opponents and they are the ones who are not listening they have concluded against Jesus but again going back the insiders are the ones who do what in verse number nine look at verse number 9 of chapter 4 of the Gospel of Mark it says and he was saying he who has ears to hear let him hear so some were given understanding from this spiritually rich agricultural story others were withheld from having understanding and who are the ones who were given understanding well it were the people in chapter 3 of the Gospel of Mark who were sitting at Jesus feet they were the ones who as it says in chapter 3 verse 32 a crowd was sitting around him and they were saying to him behold your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you and he finally said to them well hey who are my mother and my brothers and he says and whoever does the will of god he is my brother my sister and my mother and those were the ones who were sitting listening wanting to understand what Jesus was saying about the kingdom of God because they were growing in faith one theologian said these words were not a repudiation by Jesus of his mother and brothers instead they were a profound teaching about union with Christ Jesus declared to those who believed in him and do God’s will they have a relationship with him that is closer than blood relationships between parents children and siblings so here’s the point if you want to be considered to be an insider you have to be spiritually related to Jesus to have entrance into the kingdom of God and by doing the will of God so how does such obedience begin well it begins by believing in Jesus chapter one of Mark repent of your sin believe in Jesus Christ so by the preaching of the word of God the Scriptures reveal the status and the dignity and the significance of Jesus Christ it is clear that Jesus is the central person and focus of God’s person God’s programs we before salvation of men and women of all people who would believe so believing the gospel means to obey the message concerning our Lord Jesus Christ he is the son of God he is God’s own an only way of salvation that God sent Jesus to the cross that God put all our sins on him and punished them in him and so the people come to believe that truth and because of that they become the insiders they become the ones who want to have more of what Jesus is saying so so either a person is going to be depending on their own righteousness to enter the kingdom of God which they can’t enter with or they’re going to have to depend on God’s righteousness in which we can enter the kingdom of God and enter it in with joy so most thing that entry into the kingdom of God is predicated on the prerequisite of human righteousness and obedience however the kingdom of God is not a matter of human effort it’s a matter of what God believing what God has already accomplished and already done and that’s faith no one can enter the kingdom of God without repentance without fleeing from sin and putting trust in Christ alone in essence your response must be to repent and to believe so to be in the in crowd you cannot waffle on these imperatives for entry into the kingdom of God once you enter you will also be in the crowd that is sitting around Jesus learning from him worshiping him growing in love for God and others and following him with the understanding that his kingdom is going to start off in significant and small and you’re in that time and you know what we’re still in that time we’re still in the time oh yes the church grown the church has become huge but the church has grown with many variables to it and so well let’s look at chapter 4 in verse number 34 take notice what it says here and he did not speak to them without a parable notice but he was explaining everything privately to who to his disciples to who the in crowd to who those who have believed in Jesus Christ by repentance and faith and what were they doing they were learning from him they were worshiping him they were growing in love for God and others that’s what they were doing they were sitting around him and how privileged it is for you to be called in the passage his own disciples meaning that i own them they are mine i bought them they are part of my family they are my family and where I go I will bring them with me but right now you can’t come with me he says to his disciples you got to do the unfinished work of Christ you have to stay here until I finish everything so see are you a true Jesus are you a true disciple of Jesus would be the question to ask does the father see you actively listening does the father see you sitting at Jesus Christ desiring to understand and no more does the father see you serving well further explanation is only given to those in close communion and connection to Jesus Christ so there is a special place for his disciples there’s a special place for the insiders who experienced the kingdom of God and not only that could you imagine privately meeting with Jesus any questions you have and ask him and he will give you the answers directly not by parallel directly because he wanted his children to know exactly what he was doing in the world so that they would not be confused about his program so that they not would not give lose hope concerning his program even when faced with persecution they would not throw in the towel why because they were given the understanding of what God was actually doing in the world concerning the kingdom of God so now that true disciples know that they are living in the seed sowing times where the kingdom of God is still obscure and still hidden since Jesus began the process two thousand or so years ago and handed it off to his apostles to continue it and they handed it off to their disciples that came after them and they handed it off to the next generation right up to our present time so they see this parable is just as applicable to us it was to them even though the church has grown quite large it’s not the church that takes over the world it is the kingdom that does so we are still part of the seed sowing time and that is during the Explorer and hidden growth of the kingdom of god yes the church has grown in size but in with many peculiar era T’s to it like it says in Matthew the wheat and the tears grow together until the end of harvest so this is what true disciples know they know these things so that they are to be servants so they are to be patient so they are to be faithful so they are to be workers until the end but not everybody concludes that because the temptation could be while we’re living in the in-between time where the kingdom behind the scene is growing and the church is bringing people into it by the preaching the gospel of repentance and faith in the in-between time there could be people who become bewildered and become impatient and they conclude like the scoffers conclude in second Peter chapter 3 you know what it was right the scoffers concluded that nothing’s really changed and with this is what it says in second Peter it says know this first of all that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts and saying where is the promise of the kingdom where is it we’ve been looking for it we don’t see anything where’s the promise of the kingdom and then it goes on to say forever since the father’s fell asleep all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation of course they forgot about the flood in that passage of Scripture and they didn’t realize that the next time God brings judgment it’s going to be by fire it’s going to be where the Lord brings is a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up that’s what’s coming I’m remember that’s going to be part of the harvest because the harvest has the good part of it and has the judgment part of it like I mentioned last week so some may conclude nothing’s really changed it’s all the same some may search for something more stable what that is I don’t know it could be power it could be wealth it could be government it could be false messiahs who have promises that Jesus didn’t bring give people hope that he did not teach so some some somebody’s going to search for something more stable but there’s nothing more stable a true disciples knows there’s nothing more stable than in believing in Christ there’s nothing more stable than what he is establishing he’s telling us how he’s doing it so we don’t have to be taken by surprise others will search out something more promising now you say well who’s going to do that well you remember John the Baptist’s when he was put in prison John the Baptist when he was put in prison heard of the works of Christ the Bible says and he sent word to Christ’s disciples and he said to them are you the expected one or shall we look for someone else even John the Baptist when he was incarcerated alone in a dungeon type of place was asking the question are you the Christ and then how did Christ answer John the Baptist this is how he answered him jesus said to them go and report to John what you hear and see the blind receives sight the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the Deaf hear the dead are raised up the poor have the gospel preached to them and blessed is he who does not take offense at me he just clears away he’s clear he’s saying exactly what he was doing what the gospel say what we’re learning right now that’s what the answer the answer Jesus would give to us if we say are you the one or is there another Messiah that we should look for he would say the same thing well look at the Gospels that’s exactly what the gospel teach some will worry and Fred some are good at worrying they think worrying worry is going to accomplish something it accomplishes nothing except ruining your health both spiritually and physically and remember what the gospel Matthew says for this reason I said you do not worry about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink nor to your body as to what you will put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing and then Jesus of course concludes so do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself each day has enough trouble of its own does it not have we not learned that yet why drag your worry from yesterday into today and then bring it into the next day when Jesus says listen to all the things that Gentiles worry about you know where am I going to live when I where you know can I pay my bills I will provide to you if you’re faithful put first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and i will add those things to your life so you don’t have to worry about them you don’t have to fret about them I will do that so you have to trust the Lord will and others will invest their time talents and efforts for this life on the broad road where Jesus were it says in gospel of matthew enter the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and there are many many who enter through it for the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and there are few who find it and who are who are the ones who find it there are the ones who have ears to hear and listen actively to the message and respond to it as God cultivates that heart to receive the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and people end up believing and being saved so in conclusion what are the insiders beginning to understand what these three parables well the parable of the sower what are they understanding there the only person who’s able to enter the kingdom of God is the person who has ears to hear the true meaning their ears hear the message of the gospel of the kingdom and their heart receives the message of the gospel of the kingdom by repentance of their sin and trust and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of those sins and eternal life and then these continue to follow Christ throughout their life and bear fruit of genuine repentance and salvation throughout their life until the Lord takes them away so the parable of the sower is a person who was receptive and receives the truth the power Belov the lamp is the person who doesn’t hide the lamp under something but puts it up on a pedestal so all can be illuminated and of course Jesus concluded that particular parable of the lamp with about hearing again he said good hearers receive and get more bad hearers reject and lose little they once had and then of course that parable would mean listen keep listening and keep receiving and then the parable of the growing seed casting seed for growth is in the power of the word of God the seed is the word of God the seed will do all the work you need to do is just cast it proclaim it get it out there get it to your neighbors your friends your families anybody you can your coworkers get it out there and let the Word of God do its work but get it out there and the K and the word of the seed has a mystery grow through it that the word will produce growth remember the person who cast the seed goes to sleep they don’t worry about the sea and the seed grows in the ground and it sprouts up and of course what what does it mean in that the power of the growing seed it has a definite harvest to it that the word brings a shore harvest of souls who are born again into the kingdom and it brings a harvest of judgment on those who are not born again and then of course that means to be ready be ready and then the parable of muster see that the kingdom of heaven would grow from a tiny beginning to a great tree kingdom and would ultimately provide shelter protection and benefit to entire world so in that sense to be faithful to be patient and to be serving that’s what we ought to do so that is what real true disciples understand and that’s how they live their life they live their life so we’ll persecution coming even our day yes it may may we someday lose our life lose our job lose something because of Christ yes we may all right but in our mind there’s something happening behind the scenes and there’s hung something happening over here and we are going to be part of a grand and glorious explosion of the kingdom of God where Christ will reign over the whole world and we will be in his kingdom see that is the hope that we have so from now until then I don’t know if we’re 2000 some years into it who knows how long the Lord’s going to Terry it seems like the world has gone absolutely berserk everywhere worldwide not just here not just down here worldwide people are crazy and going and governments are doing wacky things and it just seems like it’s all being set up for the end times and they may be right on our heels so please don’t give up don’t throw in the towel continue to march continue to press on continue to grow in faith in Jesus Christ right because what Jesus says is true all everyone else is a liar but he is true alright so that’s what we ought to do we are continue on be faithful be casting seed be growing in our knowledge of Jesus Christ and be waiting for remember waiting for anticipating the coming of Christ right he may come for us in debt first but even if he comes for us in death we’re coming back with him right but he comes and for some reason we’re going to be alive and remain like it says in Thessalonians well then we may never die physically or otherwise we may just go with Jesus and be within its kingdom forever and ever that would be a glorious thing I don’t know who those are I hope I’m one of them i don’t know but nonetheless that we live in those days we live in those days and you know what you have the inside scoop so you have no excuse neither do i let’s pray lord thanks again for the tremendous incredible awesome Word of God we praise you Lord for it we thank you for these parables how how they were designed what their purpose was how they really do push people to make a decision there’s no straddling the fence there’s no Lake they can’t stay neutral for long even the ones who were the outside group like his family we know from the Gospels that many of them came to know Christ as their Lord and Savior after the resurrection and so lord if someone’s still here in the outside group i pray you bring him in by repentance and faith that Jesus Christ is the only way to be born again and to enter the kingdom of God and I pray you would save them for us who are saved who know or saved who have been born again Lord don’t allow us to lose hope don’t allow us to be captured by doubt don’t allow us to be intrigued by some person that may come on the scene that seems to have the answer and is skilled in their rhetoric don’t let us get pulled away helps to stick to what the Word of God says and live our life accordingly so Lord we would be all those things we would be receptive Lord we would be faithful we would be ready and we would be working and serving and patient until you conclude your program that we would write to the end serve you and love you and learn more about what your plan is thank you lord this morning for the word of god bless us and encourage us by in Christ’s name I pray amen

June 7, 2015
The Parable of the Growing Seed

In this sermon, Pastor Babij examines Jesus’ parable of the growing seed. Pastor Babij explains how the parable describes the mysterious power of the Word of God, the secret but certain growth of the Kingdom of God, and the coming gathering and judgment in the Harvest of God.

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okay you can take your Bibles and turn to Mark chapter four Mark chapter 4.

and I’ll be looking at this morning versus 26.

to 29.

as I consider last week we considered the lamp this week we’ll consider the scattered seed and then I will be looking at the tiny Mustard Seed next time but let me just read that this morning in verse 26 to 29 of Mark chapter 4.

and he was saying the kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day and the seed sprouts and grows how he himself does not know the soil produces crops by itself first the blade then the head then the mature grain in the head but when the crop permits he immediately puts in the sickle because the Harvest has come let’s pray Lord this morning as I look at this passage of scripture Lord encourage us with it challenge us with it give us understanding of it and I pray Lord that in the end we may be prepared for what’s coming in the Kingdom and I just ask you Lord that you would give us understanding this morning Lord use me Holy Spirit to speak to your people I pray in Christ’s name amen now if you look up to verse number one of chapter 4 again it says and he began teaching Again by the sea such a very large crowd gathered to him that he got into a boat in the sea and sat down and the whole crowd was by the Sea on the land now again this is where Jesus is teaching these Parables he is in a boat right off the shore and the reason why is because the crowds are so great they want to grab him they want to touch him because of the Miracles he was performing so Jesus gets into a boat where they can’t reach him but I want you to notice it says by the sea now we know this is the Sea of Galilee but the Sea of Galilee is not really a sea it’s the biggest lake in Israel in fact um it’s seven miles wide seven and a half miles wide about 13 and a half miles long about 140 feet deep in the center and the most famous fish that they take out of that the most popular one is tilapia and tilapia is known as Saint Peter’s fish or some people call it Jesus fish so if you really want to have a holy meal you may want to buy some tilapia I know that’s popular these days and it’s pretty good tastes like flounder and you may want to do that so just a little trivia there and so Jesus begins in this section to remember teach in parables in verse number two and he was teaching them many things in Parables and saying to them in his teaching just again to remind you so you get a handle on what parables are is that they are comparisons there are analogies a parable is really an Earthly story with Heavenly meaning but specifically parables are not meant to be fully obvious or transparent to everyone who’s in the crowd now this is a very large crowd there we know in that crowd there are religious leaders who are already rejecting Jesus there are Hangers On who don’t really know what Jesus is all about there are the 12 apostles all right who are already chosen by Jesus and then there are the followers who are Disciples of Jesus who are sitting at his defeat of Jesus and learning everything Jesus is teaching and of course we could assume that they’re real Believers and followers also all right but because it’s not obvious and transparent when the parable is being taught the hearer or reader must respond either by repentance or by rejection there’s no middle ground in this so there’s definitely one thing a parable is not it is not simply stories illustrating General moral truths it is they they are not that all right and then Parables also provide insight into the nature the coming growth and consummation of the kingdom of God all The Parables that we’re looking at are about the kingdom of God remember Jesus has come into the world and when he came into the world he brought the kingdom near he brought the kingdom into the world but not in its fullness he of course is the king of the Kingdom but he comes the first time as a servant not as what they would think a king would be and so he is the servant King and that’s what the gospel of Mark is all about the king who serves people and so he comes speaking now in Parables and remember Parables also reveal more truth to those who have receptive ears and hide the truth from others and then also parables in the gospels ultimately draw attention to Jesus as God’s Messiah as God’s deliverer and calls us to make a personal decision concerning him you could never ever be neutral when it comes to Jesus Christ there’s no straddling defense there’s no one foot on the shore or one foot in the boat you either are in or you’re not matter of fact the illustration that Steve gave I don’t think any takers were there nobody got into the wheelbarrow over the Niagara Falls right they didn’t trust the guy if you want to go and you get over to the other side is good but I’m not getting in that boat that wheelbarrow with you so another there has to be a decision so Jesus begins to teach in Parables and Jesus is going to reveal uh the secret thought plans and dispensations of God which were hidden from Human reason and reveal them only for whom they are intended so Jesus give seven Parables concerning the secret form of the Kingdom the first Parable was the parable of the sower or better the soils the second one was that of the parable of the lamp which we looked at last time today we’re going to look at the parable of the growing seed each of these Parables is showing the kingdom of God will grow by the power of God until it takes every true disciple from every people group in every nation that is the point that Jesus has come and he has come remember not to bring the fullness of the Kingdom but to bring the gospel of the kingdom and that those who believe in him would now take the gospel of the Kingdom to all Jerusalem Judea into the uttermost part of the world and they’re going to preach the gospel and what’s going to happen people are going to trust in the Gospel of Jesus Christ be saved be born again and come to the kingdom like you have all right the gospel came to you the gospel’s still going places from this time forward so it’s still happening we’re still in this seed casting age all right we’re still there and so we’re part of the process we’re part of doing the work of God so this morning I want you to focus your attention on verse 26 to 29 and we’re going to look at the parable of the growing seed and so the first thing you see here is that there’s three things going on in these verses there’s the casting of the seed secondly there is the mysterious growth of the seed and thirdly there is the definite Harvest because of the seed all right so let’s look at the casting of the seed for the kingdom growth and of course that’s part of our responsibility as disciples the emphasis of this Parable is the mysterious power of the seed itself to produce a crop look at verse number 26 and 27 and he was saying the kingdom of God is like a man who cast seed upon the soil and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day and the seed sprouts and grows how he himself does not know so stop there the the power of the seed is the focus not the man casting this even though even though that is an important part the power of the seed is the focus because it is the innate power of the seed which is cast out and is planted that produces a crop produces growth produces life so the disciples responsibility is to scatter the seed however the man who cast the seed upon the soil has no power in himself to make the seeds sprout and yes the seed must be brought to the soil but no person can make it grow so what the man who scatters the seed must do is he must Trust that it will grow see that’s what happens in fact uh this Parable teaches us something about ourselves that when we do the work of casting the seed of the Gospel there is also a helplessness that goes along with it it accompanies the work of God that is we know we have an inability to make the seed grow just as a farmer does not make the seed grow the farmer’s job is to get the seed to the soil right and then what does he do now I know by experience that when we do evangelism there’s a sense of you feel a helplessness I mean we have a desire to want to see people saved right but we know that we can’t make them get saved we can’t save them ourselves even though our desire may lean towards that so we must step back in our helplessness and trust that we get the seed out to them and what is the seed the weight of the parable is what the seed does when it gets into the Earth the seed is equal to the word of God that’s what the seed is the seed is the word of God and contained in the seed is everything needed for life and growth once the seed hits the ground it does all the rest so that’s what we have to trust the seed grows mysteriously that all life is in that seed and the power to produce growth is already in that seed and to develop maturity so then the seed of the word of God must be brought to the natural human heart it must Lodge there and then it must grow mysteriously the power of the word of God to regenerate to renew to Sanctified a soul is utterly beyond our comprehension matter of fact that is not our work that’s God’s work that’s what he does so in a very real way evangelism is all about trusting God’s work to save people and he does he does save people that’s his work the parable also teaches us something about the growth of the Kingdom that is its growth is indiscernible yet constant and that’s what he wants his disciples to pick up that this seed when it is cast you can’t really discern what’s going on once it’s cast just like a farmer once he puts the seed in the ground he doesn’t really know what’s going on underneath there he doesn’t know where the life comes from all right but he does know this that he has to cast the seed in fact in our passage of scripture and um verse number 27 the man who cast the seed is described as going on with his ordinary routine of Life leaving the seat alone notice what it says the verbal phrases in Mark chapter 4 verse 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day now why is that there because it denotes reoccurrent action which goes on night and day day after day and he does his regular routine as he does his regular routine the seed literally is lengthening itself in other words the seed sprouts and grows but it is slow growth and almost undetectable so what a mystery is that this mysterious growth of the seed into a plant even today challenges modern man’s ability to explain completely what actually takes place it’s it’s a mystery even today they can’t really explain it no we’re not when Jane and I uh moved to East Millstone this was really country to us I lived in a town all that they made was chemicals so year years before I planted a little flower garden mostly of marigolds by a little trailer home that we had and I came to light those marigolds because they were such Hardy flowers after summer was over there was an early snowfall in late fall and after the snow melted those marigolds were still flowering so I thought I’m going to pick off those seeds and grow them when I get to East Millstone so I got my an old empty vitamin jar plucked off the seeds stuck them in the Jarred well it wasn’t for 20 some years did I come across them again in fact I was rummaging through some stuff in our old prone flood-prone basement and there rolled out an old vitamin jar and the seeds were still in there and they were still dry so of course you know what I thought I’m going to plant those seeds and I’m going to stick them in the ground to my surprise they sprouted and produced some hearty marigolds that year how is it possible for those seeds to lay dormant for such a long period of time and still have the Mystery of Life in them I don’t know I don’t know in fact when I was I was reading archaeologists found seeds in an Egyptian too that laid dormant for four thousand years when they planted those old seeds they still sprung to full life after four Millennia how is it possible collectively no one really can figure it out look at the end of verse number 27.

scripture Bears this out how he himself does not know see there’s in when the Sea of the word of God is cast out there and it’s planted in a heart it has everything in it to produce spiritual life because it’s the seed of God and so how does that seed grow I don’t know how it grows but I know it does grow because God says it grows and God’s the one who grows it so see he alone in this passage he is not alone in grappling with this mystery the comparison between the kingdom of God and the entire action described here a man casting seed sleeping rising and the seed growing to maturity without him knowing how he does not even know how it grows but it does grow it can only mean one thing it is God’s sovereignty and the power of the word of God at work that means the mystery growth of the Kingdom of God is God’s initiative behind all things God his power and his will is being worked out quietly and consistently that’s what’s going on right now it is growing the kingdom of God is growing behind the scenes and of course the church being the custodian of preaching the gospel and so that’s what’s going on now and so Christians are born again by a living seed the living seed of the word of God so when the seed of the Gospel of the kingdom is cast into the proper soil of a person’s heart The Good Seed in plants in that heart and grows to produce life now there’s several scriptures that bear that out there’s one I want you to turn to and that’s in First Peter chapter 1 verse 23 just look in the back of your Bibles dear in First Peter but as you turn there there’s another passage in James chapter 1 and verse number 18 where it says in the exercise of his will he brought us forth by the word of Truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits among creatures look at the passage there in First Peter 1 23.

it says for you have been born again First Peter 1 23 you have been born again not of seed which is imperishable which which is perishable but imperishable that is through the living and enduring word of God so it links up the seed of the Gospel that is planted to the heart with the living and enduring word of God in other words would God starts and plants will come to fruition so complete trust in the word of God is the only reaction that does Justice to a seed casting seed sowing process there’s no other way to describe that it must be trust in the gospel so we cannot lose faith in the seat of the word of God or try to mix it with imitation substitutes we cannot do that we should not do that so that is the first part there’s the casting of the seed all right but the second thing there is something else in this Parable that teaches us about the growth of the kingdom of God and that its growth is certain and it is inescapable it’s certain and inescapable verse number 28 there’s a mysterious growth of the Kingdom this is also God’s initiative notice what it says the soil produces crops by itself first the blade then the head then the mature grain in the head now there’s a very familiar Greek word translated here by itself it is the word automete or automatos it means by itself or of something that happens without visible cause can you hear it we get the word automatic it is the word is the very word automatic in other words plant the seed and automatically the Earth bears fruit that’s all you have to do is plant the seeds so plant the word in a receptive soul and off it goes and off it grows see that’s what he’s saying to his disciples that’s how it’s going to work so in other words he’s telling them the fullness of the kingdom of God’s not coming yet it’s this process has to take place and this process is taking place where you can’t really see it it is in a way uh undetectable but it is certain and it is inescapable because if you notice the stages of growth in verse 28 it says they are given uh actually they’re given right here in our text it says first the blade you see the time words then the head then the mature grain in the head so you have first the grass-like blade then the ear and then of course the the fully ripened grained again so once the process of sowing has begun it is destined to be complete the growth of the seed happens independent of man’s action the farmer can’t even help move the development along but must patiently wait for the process to be complete so that’s what we do we may witness to somebody we may cast the seed but we may not see someone come to uh eternal life and bear fruit of that for a while in fact even new Believers take a while to mature in certain areas to put off some some of the old sins you know and but it’s going to happen if the seed is in the heart they are going to the place where they are not going to habitually sin it doesn’t mean they become sinless it means they will sin less and less in their life as they learn to live in light of the Holiness of God and in light of the word of God so the process but however once the process is complete the and the crop is ripe then the farmer is needed to bring the Harvest so I must agree uh somewhat with one commentator when he wrote sometimes the work of the Lord can become frustrating and disappointing we work hard but we see little fruit we Shine the Light of the gospel and sow the seed of the word but not much happens it seems almost futile and we wonder why even continue see that’s what the Lord doesn’t want his disciples to conclude nor us today because it’s the same thing that’s going on just keep casting the seed it is our job to cast the seed it is our job to give the gospel right keep casting the seed keep casting the seed and you know what some people may come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and you may never know them until you get to into heaven right because you were just faithful to cast the seed just faithful to give out the word of God just faithful to do what you ought to do so in spite of this faithless view that I just gave our passage assures us that there will be a definite Harvest so in spite of man’s rebellion and Disobedience God’s work goes on nothing in the end can stop the purpose of God nothing in the end can do it see so our last one last thing the parable teaches us about the growth of the kingdom of God is its growth leads to a definite end and that means this there is a day when the Harvest will come there is a day that it will end there’s a day in other words there’s a day of consummation see that becomes a very important point in the parable because if there is a day of consummation then there’s a definite Harvest of the kingdom and that is God’s initiative because look at verse number 29 it says this but when the crop permits he immediately puts in the sickle because the Harvest notice has come perfect tense of the verb it will come and it will have continuing results so there are several views of the the phrase immediately puts in the sickle but the harvests have has come one of the views uh is really they see the parable as a picture of the work of the Gospel in the life of an individual the development of the spiritual character follows a slow but orderly process and cannot be forced prematurely by human means and then of course the Harvest is viewed as denoting the in-gathering of the Evangelistic effort now that may be included but I believe the view that is meant here con surrounding the understanding of a parable is because the picture of the king it takes the picture of the Kingdom as a whole from the time of Christ’s sowing until the eschatological Harvest according to this view Jesus recognized that his sowing had not yet produced The Harvest but his sowing was being accomplished in his disciples which he confidently trusted God would bring to its future fruitful consummation so this View the second one seems to be in keeping with the broad scope of the parabolic teaching during this day but I want you to notice in verse number 29 the word but when the cry permits immediately he immediately puts in the sickle now that word sickle is really often a symbol of the arrival of the kingdom of God and the Judgment that will accompany it in other words when the Harvest comes two things happen the good fruit is gathered in and the weeds and the tares are destroyed so when the Harvest comes Harvest and judgment go hand in hand they go together remember the day of the Lord has not yet come the Judgment of God has not yet come but the Harvest has everything to do with two things gathering in his own and then also judgment on everyone else so in the second half of the seven year tribulation period on Earth referred to as the Great Tribulation that is the latter half of the seven year tribulation period between the Rapture of the church and the second coming the mediatorial reign of Christ on Earth for a thousand years will take place that’s known as the Millennium now the Book of Revelation chapter 14 to 16 describe the seven bold judgments in these chapters there’s a warning to mankind that the Judgment of God’s Wrath is soon to be poured upon the earth now I’d like you to take your Bibles and turn to Revelation last book of the Bible and turn to chapter 14.

because here in Revelation chapter 14 we see something now just to give you a sense of what Revelation is doing we have the taking out of the church from the earth then we have a three and a half year period we have the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel in fact that is the structure of the 70th week of Daniel uh aka the the day of the Lord right in the middle of the week the Antichrist will break his Covenant with with Israel and then there’s seven trumpet judgments on the last trumpet judgment there is the Bold judgments and so that’s where this is speaking to so in this section of Revelation there is there’s one this is like one more Scene which furnishes the background of the seven Bowls the seven bowls of judgment and the scene is in two parts picturing becoming judgment now before I look at that remember the coming judgment is going to have two things going on it’s going to have a harvest and it’s going to have a vintage those two things are together now while your hand is there in Revelation chapter 14 go back to chapter seven for a minute because remember the Harvest is going to be first the collecting of the grapes from the vine and that will be the multitudes that come to the Lord not only uh specifically here in this chapter in the tribulation but I want you to notice what it says in Revelation 7 verse number 9 through 12.

it says after these things I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could count from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues standing Before the Throne and before the lamb clothed in white robes and palm branches were in their hands and they cried out with a loud voice saying salvation to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb and all the Angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying amen blessing and glory and wisdom and Thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our god forever and ever amen in other words that it give us gives us a picture that in this Harvest right to the end of the tribulation there is this Harvest of the Gathering of the multitude of the nations of the multitude of peoples who stand Before the Throne of God and what are they doing they’re praising the Lord because they’re part of seeing this Harvest and they’re part of that Harvest so that is the good part of the Harvest in fact back uh over to Revelation chapter 14 and I want you to know the language it uses here in Revelation 14.

and verse number 15.

now before this is given what is amazing in the Book of Revelation is that God gives one more chance to the world and he sends an angel with an eternal gospel and the angel preaches this eternal gospel and he gives one last chance for people to repent and believe the gospel that’s it one last chance all right and so that’s in the in verse number six and seven of Revelation 14. but now remember one that last chance is given no longer are men preaching the gospel this is an angel who’s preaching the gospel and this Angel comes for two reasons he comes now there’s several angels that come and they have specific jobs that they’re gonna do but they come for one reason either the reason to offer the Eternal gospel so others come in kind of the last effort to allow people to believe all right and then there is the Judgment of God now look at verse number 15 of chapter 14. notice the language and another angel came out of the temple crying out with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud put in your sickle and reap for the hour to reap has come because the Harvest of the earth is ripe then he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the Earth and the Earth was reaped and another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven and he also had a sharp sickle and remember in the Old Testament this whole concept of the sickle being pulled out is the thought of harvesting it’s and also the future judgment but along with the Harvest there is the Vintage and what’s the Vintage the Vintage the Harvest is this it is initial collecting of grapes from the vine it’s the initial collecting of souls into God’s Kingdom right and then the Vintage is part of the Judgment where the Vintage is the pressing of Those Grapes to produce juice you press the grapes so you get juice out of it right now look at the Vintage in verse number 18 through 20 then another Angel the one who had power over fire came out from the Altar and called with the loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle saying put in your sharp sickle and gather the Clusters from the vine of the Earth because her grapes are ripe in other words that’s a way of saying the time is right for judgment it is Judgment time no more preaching the gospel no more offers of Salvation no more it’s done and then The Vineyard has produced a wrong kind of fruit and must be trodden down and which says in verse number 19 and the angel swung his sickle to the Earth and gathered the Clusters from the vine of the earth and through them into the great wine press of the wrath of God so we’re seeing here and part of the day of the Lord in which it is God’s time to judge Humanity to judge the Earth and so the wine press in verse 20 was trodden outside the city that’s Jerusalem and the blood came out of the wine press and noticed the results of this treading out uh was blood flowing from the wine press it says up to the horse’s bridle for a distance of 200 miles that’s approximately the length of Palestine so that means that such a depth and coverage of blood suggest a massive Slaughter of human life in other words God brings in the angel to bring judgment upon the world and nobody gets away no one gets away in other words see so when we’re talking about the kingdom those two things always come together when we’re talking about Harvest we’re talking about God bringing in his people and God now holding judgment there’s nothing else to be done accept the Judgment of God so that means for you and I as we consider this Parable in mark chapter 4 there are a couple important things this Parable beckons us to do the first thing is this Parable beckons us not to lose hope why because we’ve just been informed on what God’s doing we’re just been informed on how God’s doing it we’ve just been informed on the Harvest means not only God bringing it to a consummation where we don’t see the growth right away but God’s doing it and we’re trusting in that but also that Harvest brings a judgment all right so that means we cannot be lost in a hopelessness and the reason why is this this world has gotten very small and there is a large amount of fear about the future is there not I have never seen so much fear about the future in our land and this has led to an atmosphere of Despair and an attitude of pessimism Doomsday is on people’s minds and matter of fact we have programs doomsday preppers you know people are trying to sell you patriot food and buy up all the MREs because you’re going to need all that stuff see you know be prepared at least in that way so doomsday is definitely on people’s minds however those to whom have been given the understanding of the Kingdom cannot be in despair because they know just what’s going on what’s going on as sea time is followed In Due Time by Harvest so will the present hiddenness and vagueness of the kingdom of God be succeeded by a glorious manifestation to bring in all the saints to gather them before God but also to bring judgment upon the whole world and execute God’s righteousness where it was not executed before so therefore we have a hope in our God who has spoken in the word of God and will accomplish all he has promised so see this parable causes us to hedge again any kind of hopelessness we can’t even do it we can’t go there a Christian should never be in despair when we look at the world and the reason why is we if we have a hope God’s going to accomplish his program is he not he’s going to take care of everything he will take care of it but there’s another thing that this Parable beckons us to do it beckons us to be prepared I don’t mean go out and buy MREs and patriot food I mean if there comes a harvest then we must be ready for it it’s too late to prepare when it’s upon us first we must know ourselves that we are born again and in the kingdom of God we must know that first that’s how we prepare all right another way we prepare in that first thing is that we are concerned about the souls around us we’re concerned about our family we’re concerned about our co-workers we’re concerned about the people that we have contact with who don’t know the Lord and we want to give them the Gospel of Jesus Christ because we know the power of the seed of God if planted in that heart is going to grow up into eternal life and they’re going to be saved and they’re going to be part of the kingdom of God so see it’s our job to be concerned about that that’s how we prepare all right and then secondly we must be prepared to meet our God by walking in holiness if we know that we’re Believers God is very concerned about Holiness in fact remember what it said in Hebrew strive for peace with everyone for the Holiness without which no one will see the Lord see because Holiness is connected to the sanctification of the spirit of God which is the same word that means to set you apart for God God is setting you apart he’s preparing you for his presence yes we’re not going to be made perfect on this side of Eternity but he’s making you the direction of your life is getting to the place where your desires your goals is going to want to be with the Lord right that this world really has nothing to offer you all right you’re just an alien in a foreign land you’re just passing through you’re just a Sojourner you know I read a story of um of a general Eisenhower great General second world war was the second or maybe first and second he was part of uh just before General Eisenhower died uh Billy Graham was invited to visit him at Walter Reed hospital in Washington DC he was told that he can have 30 minutes with him when he went in the general was wearing his usual big smile even though he knew he didn’t have long to live later Billy Graham told what happened there when the 30 minutes were up he asked me to stay longer and said to me Billy I want you to tell me once again how can I be sure my sins are forgiven and that I am going to heaven and because nothing else matters right now he said I took my new testament and read him scriptures I pointed out that we are not going to heaven because of our good works or because of money we’ve given to the church and so on and so forth and we were going to heaven totally and completely on the basis of the merits of what Christ did on the cross period therefore he can rest in the comfort that Jesus Paid It All after prayer I said thank you I’m ready it’s an interesting story because it does confirm that one of the most important things upon his mind at that point in his life was I know there’s something after death I want to be ready with the proper truth to be able to stand before God and give an account of my life and to know that my sins are forgiven and that I can enter into his presidency so that must be it we must be prepared in that way but how many people are really preparing for eternal life how many do you know of any I know they’re preparing for their 401ks and for their 403 B’s and for all their retirement which may not be there in a couple years all right they’re buying this they’re buying that they’re preparing physically for this world but they’re not preparing for eternity see this parable really does beckon us to be ready spiritually and now it it reckons us to be ready as far as Holiness is concerned am I walking in holiness see if Jesus spent a day or two I wonder what you would do if he spent a day or two with you what would you do would you maybe change your clothes before you let them in or hide the magazines and put your Bible where they had been would you turn off all your media and hope he hadn’t seen or heard and wish you hadn’t uttered that last loud nasty word would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn book out could you let Jesus walk right in or would you have to rush about and I Wonder If the Savior spent a day or two with you would you go right on doing the things you always do would you go right on saying the things you always say would life for you continue as it does from day to day or would you maybe change your plans for just a day or so would you be glad to have him meet your very close friend girlfriend boyfriend and friends too or would you hope they’d stay away until his visit was through would you be glad to have him stay forever on and on or would you sigh with great relief when he at last was gone see it might be interesting to know the things that you would do if Jesus came in person to spend some time with you that was a poem you know and the author is unknown so I changed some things but is it not true that believe me when you are born again to God’s kingdom you must be different you must consider and prepare your life in Holiness to meet God that’s what every day of your life is to meet the Lord see that’s what prepared means so this Parable does bring a very practical conclusion that we are beckoned to not be hopeless and to be prepared I like what it says in Luke later on in Luke where he says but watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life and that day and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap for it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth it will come see in other words there is a definite consummation to the kingdom of God will you be there and will you be reaped as one of God’s born-again children or will you be under God’s judgment so our texts taught us to cast seed for growth and the seed is the word of God it taught us that there’s a mystery growth going on when you do cast the seed and God is building his kingdom bringing people from all over all tribes and Nations into his Harvest and there will be a definite Harvest that the word brings ashore Harvest of souls who are born again and a harvest of judgment on those who are not born again see the the conclusion would be be ready be ready and if you know somebody doesn’t know the Lord help them to be ready amen let’s pray Lord thank you again for the word of God it is just truly amazing the things that we find therein and Lord that you would even give us the answers to the parables to those who are your children that we would know them and that we would know how to live our life because of them and we would know Lord that you are doing something that your word is powerful that your kingdom will come that Lord everything you say will be done that that seed when it’s planted it will bear a crop the Harvest will come and it will come with a good part and it will come with a judgment part so Lord I pray this morning for those who know you as their lord and savior that they would come and they would have their hope rekindled and they would be prepared every day of their life not only prepared with the seed of the Gospel to share it with others but also Lord to walk in holiness to obey everything that you commanded us as your children and Lord to learn how to live in the light of the implications of the Gospel as the spirit of God Is sanctifying Us and setting us apart more and more unto God so I pray Lord if you came to visit us we would want you to stay because we’re going to be with you for all eternity thank you Lord for your people use this message how you will how you see fit and I pray this in Christ’s name amen

May 31, 2015
The Parable of the Lamp

In this sermon, Pastor Babij examines the Jesus’ Parable of the Lamp. In interpreting this parable, Pastor Babij explains what the lamp is and how it exposes what is hidden. He also explains the promises Jesus gives with this parable: a promise of more blessing to those who heed the message and a warning of loss to those who ignore the message.

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you besides for whoever has to him more shall be given and whoever does not have even what he has shall be taken away from him let’s pray Lord I just ask you this morning as we look at these Parables about the mystery form of the Kingdom that you would give us more understanding about what is happening even in this day even in the time that we live as we see things going on Lord you are working behind the scenes you are building your kingdom even though it is hidden even though we cannot see it and Lord it will culminate into you coming back again and so I pray Lord you would give us understanding how we fit into that and so we can be Faithful Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ while we’re here and I pray this in Christ’s name amen now I mentioned last time that there is a crisis that is getting worse and worse in our land and it is the crisis of hearing and yes uh the reason for that is because we live in a multi-media entertainment saturated culture uh where television and other media sources have helped to create really a society of Watchers not listeners people who are fascinated by pictures and not educated by words people who really don’t read anymore um they read blurbs they read short blogs they read things that do not really have to engage much thought in uh and that seems to be the course of what’s going on of course that’s not a new thing uh the crisis has been around for a long time matter of fact in the garden I mentioned that Eve when she disobeyed God she it says in the scriptures that she saw the tree was pleasant for her sight all right and of course she disregarded what she had heard from God you shall not eat it so this whole matter in even in the passage of scripture we’re looking at this matter of hearing becomes a very important topic to the Lord because what he is saying to his disciples is so vital that they get it it’s so vital that they receive it and are receptive to it he does he really he impresses upon his hearers this whole matter of listening see our text today really is about how careful one hears spirit spiritual Truth uh the passage also teaches us that there is definitely a spiritual connection between the heart and the ear I asked you to ask yourself a question last time several questions about yourself are you an aggressive listener you know are you always prepared to listen when especially when the word of God is being taught is being expressed is is being given do you have an Open Bible and an open heart are you in another words are you all ears ready to add to what you already know as God builds this great picture in your mind about his great plan from the beginning to the end so it’s it’s the testing of the ear is the ear picking it up and is the heart receiving it I like what Ray Comfort does when he uh evangelizes people with the gospel he often tests to see how well they’re hearing and he says to them uh to see if they’re listening carefully he would sit he would stop in the middle of what you saying he says listen um spell shop and people would say sh hop P right and then he would quickly ask them when you come to a green light what do you do and they almost a large percent of the time say what stop all right I think that’s a great way to you know and then he says listen if you can get that wrong why do do you think you can get the matter of Eternal salvation wrong see the thing is is that that that’s what see it’s a matter of what is your ear actually listening to what are you receiving when it comes to the word word of God the true Disciples of Jesus Christ are really people who grow in their desire to know what God has to say they don’t want short stories they don’t want you know life experiences they want what does God say what does it say here in the text I need to know that you need to know that and when we do know it that is what makes us strong that is what matures us that is what makes us disciples that can go into a lost world and give the Gospel of Jesus Christ all right so let’s look back up to verse number one of chapter 4 because I want to set again the context it says and it be Mark chapter 4 verse one and he began to teach again by the Sea and such a very large crowd gathered to him and he got into a boat in the sea and sat down and the whole crowd was by the Sea on the land so we see here that there was a large amount of people that came to Jesus and on this very event the day that he stepped into that boat Jesus began to teach in a different way he began to teach in Parables right that becomes important in fact he says there in verse number two and he was teaching them many things in Parables and was saying to them in his teaching so Jesus Takes a shift in what he is teaching about and he spoke to them concerning the secrets of the kingdom of God look at verse number 11 chapter 4 it says and he was saying to them to you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God but those who are outside get everything in Parables so he’s has an inside group and he has an outside group there are always always those groups when people gather together especially when it comes to spiritual things right but let me just go back and give you some update on what parables are because I want I want you to always remember this Parables mean a comparison or an analogy Lord the Lord is often holding something up against something else usually an Earthly concept with a Heavenly meaning and so firstly these parables are connected with the central message that God has begun to assert his kingly power against evil and that the promise of the Old Testament of the time of Salvation has come with the presence of Jesus Christ on the earth with the beginning of his ministry secondly parables are not meant to be fully obvious or transparent they require the hearer or reader to use some effort to get their point and then provoke that hearer and reader to a response always a response either the response of repentance or the response of rejection there is no neutral ground it’s either one or the other you can’t straddle the fence when it comes to spiritual truth you have to come to a decision so thirdly Parables provide insight into the nature the coming the growth the consummation of the kingdom of God it gives us a picture of this Kingdom that has come near of course Jesus brings the kingdom near but remember the kingdom has not come in its fullness that will come later on but because Jesus is here near and he is the king of the Kingdom that means he steps into Satan’s territory and he begins to plunder that Kingdom how does he do it he begins to preach the gospel of the Kingdom people start getting saved and of course they’re presented with either you’re going to follow Christ or you’re not going to follow Christ you can’t have both things going on then fourthly Parables reveal more truth to do to those with receptive ears and hide the truth to all the others and then one of the last things about parables in the gospels It ultimately draws attention to Jesus as God’s Messiah and calls everyone who’s listening to make some kind of personal decision concerning him one of acceptance and obedience or one of re rejection those are that’s what’s going on when parables are given in fact Jesus teaches in Parables to reveal the secrets of the Kingdom in fact in Matthew it tells us that he opened his mouth in Parables and I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world now when I was in Ephesians I brought some of those things out that were hidden but we’re going to see that ever progressing in the gospel so in Parables Jesus is going to speak about the hidden the concealed the cover things uh that were in the past were that were not understood since the foundation of the world and Jesus is going to reveal the secret thought the plans and the dispensations of God which were hidden from Human reason and reveal them only to whom they are intended only to his true disciples so one has to believe and repent and come into the kingdom of God before they can have anything else um you can study all your life and never about even about spiritual things and even about the Bi Bible and never come into the kingdom of God see Jesus gave seven Parables concerning the secret form of the kingdom of God now let me just give you a little mini Theology of my understanding of the kingdom of God which is is a huge subject in scripture and a very difficult one I look at it like this the mini theology is that there was a mediatorial kingdom given to King David in the Old Testament right a mediatorial kingdom is a kingdom that has several aspects to it number one it’s the rule of God through a divinely chosen representative who only speaks and acts for God and also represents the people of God of course in the Old Testament that would be in this case King David all right and then of course along in the thinking about the mediatorial kingdom is that it’s a role which has special reference to the Earth all right that a mediatorial kingdom is something that has to take place on the Earth all right and then having as its mediatorial ruler one who is always a member of the human race so there has to be a human who resides over a kingdom that is on the earth so that’s what I mean by a mediatorial kingdom it’s on the Earth all right and it’s by an Earthly King and so that was given to David that was the promise now between David and the millennial reign of Christ on Earth which I believe is the millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ remember there has to be a human Jesus Christ is the god man he has to be ruling on the Earth all right he rules here on the earth and he rules in the millennial kingdom here on Earth which then leads into the Eternal kingdom of God so between David’s Kingdom and the kingdom of Christ on Earth we have the church right we have the age of the church all right and the church is the c stoian of the kingdom of God the church is the spiritual part of the kingdom of God right so that means while we’re preaching the gospel the kingdom the Lord is BR building the secret kingdom of God behind the scenes all right that is what he’s doing right now so there’s going to be some crazy things that go on while we’re preaching the kingdom of God evil is still around all right sin is still abounding all right the world’s gone crazy all right all over the place and so all these things are quite normal when it comes to scripture but behind the scenes God is building his kingdom and so the parables are telling telling us some aspect about the secret form of the kingdom of God that is being growing and becoming bigger and bigger and bigger all right so the last Parable that I looked at last last time I preached was the parable of the swer and of course better the soils that the soils represented the heart of man the seed was the word of God all right and of course the seed was broadcasted and as the seed fell on the ground whether it was hard whether it was thorny whether it was Rocky or whether it was cultivated would give the sense on how that seed would grow and bear either a small crop or a larger crop and so when the seed of the word of God falls on a cultivated heart all right then that person believes and they come in to the secret kingdom of God uh the church being the custodian of that Kingdom the second Parable is the one I’m going to look at this morning and that’s the parable of um the lamp and then of course the parable of the growing seed and then the parable of The Mustard Seed now each of the three Parables is showing that the kingdom of God will grow by the power of God until it takes every true disciple from every people group in every nation so that’s what’s going on now the times of the Gentiles in which the gospel will go through the whole world and the gospel will penetrate everyou group of people every nation it will go to until that last disciple comes in to the kingdom of God I don’t know who that is only God knows when and who and how that’s going to take place but these Parables give us some insight into that what’s going on behind the scenes all right so this morning we look at the parable of the lamp in verse number 21-25 of chapter 4 so Jesus is now addressing a narrower circle of hearers in this Parable and that is those who are sitting at jesus’ feet as his disciples they’re learning they’re following his teaching along with the TW Apostles and Jesus throws out to them two rhetorical questions that call for a negative answer and then one rhetorical question that really calls out for a positive answer he uses a very common object for his story and the Lord usually does that remember he it’s going to be a contrast right the lamp everybody can understand what a lamp is now in the Old Testament a lamp in those days was a receptacle of oil uh which one end had a snout through which a wick passed through so they would fill a lamp with oil and they would stick a whip Wick in it and they would light it and that would be their source of light in their house and so that’s what is going on here and remember that a lamp was to give light the purpose of a lamp of that object was to give light in order for people to see that’s what the purpose of light is so people can see something they would not normally see if the light wasn’t there all right so that’s what is going on here so the Lord is using the object of a lamp all right and there’s two things that are important to come bring out here in this passage number one if you hide the lamp you use it in the wrong way that’s the first thing and look what he says in verse 21 and 22 verse 21 he says and he was saying to them a lamp is not brought to be put under a basket is it or under a bed there’s the two rhetorical questions of course the answer is no that’s not what you use it for but then he says it is not is it not brought to be put on a lampstand of course that would have the answer of yes yes so see the very idea of putting a lamp under something to hide its purpose is absolutely ridiculous instead light is to provide maximum coverage to benefit all in a given room so hence to hide a lamp that produces life is to use it in a wrong manner now the reference to the lamp is I believe twofold number one it refers to Jesus remember what Jesus says in the Gospel of John chap 12: 46 I have he said it says I have come as the light as light into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness so Jesus of course is considered to be the light he’s the one who comes into the Darkness Darkness of Satan’s kingdom the darkness of the world and he is the light and then again in John 1:9 and other passages it says there was the True Light which coming into the world en lightens every man and then of course John 812 then Jesus spoke to them saying I am the light of the world he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of light life so Jesus being definitely the referent to that lamp but then his disciples also are the ones who are going to take the lamp and do something with it all right they in in a sense are are the lamp too because the lamp also pictured the hearers who receive his word as lamps who have been lighted so now people who were living in darkness were living in the bondages of sin are now Made Alive because of the light of Jesus Christ and so now they have a responsibility to do something with this light so then lamps are to be put on a lampstand in order to give light for people now in the same way the disciples are to spread the light of the word of God the message of the Gospel El of the kingdom and bring that gospel to the nations of people of the world that’s what they’re to do that’s their responsibility to do that and of course God is doing that and as he’s doing that people are coming into the kingdom of God they’re seeing the kingdom of God and they’re entering the kingdom of God by the conviction of the spirit of God and repentance and faith and that’s how they’re the and then the church is being built so the admonition for us would be do not put the light where it does no good we have to hold up the light of Jesus Christ if people are to be saved there’s no other way to do it to do anything else with the light is actually ridiculous and helps no one and does not use that light in the way it ought to be used all right now as that’s going on chapter 4 of verse and verse 22 we have two synonymous statements that are given it says this for nothing is hidden except to be revealed nor has anything been secret but that it would come to light they’re both synonymous things said in different ways in the present context the Blessed secrets are of the Gospel that’s what’s in view here so the disciples are the L lamp to be placed on the lampstand with the message of the light of Jesus Christ and through them the mystery of the Gospel is to shine forth in the world so the very light of the Gospel will actually expose the darkness it will expose the hidden things of the world it will show what those real what those EX hidden things really are and the nature of what they are and what God doesn’t expose now will be exposed at the end in the Judgment of God in other words God will finish everything in judgment nobody nothing that is hidden will be kept hidden the Lord will make everything known everything revealed so it is not the purpose of men here in this passage to do the hiding that is in view but God who frustrates this secretive purose purpose of people because this is what usually happens sin hide people who sin hide things right we have everybody’s hiding something you hear the terms where people say well you have you have skeletons in your closets too don’t you right so if some somebody has something to hide something some everybody has something to cover to keep Secret so in other words God will see to it that all secret things are revealed if not in time then at the end God will bring to light even the secret of of people’s hearts and there’s really two passages of scriptures that um highlight this and kind of pull back the curtain when it comes to what the Lord is going to do in his judgment in fact if you’d like to turn there the first one is 1 Corinthians 45 and the second one is Romans chap 2 verse number 16 and the first one in 1 Corinthians 4:5 says this it says therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts and then in Romans chapter 2 verse 16 it says the on the day when according to my gospel God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus in other words that there is going to be a time where L Lord’s going to expose even the secrets of people’s hearts could you imagine how many Secrets there are and how is he going to do that by the Light of the Gospel so it is the very light of the Gospel that exposes the darkness that exposes the evil that exposes the sin that exposes that every exposes everything that is against God everything that is contrary to what God is doing and it’s going to bring it to light so like the lamp that is properly placed on the lampstand so God has sent this lamp to to bring light to a dark world he has come to reveal truth he has come to Enlighten Minds he has come to con conquer the darkness and the light may be for the most part today hidden at the moment however eventually the whole world will see the glory of this light and they will come and bow to Jesus Christ who is the light and they will have their secrets revealed before him and nothing that has been hidden will stay hidden it will be manifest before God and so that becomes what is going on all both things are going on the gospel is going out things are still being hidden and yet the Lord is giving us the secrets of what was hidden in the gospel all right that this is how you become come into the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ so then look at what Jesus says in verse number 23 this is where he comes up again talking about ears and he says if anyone has ears to hear Let Him hear if anyone has ears to hear Let Him hear so Jesus is saying to his audience are you listening to this do you hear what I’m saying are you getting it so why should the hearers give heed to what Jesus is saying why the reason why is because hearing the word of God and acting upon it is of the greatest importance in life matter of fact it is of the highest importance in life I was talking to a man um my sister had gotten married this weekend and I had done the wedding and um I was talking to a man later a longtime friend who came to the wedding and um he was uh not religious um and stuff like that he’s sitting out there and listening to the message and and after the the wedding he says to me you know why you can convince me to be a Christian and I said well I would love to do that and so I I spent a little time with them talking with him and um and he was really intrigued he says one thing that was amazing about what you were saying is that I couldn’t disagree with one thing because I I knew this it was all true and he says I it’s hard to argue with truth you know his name was Sam and uh so I hope to have another opportunity to speak to him and I but that was very encouraging to me because see that’s what grabs people it is is that no matter where they’re at no matter what philosophy of Life they have no matter what conclusions they come to when they hear the truth they know it’s the truth whether they reject it or accept it they know it and he knew he says you know and I was telling him about Jesus Christ is that you know the only you know you hear that there’s many ways to God but you know what according to scripture uh there’s only one way to God and that’s through Jesus Christ and I says and if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ there’s only one alternative that God can do because God’s a just God he’s got to send you away from him into a place that’s called called hell where you’re going to be under his wrath for all eternity and uh so at that point things were breaking up and he was leaving but he was he was definitely says I would like to talk to you about this again and so that see that is something that when light is brought to a person when truth is brought to a person which are synonymous in Scripture it it gets right down to the very recesses of their heart and they have to Grapple with it they have to deal with it if they do then of course it will bring them to a conclusion of whether they’re going to repent and believe or they’re going to reject it so Jesus says at this point to his audience and remember his audience are his followers his 12 and the whole crowd that are on the seashore and they’re list listening to him and he’s saying to them if anyone has ears to hear Let Him hear now how’s that related to the lamp well if you hide the light if you hide the truth you will lose it you will lose it look what it says in verse 24 it says and he was saying to them take care what you listen to by your standard of measure it will be measured to you and more will be given to you besides that is an encouraging statement but that is a statement of responsibility see God’s not going to let the Lord’s not let anybody off the hook that you can just listen to me and not work at listening that’s somehow you’re sitting there and it’s all passing and flowing over you like a wave of the ocean no it is your responsibility to put effort to your hearing and it’s amazing what he says I never heard this only place I ever heard it used like this was right here in scripture because he says this the measuring here it means measuring is hearing so you’re measuring something by the way you hear measuring whether you’re a good hearer or an inadequate hearer and superficial hearing is always bad and never pleasing to the Lord so how people treat the instruction of Jesus is vitally important in this section of scripture Jesus wants his disciples to bring when the word of God is being taught a full measure of attention and eagerness to learn in fact that’s what a disciple is disciple simply means a learner but it’s not something who just sits there somebody who is engaging with their ears to what is being said and running it through the grid of everything else they know and as they do that they grow and they grow and they grow in their knowledge and their wisdom and their understanding of what God is doing in their life and in the world and in the church and where he’s where all this is heading so see Jesus wants his disciples to bring a full measure of attention and eagerness to their learning if so if they do that God will return to them an even Fuller measure of the precious saving faith that they were int introduced to in the beginning and God’s measure is always always lavishing and generous no believer can say that God didn’t lavish truth and light on them they can’t say that because God is always a generous Giver especially in this area so if you look at the last part of the verse in verse 24 by your standard of measure it will be measured to you and more will be given you besides so the aggressive listener is somebody who can always enjoy more always enjoy more truth always enjoy more light it’s because they want it to because God will return to them a fuller measure of whatever they can give in their hearing and the measure you give will be the measure you get the way you give to others in this way God will give to you but he will give you even more and look at verse 25 for whoever has to him more shall be given and whoever does not have even what he has shall be taken away I don’t know about you but that’s a frightening statement so if you think of it in this way in the terms of two groups group one those who care carefully they give heed they pay attention they are receptive to the word of God and that equals that they will keep what they have and receive even more than they gave back in their hearing from God because they’re engaging they want it they’re receptive they’re taking it in they’re chewing on it it’s digesting spiritually in their soul and they’re becoming more like Christ and they’re realizing they’re seeing God’s plan and they’re adjusting their their life to what God’s plan is and knowing that this Earth is disposable this is not our home this is not the end there’s going to be and uh uh we’re going to be in the presence of Christ and so they begin now to adjust everything to be thinking eternally and not just temporally and not just locally but it becomes a broad spectrum of thought why because they’re growing in the word of God in fact the gold of the world is growing themm and their desire to be with Christ is increasing because their knowledge is increasing of what God is giving to them and it all so good hearers receive and they get more and the response to God’s truth means more truth will follow that’s the promise that God gives those who are engaged in receptive hearing one person suggested the sense also of the passage because it’s talking about what’s going on behind the scenes in the growing secret kingdom of God is that when you hear and embrace the kingdom of God now when it’s small when it’s so somewhat hidden you will share it when it is worldwide you will share it when in other words the kingdom of God is exposed to all the world and now Jesus Christ and uh the place that he resides on the earth the Nations come to him and we are all going to be part of that kingdom in which Jesus is reigning and ruling on the earth and everybody knows it and sees it and so we are part of that because we believed when the kingdom was smaller but now it’s going to be this incredible growth that explodes everywhere uh in God’s plan and we’re going to be part of that that’s the first group the second group those who do not take care to hear carefully who do not pay attention who are distracted by the things of the world who are distracted by making money who are distracted by materialism who are distracted by just problems and issues that take their mind off of what their mind should be on and because of that they will get no more and the frightening part about it is is that even what they did get in knowledge they lose so those who care not to heed do not pay attention and we not recepted to the word of God are bad hearers and they reject what God offers to them so I don’t know if I can make a conclusion on that specifically from this passage of scripture but it seems here that those who cared not to heed who brought no heed and no desire to Jesus would naturally find the same measure measured out to them that they would be a person who refuses Jesus and the word and loses what little they may have once had as their knowledge of God and what he’s doing and it’s gone forever and you know what throughout the church throughout church history there has always been a vast amount of preaching but the result has always been the same some hearts are penetrated and produce fruit only some hear and want more and get more so that’s what’s going on as the mystery part of the kingdom is growing behind the scenes in the church you have two things going on some people will have the word of God penetrate the heart and bear fruit some people people will hear and want more and and of course they will bear more fruit of knowledge too and so that’s the case of course the question is how you respond to Jesus day by day is of the highest important to Jesus Christ young people whatever going on in your life the most important thing for you to know is the word of God old people too middle people whatever age you are that’s your our ears have been created to hear God and when you hear God you don’t want to hear anything else and when you hear him you want more and you want more and you want more and you want more it’s like what Peter says those desire like a baby desires the milk of his of the mother’s breast the mother’s milk uh babe and or a baby uh just like a baby that’s how it should be the desire of a Believer right that I want more and I want more and I want more and I want more and God continually gives us more that’s why it’s so amazing you can you can study the Bible every day of your life for the rest of your life and never exhaust it because we can exhaust it in fact when we die and to Heaven you know we’re going to be learning about who God is and it’s going to be for all eternity and we’re still not going to know everything see when we get to heaven we don’t know everything because we would be God God knows everything but we’re going to be learning more and more more about him and you know what we’re going to enjoy every second you know when Martha and Mary were having that thing and uh Mary sat at jesus’ feet and Martha was all busy about doing things what did Jesus said she sat and listened and heard Jesus and Jesus says what she has been given will not be taken away from her Martha because see she caught the most important thing it’s not doing all the Frantic things that life pressures us to do it’s about listening to the lord it’s about getting what he says it’s about putting it into practice it’s about loving the Lord with all your heart the only way you’re going to do that is by scripture now I want you to take your Bibles real quick and turn to Hebrews because Hebrews had something to say to a group of people who should have known been to the place where their hearing should have produced at least discernment of what is good and what is bad so true disciples really are careful not to become dull of hearing in Hebrews chapter 5 look down to verse number 11 it says this Hebrews 5:11 concerning him we have much to say and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing for though by this time you ought to be teachers you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the Oracles of God and you have come to need milk and not solid food for everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness for he is an infant but solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil now in this passage of scripture of course there’s two things going on the immense responsibility of teaching the word of God all right and he says there listen some things are hard to explain scripture is not easy there’s many parts of scripture that are very difficult and let me just say that the full orbed full orbed teaching of the Christian faith is by no means uh an easy things to grasp nor can it be learned in a day or even a few months but it really must be the daily exercise of the mind on Truth for the rest of your lives it is something you cannot back away from for long periods of time so an unwillingness to work out the deeper implications of the Gospel in your lives and to remain reluctant to give serious thought to the ongoing exposition of scripture prevents spiritual growth and there’s also the ineptitude of the student student it says since you have become dull of hearing and the word dull actually means uh is used for a numbed limb actually the numb limb of a sick lion if a lion was slow moving he would not be able to catch his prey and it would be just a matter of time for him to grow weaker and weaker and become sick and die and so he the hunter would become the hunted now that’s a very sad and pathetic thing to see a lion the king of beasts become that weak and why does it become that weak because he somehow by a lame leg cannot feed himself and so therefore dies off so two things result really from the EP ineptitude of students it restricts communication the teacher could not teach the people more of the revelation of God’s word in other words he could not teach the meat and potatoes because they were not able to take it and also it restricts comprehension if the believer’s Mind remains numb and their mind stops feeding on spiritual truth well then they are not going to grow spiritually a Christian not growing in spiritual truth is a very sad and pathetic thing it’s a very sad and pathetic thing so in Hebrews 511 where he says and since you have become dull of hearing this implies that the readers were once Keen of hearing but have fallen into a sluggish spiritually lazy condition but it gives hope to to their sluggishness In this passage see it doesn’t need to be permanent if you’re falling onto some cold times or you’re not listening the way you ought to um and of course our culture and even modern evangelicalism does not help rescue someone from this condition because the mindset of evangelicalism is let’s dumb everything down matter of fact all the standards across all education is being dumbed down to the point where oh everybody can come in no that’s not how God done it right there’s certain standards that need to be met and so there’s one thing we can never do in the Christian faith is dumb things down that’s why we need to know the whole counsil of God we need to know all the Bible and all the Bible some of all some of the Bible is not always interested interesting at the moment but we need to know it because it’s filling in an understanding of what God has done so the great Scandal of today’s church is Christians without Christian Minds well you see that Hebrew Christians here after many years in the faith have not been growing spiritually for several reasons which I can’t give now but enough time had passed for them to have developed in mature in maturity and Christian thought and to the point where they should have been able to articulate truth to others and live a life pleasing to God but look at the painful diagnosis in verse number 12 of Hebrews chapter 5 your babies when by this time you should be teachers he says that you ought to be teachers teers see so not teachers in the sense of theological professors or Elders not in that sense and then secondly you never got past the rudiments the basics Christianity 101 so the same students need to be taught again the same subject by another teacher see you need someone to teach you again the ABCs of Christianity in other words you need to repeat the elementary curriculum you should have been moved past that by now or maybe you’re comfortable with that kind of curriculum we can’t be though as Believers if the passage in I I said in talked about in Mark is that we’re going to want more we’re going to want more we’re never going to be satisfied what we know spiritually and that’s that’s the way it ought to be and also he says here you need milk you need to be bottle-fed with milk the only ones who use milk are babies and those who are ill what what do they call that stuff that they give you when you’re ill ensure that’s it ensure you know liquid everything’s liquid no meat potatoes something you could sink your teeth into you know I mean that’s what you want as a Believer I want to know more I want to know the doctrines of Grace I want to know those things those give things give you stability so your decision and behavior display spiritual ignorance as it says here in this passage and like little children who do not know the difference between right and wrong verse verse number 13 for everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness for he is an infant cannot discern the difference between what’s right and wrong what’s God’s way and what’s every other way they just don’t know they’re not sure we ought to be sure if I ask you do you know if you’re going to die today and go to heaven you ought to be sure about the answer not b based on a profession but based on what you learn from the word of God based on your stability and in theological doctrine that you have been learning and growing in that you’re confident that God’s done this and he will keep his promise to not only save you now but take you into eternity all right see that the thing is that you need to be sure about that there can’t be any straddling the fense on that this is the most important question of your life so what’s the solution according to Hebrews chapter 5 for anyone who’s become dull of hearing for anyone who has slacked off and has not been attentive as they ought to be to spiritual things here’s the solution verse 14 chapter 5 of Hebrews he says this get in and stay in the spiritual gymnasium in verse number 14 but solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their senses trained to discern Good and Evil you know what godliness is practice if you want to be good at basketball practice if you want to be good at anything practice right well it says here why are they able to discern good and evil why are they able uh to um know what God wants them to do is because they are training to discern and the word train is actually the word gymnasium in the Greek to exercise vigorously in any way either the body or the mind as one becomes accustomed to the word of God by constant use and constant training and constant washing your mind out washing out all the junk and putting in God’s truth the mind then makes correct judgments when necessary you can discern I know the difference between what is good and what is bad what is right and what is wrong what is God’s way what is every other way I know that I’ve learned that from what practicing the word of God from getting in my head you know why because God cares about the strength and maturity of his children and something that is normal for Christians to remain spiritual infants for the duration of their lives as long as they profess Jesus as Savior and Lord sometime in the past they’re satisfied and they think God expects no more of them wrong well kind of father would want to have his children or have 10 children and that did not care whether any of them grow spiritually or to physical maturity nobody would want that in the same token what kind of father would God be if he wanted if if he wanted to adopt so many children but then didn’t care whether or not they ever grew up in the faith see God is not a deadbeat dad he is always working towards the spiritual growth of the members of his body because it is to us has been given the Keys of the Kingdom of God to bring the light of the Gospel the lamp where the to put the light on the lampstand and to show it to people so God can use that to bring others into the kingdom of God as the kingdom of God grows behind the scenes and leads towards the culmination of God’s program so members should care about their own continual spiritual progress and you should also pray and care about the spiritual C progress of the rest of the sheep too so are your ears ready to listen are you receptive and sensitive to God’s truth truth have you had and do you still have a desire a craving for the word of God like a baby has for his mother’s mouth do you have that if you don’t have that desire look for sin if you never have that desire look to see if you’re even converted if you have the spirit of God living in you if you see the the sin confess the sin and get back into the gymnasium and start training your heart and mind every day until that desire gets rekindled and you feed on God’s word and you love it you love it so during the mystery hidden growth of the kingdom of God there will be good hearers and there will be bad hearers but only those who can continue to grow in the word of God and follow Jesus are the true disciples those are the ones who Jesus asked the questions if you have ears to hear Let Him hear true disciples are the ones who have ears to hear good hearers receive and get more bad hearers reject and lose the little that they once had a look at yourself today and evaluate yourself according to this passage because those are the people that are part of the kingdom of God Amen let’s pray Lord again I thank you for such credible truth from the word of God I pray Lord that we would be able to put ourselves up against it and that Lord we would see how do we measure when it comes to our hearing and Lord Lord how do we measure before you not before anybody else Lord do we come ready do we come wanting to receive wanting to feed do we come wanting to add to what we already know I pray that we would Lord make us make us people who want it who want the word of God who want to be used who want to be keeping their joy and and living in the peace of God so they can do what they should be doing bringing the gospel to their family and friends and living the gospel before them and and being able to give wise counsel because they know the difference between what God wants and what the world is doing I pray that you would make us people that are Discerning and um and people that really love your truth and I ask this in Christ’s name amen

May 24, 2015
Do You Have Ears to Hear?

In this sermon, Pastor Babij explains what parables are, why Jesus used them, and what Jesus was teaching in the Parable of the Sower/ Parable of the Soils. This particular parable is very relevant for how we understand God’s role in salvation and our own experience as evangelists.

May 10, 2015