Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / Mark 3:7-19

Transcript

Mark 3:7-19 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
Well, and good morning to you, more officially.
0:03
Sometimes I hate that my introduction each morning of myself is being silly with the kids,
0:09
! but that's also okay. Please turn in your copy of God's Word to Mark chapter 3. We'll be looking together today at verses 7 through 19.
0:19
And as you're getting there, I just wanted to publicly say that I'm really thankful for our musicians.
0:25
We have been just immensely blessed with musical talent in our little congregation, and I hope you can be as thankful for them as I am.
0:34
They get together and put together the arrangements of all of these songs on Sunday morning, usually about 8 o'clock, 8.30 they show up.
0:44
Get up a little bit earlier than the rest of you and get here and work really hard at making that happen.
0:49
And I love Christmas songs here, and I don't normally like Christmas songs too much, and so I'm thankful for them.
0:55
I'm also really thankful for Wes. I realized last night, Wes was telling me his little heads up on his voice failing him,
1:00
and he's been feeling really sick, and realized that Wes has a perfect attendance record.
1:05
He has never once called in sick on leading us in songs.
1:09
Sometimes he stands off to the side and lets somebody else sing more, but he's never actually said,
1:12
I cannot get on stage this Sunday, and I'm thankful for that as well.
1:17
Let's read together in Mark chapter 3, beginning in verse 7.
1:21
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed,
1:27
from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Edumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon.
1:35
When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him,
1:38
and he told the disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him.
1:42
For he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.
1:47
And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out,
1:52
You are the Son of God.
1:53
And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
1:56
And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.
2:01
And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles,
2:04
so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.
2:10
He appointed the twelve, Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter,
2:13
James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James,
2:17
to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder,
2:21
Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Alphaeus,
2:27
and Thaddeus, and Simon the Canaanian, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
2:33
Let's pray together.
2:36
Father, we pray this morning that you will bless the reading, the preaching, and the hearing of your word.
2:42
That you will find us humble, submitting to its authority over our lives,
2:48
and finding it sufficient as a guide for holy living.
2:53
Father, we cannot accomplish any of this on our own.
2:57
We are not wise enough of ourselves to understand.
3:00
I am certainly not gifted enough of myself to properly speak what this has to mean for us today.
3:08
So we pray, Father, you work by your Spirit in us, and we pray this in Christ's name.
3:12
Amen.
3:13
So we've come through a number of different accounts of events that have happened,
3:19
and Mark, he moves.
3:21
Boy, does he scoot right along.
3:22
And he does it again to us here in 7 through 12.
3:24
Just really presses through stories quickly.
3:27
And I've said to you before, I've struggled a bit knowing,
3:30
what do we preach about?
3:31
What do we say?
3:32
I often read at the beginning of each week, kind of the next text as we work through this.
3:38
And I don't really know where to stop, because often I read, in this case,
3:43
I read all the way to the end of the chapter until I really felt like,
3:45
okay, that's enough to talk about on Sunday morning.
3:47
But then as I continue to meditate on it and re-read it and meditate on it some more
3:53
and pray about what it means for us, I'm able to back up a little bit and see more of the value
3:58
and see why it is that Mark's account is so punchy and he moves so quickly here through the text.
4:06
Recall recently we've been talking about all of these encounters that he had with the religious culture,
4:11
namely the Pharisees and the scribes.
4:13
And he gets us now here to verse 7, saying that Jesus withdrew,
4:18
which I think is rightly understood in light of verse 6.
4:22
That after all these encounters, the Pharisees went out immediately and held counsel with the Herodians,
4:27
or would have been a kind of a political party of the day, against him, how to destroy him.
4:31
And so he withdraws again to the wilderness to be by the sea.
4:37
And we see again a great crowd following him.
4:41
And it seems that he always in his ministry was walking a fine line between making himself known,
4:49
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
4:51
and having people know that he was in fact the Son of God, and death.
4:56
And he did so because his time had not yet come.
5:00
It had not been fulfilled.
5:01
He was trying to perfectly complete his ministry.
5:06
John chapter 7, verse 30, we see he says,
5:10
excuse me, that it says,
5:11
they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him,
5:14
because his hour had not yet come.
5:18
And we see in our text here, verse 11 and 12,
5:21
this account of the unclean spirits,
5:24
or people who were possessed by demons,
5:26
falling down in front of him and proclaiming who he is.
5:30
You are the Son of God.
5:32
And he gives to them a strict command not to let him be known.
5:37
So it's interesting that we see this activity as it seems to be juxtaposed against the activity of all of those who were following him.
5:48
Notice these people are coming from all regions now.
5:51
It's an expanding area as he's been ministering in Galilee.
5:55
We see them coming from Jerusalem, which would have been the center of life for them.
6:00
From Edumea, which was south of Jerusalem, a whole region south of Jerusalem.
6:04
From beyond the Jordan, which would have been east of Jerusalem,
6:08
as Jerusalem lied to the west of Jordan.
6:11
And from Tyre and Sidon, which are far north, kind of northeast on the coast of the Mediterranean.
6:17
So people are coming from all over.
6:20
And I've said to you repeatedly that these people were not necessarily disciples of Christ.
6:27
Notice in our text, it says,
6:30
because they heard all that he was doing.
6:35
Verse 10,
6:35
For he had healed many.
6:37
So they came to press in around him to gain what they could from him for their benefit.
6:45
They were following him for what he could do for them, not for who he was.
6:51
So it's interesting that he records here that the demons, when they encounter him, recognize who he is.
6:58
They lay prostrate before him and claim that he is the Son of God.
7:02
But it's not proper to think that they worshipped him in spirit and truth as they should have.
7:07
James 2.19, James is giving us a case for faith and works and how they function in together.
7:15
And he says, even the demons believe in shudder.
7:17
And he's setting that up against those who are of faith, who are disciples, who follow, are also obedient to his ways.
7:27
So I found that to be quite fascinating.
7:29
So we see this juxtaposition going on here between the crowd and the demons, as well as great crowds and true disciples.
7:39
Remember in Luke chapter 10, Jesus sends out 72 disciples to begin advancing the kingdom work.
7:48
We see here that he has 12 apostles, three of which were his close friends.
7:53
And after his crucifixion and the beginning of Acts, we see that 120 are gathered, trying to figure out what they should do next.
8:02
And so this seems to be the sum of the beginning of his ministry as he puts the wheels into motion for the gospel to advance amongst all peoples.
8:12
And that's where we find ourselves today, still in that process of preaching the gospel amongst all peoples everywhere.
8:20
So recognize that.
8:22
That Jesus in many ways was very narrow.
8:27
We live in a day of acceptance of all things.
8:31
And you seem to be a good person if you're open-minded and willing to wrap your arms around all things.
8:38
I have a very good friend that I kind of went through the college years with who was, by his own definition, very open-minded.
8:46
But if you weren't open-minded the same way he was, he didn't like you, which made him a very closed-minded, open-minded person, did it not?
8:54
Right?
8:55
But we see here that Jesus is very specific about who he comes to preach to and who he calls.
9:03
Verse 9 says that he has the disciples prepare a boat for him.
9:08
We can understand this, that what he was going to do was put some water between him and the crowd so they could no longer come to touch him,
9:14
so they could no longer come to be healed, but so that he could preach.
9:18
This is the primary thing that Jesus came to do.
9:24
That was to preach.
9:26
Remember that the signs that he was performing simply existed to validate the power of his message.
9:33
That's why they existed.
9:35
Remember the message.
9:36
Chapter 1, verse 15.
9:38
Jesus says,
9:38
This is what he's driving at.
9:49
So we can see chapter 4, verse 1.
9:52
He teaches behind the sea from a boat.
9:55
So it's likely that this is why he would have had them prepared.
9:58
Right?
9:59
Both to spare his life, but to separate himself from what they were coming for and to rather give them what they needed.
10:09
He steps away from this scene in verse 13.
10:13
And in the ESV he says he went up on the mountain.
10:16
And I spent some time this week trying to figure out what mountain this was.
10:20
I thought there could be some significance and some weight to it.
10:23
And had quite a time until I thought, you know, I really probably ought to check the original text.
10:28
Or to see what it really means.
10:30
And in fact, you could easily render this and he went up on a mountain.
10:34
There is no article in the Greek.
10:37
So he just went up on a mountain.
10:39
Likely to escape what was going on by the sea.
10:42
To step away.
10:43
To go to a place that was more reclusive.
10:46
And he calls out of the group that is with him, that are his disciples,
10:50
those whom he desired and they came to him.
10:55
And we see here at work God's elective purposes.
11:01
You notice that he does not go up on the mountain and post a job description and take applications
11:07
and choose amongst the applicants the best fitted for the job.
11:11
But he rather calls those whom he desired.
11:16
And then we see the poignant, short response of Mark.
11:21
And they came to him.
11:23
John chapter 6, verse 44.
11:26
Jesus says,
11:27
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.
11:33
And the Greek for draw here is not a nudging.
11:36
Right?
11:37
Imagine a tug of war.
11:39
I hope that none of you get into a tug of war.
11:42
It's probably been years for most of you since that's happened.
11:45
Right?
11:45
And I hope that in your mind when you're drawing somebody in a tug of war,
11:49
you're not gently coaxing them across the line.
11:52
If you do that, I never want to be on a tug of war team with you.
11:54
Right?
11:55
You drag.
11:56
And the Greek word here means literally that.
12:00
To draw.
12:00
To drag.
12:02
Right?
12:02
We find often in Greek literature this word used.
12:06
The way water is pulled up out of a well.
12:09
Right?
12:10
You don't beckon the water to come,
12:11
but you rather put the bucket in and you bring it up by force.
12:15
And it comes out of the well.
12:18
So here we see God's good purposes in electing men to be his apostles.
12:26
These are no great men that he called.
12:29
You remember that some of these men are tax collectors.
12:32
They would have been viewed as the lowliest of individuals in the society.
12:36
They would have been seen as betrayers of the nation of Israel.
12:41
They were serving Rome by collecting taxes.
12:45
They were extortioners.
12:46
In fact, the way they made their money,
12:48
they were given permission to tax at whatever rate they wanted to,
12:52
provided that Rome got theirs.
12:54
Right?
12:55
They were typically very evil men.
12:57
They really weren't fair.
12:59
And we see fishermen who were not wise men by any stretch of imagination.
13:05
In this region, this was the commons man job.
13:08
The blue-collar work was to go and work on the fisher's boats.
13:13
We see some rebels, quite possibly.
13:17
Those who were of the nationalist party, so to speak.
13:21
I think they would have been tea party people in this day.
13:24
Simon the Canaanite, which did not mean that he was from Canaan.
13:28
You'll see in other texts him called Simon the Zealot,
13:31
which likely means that he was part of this party.
13:35
And there's some evidence, without getting into it,
13:37
that Judas Iscariot was actually a mercenary,
13:42
a hired gun for this party,
13:44
that he would have actually carried out assassination attempts for money.
13:48
And we see him later being tempted by money in the betrayal of Christ.
13:54
All throughout the Gospel of Mark,
13:56
we don't see the apostles presented as very holy men.
14:00
He's very clear to point out all of their faults,
14:02
and he does that for us here in verse 19 with Judas,
14:05
who betrayed him.
14:08
Never building up the men themselves,
14:10
but the God of the men, rather.
14:12
These men are called together,
14:15
and they are men who would have been in great opposition to one another.
14:19
Remember, fishermen were the ones being extorted by the tax collectors.
14:23
And those who were revolutionaries
14:24
would have hated the tax collectors for being loyal to Rome.
14:28
So, a hodgepodge of men,
14:30
all Jewish in descent to be sure,
14:32
but calls together a group of individuals
14:34
who would have never associated
14:36
if it weren't for the calling of Christ.
14:39
My mind was particularly drawn to the church in this day,
14:44
and that we should look this way.
14:47
We should be of different background and affinity,
14:50
different ethnicities.
14:53
We ought to be called together
14:54
with the great commonality
14:56
of what God has done for us in Christ.
14:59
I get a little bit burned up,
15:01
although it's in good motivation,
15:02
and I don't fault men for doing it,
15:04
but men who want to do things
15:06
like start biker churches,
15:07
who have a very narrow and specific group of people,
15:12
and they're going to tailor everything that they do
15:14
for that particular affinity.
15:16
And the binding thing for them
15:18
begins to be more about loud pipes and chrome
15:22
than Jesus Christ.
15:24
So, these men,
15:25
who would have hated one another,
15:27
go up on a mountain with Jesus,
15:29
and they become apostles,
15:30
and they spend the next three years together
15:33
ministering with one another.
15:35
And these ordinary men are called to do
15:38
absolutely extraordinary things.
15:42
We see two primary things that they are called to do.
15:46
Firstly,
15:47
and it's easy to miss this, I think,
15:50
so that they might be with Him.
15:53
See that in verse 14.
15:56
So that they might be with Him.
15:59
Jesus communed perfectly
16:02
with the Father
16:03
and the Spirit
16:05
in His Spirit.
16:06
He had great communion with them.
16:08
This was not something that was broken
16:09
when He came down from heaven
16:12
and became a man.
16:14
But He also communed
16:16
with men in His flesh.
16:18
He sets for us
16:19
the example
16:20
that while we need to commune
16:22
with the Trinity in our spirit,
16:24
we also need to commune
16:26
with the church
16:27
in our flesh.
16:29
We need one another.
16:31
And this seems to be the case
16:33
of Jesus Himself.
16:35
Not that these men
16:36
had particular gifts
16:37
to offer to Him,
16:38
but that He had a desire
16:39
for community
16:41
as a man.
16:43
Hebrews 10,
16:45
verse 23-25
16:47
exhorts us to this.
16:50
The writer says,
16:51
Let us hold fast the confession
16:52
of our hope without wavering.
16:54
For He who promised
16:55
is faithful.
16:56
And let us consider
16:57
how to stir up one another
16:58
to love and good works.
17:00
So He's giving us
17:01
this exhortation
17:02
to hold fast to our confession,
17:04
to remain true
17:06
in the faith
17:07
because He who promised
17:08
is faithful,
17:09
and to stir up one another
17:11
to love and good works.
17:13
To be operating
17:15
from faith
17:16
for faith.
17:19
Verse 25,
17:20
not neglecting
17:21
to meet together.
17:22
They seem to be
17:23
at odds with one another.
17:24
If we're to do these things,
17:25
we must meet together.
17:28
He says,
17:29
As is the habit of some,
17:31
so it's no new thing
17:32
that people don't meet together
17:33
with the church,
17:34
but encourage one another
17:35
and all the more
17:36
as you see the day
17:38
drawing near.
17:39
So as Jesus sets for us
17:41
an example,
17:41
we can learn from this.
17:43
Do we come together
17:44
on Sunday mornings
17:46
and at various other times
17:48
because it's the thing
17:49
that Christians do?
17:51
You're doing your
17:51
proper duty
17:52
if you show up
17:53
on a Sunday morning.
17:54
You've paid your dues
17:55
and you can go on
17:56
about your week.
17:57
Or do you do it
17:58
because you long
17:59
to be with God's people?
18:01
Because you know
18:02
that the mission
18:03
that God has set us on
18:04
requires community.
18:06
Because you have recognized
18:07
that true Christian ministry
18:09
can never happen
18:11
apart from the context
18:12
of the church.
18:14
That you have felt
18:15
your own weakness
18:16
and seen that you need
18:17
to be built up
18:18
by the body of believers.
18:20
I realize this
18:22
more and more
18:23
the more I mature
18:24
in Christ.
18:25
I'm not outgrowing community,
18:27
but I'm growing into it.
18:29
I need you.
18:32
The praises that you guys sing
18:34
on Sunday morning
18:35
have immeasurable encouragement
18:37
to my heart.
18:38
You have to know
18:38
I love that we do
18:40
two songs before.
18:41
I usually don't sing.
18:42
I'm just quiet
18:43
and listen to you guys
18:44
just belt it out.
18:46
From the back of the room
18:47
I can hear you.
18:48
I need that kind
18:50
of encouragement
18:51
to continue
18:52
in the faith
18:53
to love
18:54
and to good works.
18:56
So he sets these
18:58
men apart
18:59
to be with him
19:01
but also
19:01
to send them out.
19:03
In fact,
19:05
this little parenthetical
19:06
that Mark adds
19:07
whom he also named
19:08
apostles
19:09
means sent out ones.
19:11
That's what that word means.
19:12
And certainly
19:13
these were
19:14
specific apostles.
19:16
apostles.
19:16
These twelve
19:18
later,
19:19
some were added
19:19
to that number.
19:20
We know Judas
19:20
actually was not.
19:22
We added later
19:23
Matthias and Paul
19:25
get added to that
19:26
number of apostles.
19:29
But it means
19:30
to us
19:31
sent out ones.
19:32
We all have
19:33
an apostolic
19:35
calling.
19:36
It would be wrong
19:37
to call any of us
19:38
apostles
19:38
for our understanding
19:40
to properly give
19:41
these men
19:41
their specific
19:42
time,
19:43
their specific
19:43
authority that they had
19:45
to author
19:46
the word of God,
19:48
some other things.
19:49
But we must recognize
19:50
that as these men
19:52
were sent out
19:52
to preach,
19:53
so are we.
19:56
Listen to Paul
19:57
in 2 Corinthians 5
19:58
beginning in verse 17.
20:00
If anyone is in Christ,
20:01
he is a new creation.
20:02
If anyone.
20:03
So catch that.
20:04
That includes all of you
20:05
who are found in Christ.
20:06
If anyone is in Christ,
20:07
he is a new creation.
20:09
The old has passed away.
20:09
Behold,
20:10
the new has come.
20:12
All this is from God
20:13
who through Christ
20:14
reconciled us to himself
20:16
and gave us
20:17
the ministry
20:18
of reconciliation.
20:19
Notice that inclusive language.
20:20
He gave it to us.
20:22
That is,
20:22
verse 19,
20:23
in Christ,
20:24
God was reconciling
20:25
the world to himself,
20:27
not counting their trespasses
20:28
against them,
20:29
and entrusting to us
20:30
the message
20:31
of reconciliation.
20:33
Therefore,
20:34
we are ambassadors
20:34
for Christ.
20:35
God making his appeal
20:36
through us.
20:38
We've been given
20:39
this message
20:40
of reconciliation.
20:41
And it is therefore
20:42
now our responsibility
20:44
as ambassadors
20:45
for Christ
20:46
to make God's appeal
20:48
through us.
20:50
And to be clear,
20:51
he doesn't need us
20:52
to accomplish that.
20:54
Sit on your hands.
20:56
Go right ahead.
20:56
God will raise up
20:57
new people
20:58
to carry that message.
21:00
He does this
21:01
because he loves us.
21:03
The greatest thing
21:04
that God could possibly
21:05
give to us
21:06
is himself.
21:08
He has a mission
21:09
in this world,
21:09
and that is to redeem
21:10
his church.
21:11
To make all things new.
21:13
To restore things
21:14
back to the way
21:14
they should be.
21:15
And because he loves us,
21:17
he has decided
21:18
to use us
21:19
as the means
21:20
to that end.
21:21
He's given us
21:22
this message
21:24
of reconciliation.
21:25
Which is what?
21:26
The last half of verse 20
21:27
says,
21:28
We implore you
21:29
on behalf of Christ
21:30
be reconciled to God.
21:32
And here it is.
21:33
Verse 21.
21:34
For our sake
21:35
he made him to be sin
21:36
who knew no sin
21:37
so that in him
21:38
we might become
21:40
the righteousness
21:41
of God.
21:45
It's that simple.
21:47
He made him
21:48
who knew no sin
21:49
to be sin
21:51
so that in him
21:52
we might become
21:53
the righteousness
21:54
of God.
21:56
God owes
21:57
sin
21:58
eternal punishment.
22:00
And he therefore
22:01
had to punish it.
22:03
He had to pour
22:04
his wrath out
22:05
on it.
22:05
And he had to do
22:06
so eternally.
22:07
So only an eternally
22:08
perfect sacrifice
22:10
could die in our stead
22:12
for our sin.
22:13
This is the gospel message.
22:15
And this is the message
22:16
that these men
22:17
were sent out
22:18
to preach
22:18
the good news
22:20
of the kingdom
22:20
of God.
22:21
Don't let that be
22:22
too complex in your mind.
22:23
This is the thing
22:24
that they were meant
22:25
to go out
22:26
and to preach.
22:27
At the end of Mark
22:29
chapter 16
22:30
verse 15
22:31
we see Mark's account
22:32
of the Great Commission
22:34
recorded this way
22:35
and he said to them
22:35
go into all the world
22:36
and proclaim the gospel
22:37
to the whole creation.
22:39
Whoever believes
22:40
and is baptized
22:40
will be saved
22:41
but whoever does not
22:42
believe will be condemned.
22:43
And these signs
22:44
will accompany
22:45
those who believe.
22:45
In my name
22:46
they will cast out demons.
22:47
They will speak
22:48
in new tongues.
22:49
They will pick up
22:49
serpents with their hands
22:50
and if they drink
22:51
any deadly poison
22:52
it will not hurt them.
22:53
They will lay their hands
22:54
on the sick
22:54
and they will recover.
22:55
And here you see this
22:57
prediction of the things
22:59
that will happen
23:00
as he has said
23:01
he's going to send them
23:03
to go do this work.
23:04
Right?
23:04
For now
23:05
they were with him
23:06
later
23:07
he sends them out
23:09
to preach
23:10
in this way.
23:12
Now we're going to deal with
23:13
I believe
23:14
next week
23:15
the authority
23:15
to cast out demons
23:16
and everything I just read
23:18
at the end of Mark
23:19
that seemed fantastical
23:21
to you.
23:22
I think that's a made up word.
23:23
I just made up.
23:25
Right?
23:25
Well
23:25
we'll address these things.
23:27
There are whole
23:28
sects of our religion
23:30
that bank
23:31
on some of these
23:31
verses
23:32
at the end of Mark
23:33
chapter 16.
23:35
I wonder if any of you
23:36
have ever been
23:36
in the hills
23:37
of Appalachia
23:37
and seen people
23:38
handle serpents
23:39
as a result
23:39
of these verses.
23:42
But primarily
23:43
I want to focus
23:43
on the fact
23:44
that they were meant
23:45
to preach.
23:46
Notice it's
23:47
ordered in that way.
23:49
Right?
23:49
And in Greek
23:49
things were always
23:50
ordered in that function.
23:52
Greatest to least.
23:53
Right?
23:53
So this is the
23:54
more important thing.
23:55
Right?
23:56
We've seen already
23:56
that this was the
23:57
major thrust
23:58
of Jesus'
23:59
ministry.
24:00
Right?
24:00
Was to preach
24:01
the kingdom.
24:02
The works just
24:02
accompanied it
24:03
to give validity
24:04
to it.
24:04
We've got to keep
24:04
that straight
24:05
in our minds.
24:07
Paul said in
24:07
Romans chapter 1
24:08
verse 16 and 17
24:09
the thesis statement
24:11
of the book of Romans.
24:13
For I am not ashamed
24:14
of the gospel
24:15
for it is the power
24:16
of God for salvation
24:17
to everyone who believes
24:18
the Jew first
24:19
and also to the Greek.
24:21
For in it the righteousness
24:22
of God is revealed
24:23
from faith for faith.
24:25
As it is written
24:26
the righteous
24:26
shall live
24:27
by faith.
24:29
Paul says
24:30
I'm not ashamed
24:31
of the gospel.
24:32
And I would ask you
24:33
this morning
24:33
how many of you
24:34
are ashamed
24:35
of the gospel.
24:37
You're sitting in your seat
24:38
you may not say that
24:38
but how boldly
24:39
do you proclaim it?
24:41
Given a situation
24:42
to speak
24:43
of the good news
24:44
of Jesus Christ
24:45
do you press into it
24:46
or do you shrink back?
24:48
The gospel itself
24:50
is the power
24:51
of God
24:52
for salvation.
24:54
You see that our religion
24:55
is a religion
24:56
of words.
24:58
Romans 10
24:58
17 says
24:59
so faith comes from hearing
25:00
and hearing
25:00
through the word
25:02
of Christ.
25:03
It was through God's word
25:04
that he created the world.
25:06
It is through God's word
25:06
that he sustained
25:07
the world
25:08
and it is through
25:09
his word
25:10
that he regenerates
25:11
souls.
25:13
This is an amazing
25:14
thing.
25:15
The power of words
25:17
is phenomenal
25:19
in this way.
25:21
The readers here
25:22
of Romans
25:23
would have had
25:23
their minds drawn back
25:24
as Paul talks about
25:25
this being
25:26
the power of God
25:27
for salvation
25:28
to all of the things
25:29
that God had done
25:30
on behalf
25:31
of his people.
25:33
Think of all the
25:34
wonderful things
25:35
that God has done.
25:36
magnificent things.
25:39
Splitting red seas
25:40
leading by pillars
25:41
of smoke
25:41
and fire
25:42
defeating armies.
25:44
Walls of Jericho
25:45
coming crashing down.
25:48
And certainly
25:49
the hearts of men
25:50
have great
25:51
stronghold walls
25:52
around them
25:53
of sin
25:54
but it is the power
25:55
of God
25:55
to break those walls
25:56
down and change
25:57
men's hearts.
25:59
This
25:59
is the gospel
26:01
that we have been
26:02
entrusted with.
26:03
the message
26:04
of reconciliation.
26:07
And it is a
26:08
simple message.
26:10
A powerful
26:10
but simple
26:12
message.
26:13
Jesus sums it up
26:14
here in one verse.
26:15
The time is fulfilled
26:16
in the kingdom of God
26:17
as a hand.
26:17
Repent and believe
26:18
in the gospel.
26:22
Charles Spurgeon
26:23
once said,
26:24
never lose heart
26:25
in the power
26:26
of the gospel.
26:27
Do not believe
26:28
that there exists
26:28
any man
26:29
much less
26:30
any race of men
26:31
for whom the gospel
26:33
is not fitted.
26:35
We have been
26:36
entrusted with this
26:37
and I know
26:38
many of you
26:38
don't feel adequate
26:39
for that task.
26:41
Good.
26:42
But the spirit
26:43
that dwells within you
26:44
is fully adequate.
26:45
Completely sufficient
26:46
to accomplish
26:47
that task.
26:48
Many of you
26:48
may not feel
26:49
smart enough
26:50
to take on
26:51
the debates
26:52
of this day.
26:53
You're probably not.
26:54
And that's okay.
26:56
Just preach
26:57
the gospel.
26:59
Let God
27:00
be powerful
27:00
in it.
27:03
You can trust
27:04
that he will be.
27:05
That he will accomplish
27:06
his good purchase.
27:07
That he will draw
27:08
to himself
27:08
those whom he
27:09
desires
27:10
as you go
27:11
and you speak
27:12
and you preach.
27:15
In Paul's first letter
27:16
to the Corinthian church
27:17
turn here with me
27:18
chapter 2
27:18
verse 1
27:19
of 1 Corinthians.
27:26
Paul helps drive
27:27
this point for us.
27:28
And I am amazed
27:29
that numerous times
27:30
in Paul's writing
27:31
he claims to be
27:32
a man of
27:33
simple speech
27:34
and low understanding
27:36
and his writing
27:37
is so phenomenally
27:38
complex.
27:40
Maybe in the
27:41
Greek day
27:41
it was actually
27:42
simple.
27:44
To kind of
27:45
set the stage
27:45
for you
27:45
Paul arrived
27:47
in Corinth
27:47
for the first time
27:48
in AD 50.
27:50
Corinth was a
27:51
highly cultured
27:52
town.
27:53
Possessed
27:53
the best
27:54
of Greek culture.
27:56
And the Greeks
27:56
really valued
27:57
high learning.
27:58
It was incredibly
27:59
important
27:59
thing to them.
28:01
And in fact
28:02
Corinth possessed
28:03
a really famous
28:04
outdoor theater
28:04
that could seat
28:05
20,000 people.
28:08
One of the things
28:09
they possessed
28:09
that they
28:10
honored
28:11
higher than other
28:12
things
28:12
was lofty speech.
28:14
It was an incredibly
28:15
important thing
28:16
to them.
28:17
In fact
28:17
here from
28:20
I just lost
28:21
the spot.
28:21
Here we go.
28:21
From Stephen J.
28:22
Lawson's book
28:23
The Kind of Preaching
28:24
God Blesses
28:25
for the citizens
28:26
in Corinth
28:26
public rhetoric
28:27
was something
28:28
lofty and noble.
28:29
Something almost
28:30
godlike.
28:31
It was a refined
28:32
form of artistic
28:33
expression that
28:34
replaced the
28:35
savage violence
28:36
of gladiatorial
28:37
fights and
28:38
barbaric sports.
28:39
It was worshiped.
28:40
Imagine in your
28:41
own mind we have
28:41
lots of different
28:42
things that we
28:43
as a culture
28:43
worship.
28:44
But what is most
28:45
highly worshipped
28:45
in our culture?
28:47
Football players,
28:48
baseball players,
28:50
celebrity,
28:51
things that we
28:52
highly, highly
28:53
worship those
28:54
things.
28:54
These men that
28:55
were these fine
28:56
orders that would
28:56
deliver these
28:57
rhetorical speeches
28:59
to drive somebody
29:00
to think a certain
29:00
way were the
29:02
great men that
29:03
were praised
29:03
in this day.
29:04
And this is
29:05
Corinth that he
29:05
goes and visits.
29:07
He had encountered
29:07
many troubles
29:08
up to this point.
29:10
Both physical
29:10
things and
29:11
spiritual things.
29:12
There were a lot
29:12
of closed doors
29:13
to him as he
29:14
had entered into
29:15
Greek cultures
29:16
before he gets
29:17
to Corinth.
29:18
And I would
29:18
imagine for him
29:19
there would have
29:20
been some
29:21
temptation to
29:22
change the
29:22
methodology.
29:23
To in some
29:24
way think,
29:24
okay, I've
29:25
entered into
29:26
now these
29:26
arenas of
29:28
these highly
29:28
educated people
29:29
who really
29:30
desire this
29:30
high and lofty
29:31
speech and
29:32
have not gained
29:33
any ground.
29:34
What could I
29:35
do to better
29:36
reach people?
29:38
Oh, good
29:39
motivation in
29:40
that.
29:40
We see people
29:40
all over this
29:42
day doing that
29:43
very same thing.
29:44
Many slick
29:45
tongues watering
29:46
down the gospel
29:47
in the desire to
29:49
introduce people
29:49
to Christ,
29:50
but they
29:51
therefore forsake
29:53
the gospel
29:53
altogether.
29:55
Spurgeon also
29:56
said, I'm going
29:56
to see if I can
29:57
get this right
29:57
in my own
29:57
head, that if
29:59
God does not
30:00
save people with
30:00
the truth, he
30:01
will certainly
30:01
not save them
30:02
with a lie.
30:06
Isn't that
30:06
true?
30:07
Listen to what
30:07
Paul says to
30:08
the Corinthian
30:09
church.
30:10
1 Corinthians 2
30:11
verse 1,
30:11
And I, when I
30:13
came to you
30:13
brothers, did
30:14
not come
30:14
proclaiming to
30:15
you the
30:15
testimony of
30:16
God with
30:16
lofty speech
30:17
or wisdom.
30:19
That's the
30:19
cultural context
30:20
for you to
30:21
understand what
30:21
he's saying.
30:22
For I decided
30:23
to know nothing
30:24
among you except
30:24
Jesus Christ and
30:26
him crucified.
30:27
And I was with
30:28
you in weakness
30:28
and in fear and
30:30
much trembling.
30:31
And my speech
30:32
and my message
30:33
were not in
30:33
plausible words of
30:35
wisdom, but in
30:36
demonstration of the
30:37
spirit and of
30:37
power, so that your
30:38
faith may not rest in
30:40
the wisdom of men,
30:41
but in the power
30:42
of God.
30:44
You hear him
30:44
driving that very
30:45
point that I've been
30:46
making to you,
30:47
right?
30:47
The message that
30:49
Paul brought was
30:50
Jesus Christ and
30:52
him crucified.
30:53
Nothing more and
30:54
certainly nothing
30:56
less.
30:57
This is the power
30:59
of God to
31:00
salvation.
31:01
The gospel of
31:02
the coming kingdom
31:03
of God.
31:04
We live in a
31:05
culture that's
31:06
really has a
31:07
great deal of
31:08
aversion to
31:09
this.
31:09
type of
31:10
teaching.
31:11
And I think
31:11
possibly because
31:12
we're the Bible
31:13
Belt, I saw a
31:13
map yesterday of
31:15
all the counties
31:16
of the United
31:17
States and the
31:18
predominant, at
31:19
least claimed
31:20
religion in each
31:21
of those.
31:22
I was blown
31:23
away that the
31:25
entire southeast
31:26
was solid red,
31:28
which was
31:28
Southern Baptist.
31:30
Not evangelical
31:30
Christian, but
31:31
Southern Baptist.
31:34
We've seen
31:34
people reject
31:35
the church for
31:36
all kinds of
31:37
reasons.
31:37
And I think
31:38
in that
31:39
process,
31:40
well-intentioned
31:41
people have
31:42
begun to
31:42
portray the
31:43
gospel of
31:44
Christ.
31:44
In Paul
31:45
Washer's book,
31:45
The Gospel's
31:46
Power and
31:46
Message, he
31:48
wrote this.
31:49
Listen carefully.
31:50
Lamentably, in
31:51
recent decades, it
31:53
seems that salvation
31:54
has lost something
31:55
of its value.
31:56
This is in
31:56
people's
31:57
perception.
31:57
In the opinion
31:59
of many, the
32:00
promise of salvation
32:01
is no longer a
32:02
strong enough
32:02
motivation to
32:03
move the sinner
32:04
to repentance
32:04
or the saint
32:05
to true
32:06
devotion.
32:07
So we must
32:08
add many other
32:08
promises to
32:09
make the gospel
32:10
call appealing.
32:11
Health and
32:11
wealth, purpose
32:13
and power, and
32:14
getting the most
32:15
out of this
32:15
present life are
32:16
the real drawing
32:17
cards of
32:17
contemporary
32:18
Christianity.
32:20
In fact, the
32:20
very things the
32:21
pulpit now promises
32:22
and people in the
32:23
pews seek the
32:23
most are often
32:25
the very things
32:26
that Jesus warned
32:27
could be lost in
32:28
the course of
32:29
true discipleship.
32:30
See Matthew
32:31
chapter 16 on
32:32
that.
32:33
According to
32:34
him being
32:35
Jesus, a man
32:36
may have to
32:36
lose the
32:36
whole world
32:37
in order to
32:38
be saved.
32:39
And yet, in
32:40
Jesus' estimation,
32:41
it was a
32:42
bargain to
32:43
get salvation
32:43
at such a
32:44
small cost.
32:47
It seems that
32:47
we this day
32:48
don't really
32:49
understand sin
32:51
and the great
32:52
atrocity it is
32:54
against a
32:55
holy God.
32:56
So grown up
32:57
in this culture
32:57
of morality that
32:59
just seems a
32:59
little thing to
33:00
sin, when it
33:01
is a vast
33:02
thing.
33:03
Your one
33:04
objection to
33:05
the law of
33:06
God sets you
33:06
up as a
33:07
God yourself
33:08
and an enemy
33:08
of the Most
33:09
High.
33:10
And it is
33:11
through this
33:11
gospel message
33:12
that we don't
33:13
have eternal
33:13
punishment.
33:15
You can wrap
33:16
your mind around
33:16
eternal punishment,
33:18
misery, forever
33:20
and ever and
33:21
ever.
33:22
Take the most
33:22
miserable moment
33:23
of your life.
33:24
Oh, I've had
33:24
some miserable
33:25
moments in my
33:26
life.
33:27
Times when you're
33:27
frustrated beyond
33:28
belief, when you're
33:29
in extreme pain,
33:31
when the kids
33:31
are driving you
33:32
nuts.
33:33
And magnify that
33:35
and do it for
33:36
eternity.
33:37
We are saved
33:38
from this and we
33:39
are saved in the
33:39
presence of the
33:40
Most High.
33:41
The one in whom
33:43
we can find joy
33:44
and blessing
33:45
forever and
33:46
ever and
33:47
ever.
33:47
And this is the
33:48
gospel message.
33:50
This is it at its
33:50
core and this is
33:52
what we have been
33:52
called to preach.
33:54
We must preach
33:56
a pure gospel.
33:57
And when I say
33:58
we, I mean every
34:00
single one of us.
34:03
We all are
34:04
ambassadors of
34:05
Christ.
34:05
We have all been
34:07
given this message
34:08
of reconciliation.
34:09
Here we speak
34:10
specifically of the
34:11
apostles, these
34:12
ordinary men called
34:13
to do these
34:14
extraordinary things,
34:15
but in the same
34:17
way we are sent.
34:20
We must preach
34:21
a pure gospel.
34:23
I pray for us as
34:24
individuals in this
34:25
church that we
34:26
would be like
34:27
Ezra.
34:28
In Ezra chapter
34:29
7 verse 10 we
34:30
see the record.
34:31
Ezra had set his
34:32
heart to study the
34:34
law of the Lord
34:35
and to do it
34:36
and to teach his
34:38
statutes and rules
34:39
in Israel.
34:41
You see that he
34:42
had set his heart
34:42
to be a disciple,
34:45
to study the law
34:46
and actually do it,
34:47
to actually follow
34:49
God in his law
34:51
and to teach it,
34:53
to make disciples.
34:55
And this is how
34:55
we are all called
34:56
to be disciple-making
34:57
disciples.
34:59
And understand that
34:59
the two cannot exist
35:01
apart from one
35:02
another.
35:02
If you are a
35:03
disciple of Christ,
35:04
you will necessarily
35:05
make disciples of
35:06
Christ.
35:08
But to clarify for
35:09
you, we are all
35:11
called to be
35:12
disciple-making
35:13
disciples.
35:15
That is the great
35:15
point of Mark's
35:16
book.
35:17
He's trying to
35:18
drive his readers
35:19
to that, to see
35:20
that those who are
35:21
going to follow
35:22
Christ will also
35:23
bring along others
35:24
who will follow
35:25
Christ.
35:25
And he does that
35:26
in his very punchy
35:27
way.
35:27
He keeps driving
35:28
at that point.
35:29
And I find here
35:30
for us again today,
35:31
he does the very
35:33
same thing.
35:35
We are ordinary
35:36
men and women.
35:38
And I would say,
35:39
in fact, in a lot
35:40
of ways, we are
35:40
less than ordinary
35:42
men and women.
35:43
I know that's true
35:44
of myself, but we
35:45
are called to do
35:47
extraordinary things.
35:49
That is why
35:51
Christ's family
35:52
church exists.
35:53
To experience,
35:55
to proclaim,
35:56
and display
35:57
the supremacy
35:58
of Jesus Christ
35:58
in all things,
36:00
to all peoples.
36:02
And one day,
36:03
Christ will
36:04
return when
36:06
that work is
36:06
finished.
36:07
Let's pray
36:07
together.